From the Houston Press.
“Zine Fest Houston has been growing, but their mission remains as punk rock as ever – ‘that attendees discover new zines and are inspired to create their own art and media projects.’”
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/artattack/2011/05/print_is_not_dead_zine_fest_ho.php
Jeremy Hart, a long-time pillar of the Houston alternative music and zine scenes, talks about Zine Fest Houston and local zine history on his blog, Space City Rock.
From the article: ” … this is one of the few little corners of the creative world that has yet to be completely mainstreamed (hopefully it never will be), and I was blown away when I last attended one of the earlier Zinefests, back in 2008.”
Check out the interview about Zine Fest Houston on the Free Press website.
4:oo pm: Zine Fest Houston 2011 begins!
4:30 pm: Zine reading by Kirk Loftin (of CatBat)
5:00 pm: The Grass Skirts
5:45 pm: Organ Failure
7:00 pm: Panel Discussion (with Film Monitor, Robbie & Bobby, Space City Nerd, and Weak Highlights)
7:30 pm: Muzak John
8:00pm: Infant Mortality Rate
8:40 pm: Carlos Pozo
9:20 pm: Rotten Piece
10:00pm: Zine Fest Houston 2011 ends
Below is an interview with Gingham Ghost, one of the many exhibitors at the 2011 Zine Fest Houston.
What is your favorite part of ZineFest?
It’s great to sell minicomics but the best part is meeting new zinesters and trading.
What are your favorite zines/minicomics?
We’re big fans of self-published autobiographical comics likes… King Cat (John Porcellino), Big Plans (Aron Nels Steinke), Phase 7 (Alec Longstreth), Milkyboots (Virgina Paine), Clutch (Greg Means), Brainfag (Nate Beaty) and Just So You Know (Joey Alison Sayers).
What will be at your table at this years ZineFest?
We will be bringing a slew of our minicomics, highlights include…
“Okay? Okay!” - an autobiographical double comic telling the same love story from two different perspectives in two contrasting art styles.
“AOA #1″ - a huge collection of colorful hand-painted diary comics by Melinda Tracy Boyce, a twenty-something exploring Portland and hanging out with her boyfriend.
“Batcave Beach Chapter 1″ – a fictional story about an outcast who sneaks into a private school’s party, befriends an eccentric duo obsessed with death and begins a haunting and quirky adventure to discover the meaning of life… before it’s too late.
What new projects are you working on this year?
We will continue our diary comics and our monthly Digital Zine distributed by email (sign up for it for free at www.ginghamghost.com) as well as work on the exciting second chapter of Batcave Beach.
What other creative ventures do you have besides creating zines?
Besides zines and comics we create music as The Jellyfish Bandits. Aaron Whitaker also is a painter and screenwriter.
ArmzRace is one of the many exhibitors at this year’s Zine Fest Houston. Below is an interview with Cej.
How long have you been making comics?
Unofficially, I’ve been creating comics off and on most of my life. Officially, ArmzRace began in 1998 when Mark! and I decided that we wanted to get serious about making comics. We realized that the only way to get anything done was to set some (realistic) goals and then make each other stick to them. Since then, we have prodded each other along, sharing critiques and information about new techniques, and hopefully we have become better as creators and produced some great comics. Over the years, other creators, like Hardtraveling Hero have joined in the ArmzRace merriment.
Why do you create comics? Why do you like comics?
I’ve been reading comics for as long as I can remember. They are a wonderful medium for expressing the whole range of human emotions and ideas. They are relatively low-cost to create, but they have tremendous scope, really only limited by the creator’s imagination. And while there are some “good practices,” there are no hard and fast rules on how they must be done. Sometimes I feel stymied because my artwork isn’t as good as I’d like it to be, but then I remember that there have been some great comics that only had stick people. That encourages me to keep creating.
What is something you’re looking forward to about the 2011 zine fest Houston?
Comic creation tends to be a fairly individual endeavor, so I’m hoping to meet other like-minded creators. It’s always great to see what other people are working on, because it helps inspire me in my own work. Public feedback is always good for personal development, but it means even more when it comes from people who have been in the trenches. Additionally, I’d love to meet other people who’d like to join the ArmzRace and create comics alongside me.
What will be on your table at this year’s zine fest?
ArmzRace will have about a half dozen mini-comics from Cej, Mark!, and the Hardtraveling Hero. They range from short fiction to autobiography to gag comics. I’m hoping to finish my fourth mini prior to the Fest (somehow May 21 snuck up on me!). It will be a book of political comics and commentary called Cannon Fodder.
Any parting thoughts?
I want to encourage people to come out to Zine Fest and support the arts scene in Houston. Likewise, I invite everyone to take a look at http://ArmzRace.com I enjoy getting people’s feedback, and I’d love to have other creative types join the Race!
Waste and Void is one of the many exhibitors participating in the 2011 Zine Fest Houston. Below is an interview with the distribution group.
Why do you create zines?
To put it succinctly: We are anarchists; we desire the destruction of this society in favor of one that allows for true freedom. Of course these are loaded terms and these things won’t occur without some sort of provocation. So we create and distribute zines to address both of these issues: we seek to define our desires and incite others to join us in our struggles.
What will be on your table at this year’s zine fest?
Well, some of the themes our distro likes to explore are illegalism, insurrectionary and anti-civilization theory, crime, and anthropology. So, we’ll have everything from anthropology essays and herbal medicine primers to manuals on creating secret hiding places and lockpicking guides. We’ll also have universal handcuff keys and possibly lockpick sets for sale.
How did you become interested in zines?
When one of us was 16, they were locked up for several different felony charges, and as their time went on, the Anarchist Black Cross Federation began sending them zines every week. These zines helped them do their time and get out unaffected by the state. Zines can reach youth, prisoners, and subversives in a way that books cannot.
What other creative ventures do you have besides making zines?
Aside from zines and literature, we’re also working on creating stickers and pins to give out. We also like graffiti (the legal kind, of course 
). Though really, we aren’t too into creation; destruction is more our thing.
What is something you’re looking forward to about the 2011 zine fest Houston?
Honestly, we’re most looking forward to meeting individuals who hold some sort of interest in learning more about anarchy, criminality, and life beyond this wretched civilization. We’re absolutely thrilled to make new friends and discuss/debate what can definitely be contentious issues.
