Chicago Zine Fest - Where To Find Me

Here is the floor layout and where I will have my table setup for CZF (8th floor, table #64).  Any blog followers that are attending, be sure to say "Hi!".  Each day that passes the more excited I have been getting for the event.  Expect one more CZF update before I head out till Chicago.  Peace.

-K

Show Pics - YOB, Vickers, Dope Pope - 1/23 @ Bourbon Theatre

YOB

Vickers

Dope Pope

Show Pics - Discourse, Out Of Time, Purgatory - 1/20 @ NH House

Discourse

 

Out Of Time

Purgatory

All zine printing and binding is FINISHED!

Just a quick update letting everyone know that all of my zines are ready for Chicago Zine Fest.  To much surprise, all the printing I did the last few days went down with minimal problems.  I decided that the Stranger Randy comic will have a 24 weight green cover.  Expect one final CZF update before the event where I will talk about whatever extras I plan on bringing along.  One idea that is concrete; a clipboard for anyone who would like to join the mailing list, as well as the possibility of a  subscription based idea that I have been thinking about.  I've also been thinking about a design idea for 1 inch pins that I can give away at the fest, but so far everything I have tried so far hasn't had  a high enough resolution needed to make the pins.  I still do have some time to figure it out, but not much.  All material not sold at Chicago Zine Fest will be available for anyone to purchase right away.  Until then, all mailorders will be shipped out once I get back from CZF.  I'd also like to mention that there is a possibility that I can squeeze in a photo update before I leave.  That's it fore now.  Peace.

-K

Stranger Randy Comic... Finished!

Hello, just a quick update here regarding the new Stranger Randy comic presented by Crucial Changes Printing Press.  The final design is finished and is ready to be printed for Chicago Zine Fest.  This 20 page comic book features selected comics by Omaha artist John Crowley and is officially titled More Adventures of Stranger Randy.  Full-scale printing will be finished within the next few weeks with the first printing limited to 50.  I would also like to let everyone know that Stranger Randy is an ADULT comic. This project is currently only available at Chicago Zine Fest 2012.  Let's take a closer look of how the comic turned out:

Here is the cover of the comic.  Keeping with with CCPP tradition, everything is as clean and minimalist as possible.   I decided to use an actual comic strip for the cover that introduces our anti-hero.

Here is the back of the cover.  Again I took an image from an actual comic strip.  All comics will be hand numbered of 50, and expect the covers to be printed in either white cardstock or another color that isn't red.

Here is just a sample of how the comic strips are presented in the zine. There is a total of 8 comics covering 18 pages. I am happy with how they turned out.

Once this is printed I will be fully ready for Chicago Zine Fest.  If you will be attending, I hope to see you there!  Peace.


-Keith

Etc. of 2011

I know this is a month late, but I wanted to briefly talk about a few underground releases that came out in 2011 that although didn't make my year end list, but deserves mention.  First on the list was the 10" comp that Short Fast + Loud zine released that featured Lincoln's almighty Wasteoid.  Aside for the songs being pummeling, and showcasing the bands "new" drum and bass sound, the record is significant for being the last piece of music that Wasteoid bassist/vocalist recorded before passing away.  Wasteoid held it down for over a decade without ever letting up on the speed and brutality and still remained underrated throughout the national scene.  Jeff nor Wasteoid will be forgotten for what they have done for the underground Nebraska scene throughout the years.  Another local release I want to mention is the self-titled Hominoid tape that came out back in October.  This Omaha power violence band have been improving with each successive release and continue to get stronger and stronger live.  The tape was initially available for their October Midwest tour, but I was lucky enough to snag a remaining copy when they returned home and played a great set for the Yuppies split lp release show.  The same recording, now titled Distortion Of Limbs is available for download, and shouldn't be slept on.  A few years ago, one of the best noise groups in the country, Cock ESP played Lincoln for about 2 minutes and displayed a live set unlike I've ever seen before.  Cock ESP recorded however, is much more coherent than the live set and released one of my favorite cds of 2011 titled Historia De La Musica Cock  that features all the recorded material during 2009 and 2010 featuring a whopping 99(!) songs.  Raws from Wasteoid lent his musical talent for four of the tracks as well as did the painting that is featured as the back cover art.  That's it for 2011 forever.  Peace.

-Keith

Chicago Zine Fest - Update #1

I finally received my confirmation email from the coordinators of this years Chicago Zine Fest, and I am glad that I went ahead and started all my back catalogue printing throughout January.  Because I started early, I am happy to announce that ALL back catalogue material is printed, bound, and ready.  A few weeks ago, I found a perfect tablecloth for my display on ebay for only 99 cents; a Nebraska state flag that is exactly the dimensions of the allowed table space for the fest.  I don't know how many out of state participants will be at Chicago Zine Fest this year, but I thought it would be cool to proudly show where I am coming from.  I snapped a few pics of what I have done so far.  All I have left to do is tweak the Stranger Randy comic a bit more, and it will be ready for print.  Good thing I took care of everything else, because now I have nearly six weeks to complete the project.  Anyway, let's take a look at what I have done so far:

This is more or less how I will have my table set up.  All back printed material will have red covers.  The mix CD-Rs of local bands from last year are now combined into one cd and have an all new packaging!  The new Stranger Randy Comic will be up front and center.  On the lower right are a couple comics from my friend Courtney in Lincoln.  She does funny work.  

For every back printed zine, I designed a custom intro and outro page exclusive just for Chicago Zine Fest!  Each zine is hand numbered and has a custom back cover as well.  Most zines are limited to only 20, with Interviews having a printing of 40 respectively.  

The next series of photos are showing the newly redesigned packaging for the two mix CD-Rs I did last year.  I decided to go for a paper digipak styled design this time around. Everything is true to the Crucial Changes Printing Press way of doing things, with the same hand assembled process of previous projects.  This is limited to only 25, and once gone the project will be out of print. I think it turned out pretty good!

Here is the inside of the newly designed CD-R packaging.  I didn't want to invest a lot of time and money into an old project, so I kept everything inside to the most minimalist design elements possible.  However, I did design a new band listing sheet.  All CD-Rs are (cheesily) hand numbered this time.  Oof, I look pretty bad here

This is the back of the song listing card.  Lockjaw (RIP) were always a good local band to photograph, plus they have a couple songs on the CD-R so I used them for the design.

That is it for now.  I'll have another Zine Fest update as soon as the Stranger Randy comic is ready to show.  In other blog news, expect a super late wrap up of my favorite hardcore punk jams of 2011 with a tape and etc. review.  Also, expect an all encompassing winter scene report within a week or so.  There is quite a bit of happenings that have been going on around here, so expect a bigger than average write up.  Also expect a new photo update soon.  A lot of content is going to be thrown around quickly, so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss anything.  And of course, THANK YOU for everyone who has remained loyal to Crucial Changes throughout the years.  Peace.