Eight or nine years ago (give or take), the parents of my friend Mark were selling their home and cleaning it out. During this process, they found three boxes in the garage that belonged to me, so they had Mark bring them over to my house. Two of those boxes ended up in the back of my own garage and for some unknown reason, one of the boxes ended up in my house (I think he brought the first two and then the third on a second trip over to my house and I was too lazy to take it out to the garage).
Inside of these boxes were the makings, proofs, photos, and god knows what from the zine we published from 1996 – 2002. I knew this at the time he brought them over, but I just didn’t care and ignored them. But as I started cleaning and getting rid of stuff in my room last month, I came upon the lone box that was hiding in my closet and decided to take a break from cleaning and check out the contents.
And it was exactly as I thought it would be – master copies, proofs, a Rolodex (sic) of contacts (mainly record stores and labels), photos, and works-in-progress. But the real gem of the box was a file folder loaded with flyers – clubs, gigs, albums releases, you name it. I remember using them in the zine for advertisements and some were sent or given to us from the bands we would hang out with or interview. Some we would just pick up from various record stores and I don’t know why we held on to them, even after the shows were over.
But we did and I thought I would share this time capsule with the visitors of Myrtlewood, with the majority of these flyers being from the 1996-1998 Southern California local music scene. There’s quite a bit, so I had to break it up into three different posts (with this one being the third). There might be more in those other boxes in the garage and when I finally get out there and get them, I’ll either add them to the original posts or make a new post. I also thought about posting some stuff from the zine itself (articles, interviews, etc…), but after reading some of them, I’m pretty fucking embarrassed of my writing and editorial skills back then. Granted, I was seventeen when I started it, but still – I cringe when reading it. But who knows – maybe I’ll post some of it?
I really did enjoy creating a zine and I’ve done a few more in my later years (and I’m currently working on a few right now). Looking back, I just wish I had the know how and some help regarding certain things, like sending invoices and the business end of it. I will say that it did help me with my current career (graphic design and publishing). I do kind of miss the old days of clubbing, going to shows, and visiting a shit-ton of record and alternative stores, but finding these flyers brought my old-ass back to that time in my life and resurrected those great memories.
And I hope it does the same for you.
Myrtlewood 