interview

Your name & zine names:

Alex Wrekk (Brainscan Zine, Stolen Sharpie Revolution, and a bunch of one shots

How long have you been making zines? How and why did you start?:

Short Answer: I started making zines in 1994 because I saw zines and thought "I can do this" and I wanted penpals.

Long answer:

I moved to Salt Lake City, Utah from Texas when I was 10 and in Jr. high I remember picking up a local music newsprint monthly canned SLUG and I once found a free photocopied zine by someone in a local band that I liked. It had poetry, short stories and drawings and I thought it was really neat.

Later in high school in the early 90’s I had a boyfriend whose father was a chat room moderator for AOL. He collected zines and let me borrow from his collection. Somewhere along the way I had this epiphany:

“I can do this too!”

I started working on my own zine with my sister called Fun In A Bucket in high school but I didn’t put it out until I was 18, it just grew from there. I was also really drawn to the idea of penpals and getting mail so that sort of fueled my obsession. Zines are a very democratic and versatile art form and I really liked the idea that they could be whatever I wanted them to be.

What would you say the main focus of your zines is?

What inspires you to make them?

I guess my zines focus on the adventures of my life from travel and amusing anecdotes to projects I work on like the Portland Zine Symposium. I also use zines to sort out things in my head like writing about getting out of an abusive relationship or educate people about things like how to make a zine or what it is like getting an IUD. I like telling stories and I like making the layout that goes along with them.

Have you taken part in any zine events? How was your experience?

Let's see, as of October 2009 I have been to The Portland Zine Symposium, the San Francisco Zine Fest, the Midwest Zine Fest, Madison Zine Fest, Allied Meida Conference, Richmond Zine Fest, Salt Lake Zine Fest, Zine Eugene, the London Zine Symposium, the zine librarian (un)Conference, the 20th bitrhday of the Fanziotheque, Halifax Zine Fair, the Square Foot Zine Fest, 2-4 (depending on who's counting) zine tours and many zine readings. In a couple of days I'm going to Canzine. Each one is unique and has flavor that reflects its location. They are all fun and great ways to get to know lots of other zine folks.

What other zines do you recommend and why?

My favorite zines are done by my friends. I'd love to introduce you to them.