Once Upon Another Time
#ZeenagersExpo 01 Spring 2024
“Well done for keeping the spirit of rebellion alive” (Patrick Jones)
Swear to Mushrooms that this really happened. Follow the green cat.
7th March, Amersham Arms, New Cross (i.e. London’s Sarf x Sarf East!) rock n roll music, poetry, visuals, photography, technology (including audio recordings), Stage Style, creativity and DIY skillz all rolled into a live music social. We are blown away by the all-positive feedback for the evening!
Expo 01 Artists and Allies - links directory:
From Italian TV to a New Cross stage: Flesh Tetris
Find/support each other! Flesh Tetris, Thebigbadsad., Patrick Jones, Petra Palkovacsova of the Femmesocial Press community, Dizzy Spell, Ruby Blue, Ame Kali, Kat Five x Feral Five, SetMixer and TheZineUK, Kick Out The Jams (+ more!) Warm Welcome Blur Fairy, Sonja Amoretti! + #MusicTourism Team - Backstage Bar of Amersham Arms where TheZineUK was conceived! (Venue manager, Andy Palmer, is a star turn musician in his own right - as per The Britpop Show 12th March podcast) all mixing with The Outers, Lisa Knight of Knight PR (great film clips!), 122 Music Management and myself, Caffy St Luce of TheZineUK’s Events Department; Rocklands (Magic Hat by Toast The Goblin Laird). Photographers included Olly Bromidge (thank you to Jean Genie Hayes & Jonny Haze at ASBO magazine for connecting us) and James Lewis: “Excellent poetry performance from Petra Palkovacsova” (images of Flesh Tetris and Thebigbadsad. on FB) + The evening was soundtracked by a Newer Wave Rock n Roll spotify playlist EXPO NO.1 by Dizzy Spell. TikTok blip of TheBigBadSad and more from Zeenagers Expo to come…
We need to take our road show… on the ROAD! Where to, next?
“In amongst the joys of catching up with @artbeat.bsky.social amongst others, 2 quality acts played down The Amersham Arms last night TheBigBadSad, ‘gloom rock goth cowboys’ brought the noise, & then some, pushing their sonic mantra to the end Different, ear-catching, eye-catching.” (122MM - link)
Thank you to everyone who performed, bought a ticket and came out to play in person or spirit. We’re all ingredients of an exposition of the interdependent music sector - and whatever happens next.
#24ourPartyPeople
Whoever is WITH/for TheZineUK - YOU are all what the #ZeenagersExpo is about!
Further reading - origins
One of our Wizards knows. Yes, we have more than one in this tale…
14th March 2014 - Upload Chapter 1 of TheZineUK multi media tapestry. Situationist whimsy weaves waves that we could not make up.
14th March 2023 - Begin a year’s research into Music Tourism For The People at the British Music Embassy in Austin, Texas (the final real SXSW). End of year, TheZineUK returned to USA, this time L.A. Stage Style stories off the hook.
14th March 2024 - Despite the hostile environment dystopian decayed decade TheZineUK can prove that the alternative arts have created a newer wave of music industrious through uniqulture. Their actions and good souls have resulted in a Fertile Environment worthy of an exposition.
Click OUR STORY page for more but, basically, an Alternative Arts documentary living the skint life of the grassroots venue circuit community. It’s not been dull.
2014 to 2015:
An ideas factory-cum-DIY studio/rave warehouse etc., pop-up HQ ("The Ministry of Fluff and Dreams" run by Menace & McNaughty) rounded off with #No3Expo (42 stalls including a live music stage - The Homosexuals, Nova Twins, seeds of Birthmarks, Cat Bear, Lufe Tempo - and a bar!). It set the tone. #Zeenagers prologue 'Expo Beats' 2014/2015 (YouTube)
Punk scared Darwin! Photographer, Rupert Hitchcox, (now with our allies, Joyzine) had fiften minutes in dodgy light to capture early RTN Makes Music magnificence at the Natural History Museum. Impromptu ad libbing has continued ever since and this show became the front page of Picture Book chapter 001. In capitalist style, Issuu changed the visibility of our documents, as we’re skint, but we’ve managed to salvage much of the reporting. Enough for Expo slideshows!
Alongside the magick powered situationism and woodland folk heroes in this emerging tapestry, the likes of Cro Cro Land, CUP Soccer Six, Decolonise Fest, This Feeling, Music Venue Trust and LOUD WOMEN are only half a dozen of many prevailing threads.
We ARE doing something new, Bruno Wizard! Amidst the old boys networks, the privileges, the nepotism and cliques we are an open armed collective for all backgrounds to unite as Playing Class Friends. On this evening (12th February 2016, David Bowie homage charity show by Dizzy Spell at Amersham Arms HQ) The Homosexuals were supported by Little Death Machine (seeds of the incredible Birthmarks) and Featherz while upstairs, photographer Duncan Stafford held his first photography exhibition (Fat White Family, Sleaford Mods etc) in the Take Courage Gallery. When it came downstairs to the venue, Don Letts, Tim Burgess and various members of The Libertines would have the images as a back drop while upstairs became a Laurie Vincent (Soft Play) art exhibition - all this fun before fckn Brexit was illegally “won”.
TheZineUK. Officially repping (and therefore reporting) at festivals with either a stage, a logo or a co-promotion every single year from 2014 onwards (lockdown was Balcony On Line Festival) and promoting live music socials fuels the story, courtesy of kind artists/promoters access. In 2024 we are chuffed to be a media partner with #ItsAVanFest - the Austin Texas music festival (Teenage Sequence, The Hollows, more) where the super-sponser is Rock n Roll (We met behind the painted word, “magic”, in 2023)
Birthmarks band powered evening ‘Pulse 1’ - art gallery with live music (including Deux Furieuses). Like Birthmarks, artist, Eugene Ankomah, is a golden tapestry thread of big heart, pure talent and inspiring soul. Photographer, Stefon Grant has been exhibited, publicly… It’s ALL happening. Circles of (key scouting) life; ‘One Pulse’ video by Birthmarks. A cinematic happening of a band.
By 2017
there was a visible and voluble newer wave of music industrious. Audience powered arts, industry and media learning/exchanging biz, tech, journalism whatever skills as their interdependent collective rise in staggered unison, rather than all “pulling up the ladder" behind them. This is how we do it. YouTube Slideshow of our 2021 cast and crew - 2014 to 2017 snapshots: The #MusicPeopleParty begins
2018 - "where do you see yourself in five years?"
The question that no human could have answered. Then between the cast, cats and crew of TheZineUK and an unbelieving world if we are here today then we are all changed. WHAT a soundtrack we got in the Music People Party years.
That time (September 2018) when interdependent altrock promoter, Kick Out The Jams launched monthly events co promoted with TheZineUK, at The Good Mixer in Camden with The Velvet Hands, Bugeye and Smiley & The Underclass. Reportage: This image was before the first band’s set!
2019
The #MusicPeopleParty had, by now, become the welcomig end of year not-got-an-office party for artists, DJs, bloggers, creators and all the rock n rollers. This was December 2019, with This Feeling star, Nineties Mike on the decks and Louise Schofield as host. Feels innocent - we had no idea of six months time… (Camden Monarch, another live music venue lost…)
2020
Mirrored… RTN Makes Music x rock music movie, Velvet Goldmine x Genesis Cinema - our story suits cinemas! Weeks later, we were in lockdown, but boy did we dress up first!
2021
Breaking outta lockdown and back into gigs - the newer wave of music industrious are shaping new futures! Anaiah M. Davis, Robyn Skinner, Jean Genie, Kat Five, Caffy St Luce and Sonja Amoretti at Kick Out The Jams, Amersham Arms.
2022
This blur (I’m gonna call it “art”) is Benji from Lock-In at The Social in Fitzrovia for This Feeling’s Test Transmission 01. We all walked miles due to the rail strikes, war had just broken in Ukraine and there was impending doom in the nationwide air. For balance, we kept our doses of escapism coming. Lock-In would headline a sold out show at The Garage with This Feeling’s “Zone Airport” artist development runway campaigns in Spring 2023. This year, they step up to their biggest headline so far: Lafayette in Kings Cross.
2023
Key blogged conversations and events on PoC in guitar music and AI, rounded off with an Artful Party that included star turn multi-media artivist mavericks Bugeye (who were on tour as special guest of The Bluetones, and will play their biggest show to date, headlining Oslo Hackney on 4th May (tickets) after presenting 2024 with the incredible Cro Cro Land Festival mid April), Colossus (Fckn suPERB debut EP and get a load of the live presence in this #ArtfulFest video blip!), Joyzine, God Is In The TV and and and… these artivists are ALL connected and those conversations are ongoing.
21st Century music world stories would be so much less without the (genuine) legend, John Kennedy. Papped at Truck Festival 2023 before The Velvet Hands headline This Feeling Stage. We may not be a mainstream music media but there are a hella lotta positive tales in this #FuturePicks documentary. As an interdependent promoter in his own right (The Remedy happens monthly at Signature Brew in Haggerston), what can we say but “thank you” John, and respect”.
2024
We’ve created. During the most historic era in human history (i..e. largely a binfire of bigoted bollocks)! We promote a punky rock n roll music world angle with diy glam chic, recorded from the reality of post brexit Britain Ireland.
Escapism not extremism. Love is NOT hate! We wanna have a good time, all the time!
Creator and Stage Style icon, Adora, at the sold out ASBO Magazine x Bilk EVENT, Rough Trade East
Today, Friday 15th March - the music festival conversations are TV’s Glastonbury and Austin’s SXSW. With the latter, ironically, the mainstream media have covered the bands that have dropped out more than the usual attention they give to the line up.
Just BELIEVE and they WILL come!
2024, a few days after International Women’s Day shows how the establishment treat Britain’s first Black Woman Politician. Imagine how far down the “food chain” we, The Outsiders Family, are. We’ll keep fighting the nutsies by sharing audiovisual hope. It’s the least we can do.
Sixth sense supernature powers the chapters of TheZineUK. The feedback is always appreciated.
Are you with us, Zeenagers?