WORD SALAD

Word Salad - Full set from a 2007 show I booked for them in Berkeley, CA

Dave Mello

Jewdriver original lineup after a show I booked for them in Oakland at "Punx Not Presses" on 40th and Adeline in 2003. It's their guitar player Dave's birthday, so wish Mr. Mello a happy one if by chance you spot him in line at Gordo on Solano.

Pigheart Transplant

Still Not Quiet On The Western Front: Sunday Matinee

Ludicra

Ludicra - Urban Guerrilla Zine b-day show in Berkeley, 2002

Photo by Sam Bortnick

16th and Shotwell

This used to be Rolling Stock Tires & Auto Repair before it was demolished in the middle of the night last November by the building's owner after a suspicious fire that displaced 21 people. Last I heard they were planning to build condos on the now empty lot.

Photo by Jay Unidos

Mike Giant

Slap tagging, San Francisco, 1994.  

Photo by Ben Lovejoy

TDK: The Dream Kontinues

Thursday Blog 1.7.16

Here is my first blog of the new year, and even though I’m looking forward to 2016, this is going to be a look back at Urban Guerrilla Zine in 2015.  I attempted to post a new blog every Monday towards the end of last year, which pretty quickly turned into every other Monday, but even so I’ve decided to commit to posting a couple a blogs a week in 2016.  Now, let’s take it back to time not so long ago.

In 2015, I managed to put out two zines, which isn’t that impressive.  On the other hand, when you’ve been putting out a zero zines per year for the last seven or eight years, two’s pretty good.  Urban Guerrilla Zine has never really gone away or stopped being active.  When there wasn’t a new issue of Urban Guerrilla Zine there were over a hundred UGZ Presents shows that I booked and promoted, like the UGZ Speed Trials for example, and when I stopped booking shows there was the internet.  When the internet started to feel a bit too isolating and detached, I decided to make zines again.  For most folks Urban Guerrilla Zine existed from 1997-2006, and that was pretty much it until 2015.

Urban Guerrilla Zine #17 was made to accompany a UGZ themed art show that took place in early 2015 at 1-2-3-4 Go! Records in Oakland, at the urging of Pat Libby for which I am grateful.  Urban Guerrilla Zine #17.5 was a half issue entitled “Summer Of No Love”, which was supposed to be out by late summer, but didn’t actually see the light of day until the fall due to issues with the printer.  In fact both zines had printer issues, and in both cases I found myself at Inkworks Press (a worker owned collective) in Berkeley, having to photocopy what were intended to be offset printed zines.  Inkworks doesn’t have the best copy machines, but they are well maintained, so the zines looked pretty good.  The biggest drop off from offset to photocopy would be the photo quality.  In the case of #17 I had to have it done in time for the art show, which we’d also advertised as a zine release party.  As far as the “Summer Of No Love” half issue went, I wanted that out as quickly as possible because I know me, and if I’d waited any longer then it would’ve ended up with all of the other unfinished projects cluttering my work area.

Urban Guerrilla Zine #17.5 is a very personal issue, but not a “personal zine”.  Maybe I should’ve made that distinction a bit more clear when describing it in previous posts.  I wasn’t that concerned with how much the graphics or stories resonated with the reader as much as I wanted to recreate this one summer in Emeryville, standing at a bus stop next to a casino that was in the process of being torn down, surrounded by elderly Asian gambling addicts and crack addicted prostitutes from the stroll a few blocks away on San Pablo Ave.  The vibe I felt while waiting to transfer to the bus I rode to my summer job at a bookstore, where I spent all day indoors when all I wanted was to hang out on Telegraph Ave with my friends.  I didn’t actually write any of that in the zine, but it’s there.

Looking ahead, I plan on doing more zines in 2016, one or two of those will be newer issues of UGZ for what has admittedly become a somewhat limited audience.  On the other hand, I don’t miss printing a thousand zines at a time, and distributing them, then trying to collect the money I’m owed from all the various distributors around the country.  I’m making zines at this point because I enjoy the process, and so I’ll see where that approach takes things from here on out.

If you didn’t get a copy of Urban Guerrilla Zine #17, the only remaining copies I know of are at Needles and Pens, 1173 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA

If you want a copy of Urban Guerrilla Zine #17.5 aka “Summer Of No Love”, then you can still purchase a copy at:

1-2-3-4 Go! Records, 420 40th Street #5, Oakland, CA

Issues Magazine + More, 20 Glen Ave, Oakland, CA

Pegasus Books, 2349 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA

Bound Together Books, 1369 Haight St, San Francisco, CA

Huey P. Newton

GODSTOMPER

Godstomper in Berkeley, 2008

Triad

Urban Guerrilla Zine b-day show in Berkeley, 2002

Photo by Sam Bortnick

Angela Davis

Angela Davis speaks at a Black Panther rally in DeFremery Park, West Oakland.

”Justice is indivisible. You can’t decide who gets civil rights and who doesn’t.”

East Bay Alternative Book & Zine Fest

IRON LUNG

Iron Lung from the first UGZ Speed Trials at Burnt Ramen in Richmond, 2003.

The following year we held them at the Slaughterhaus in Oakland, and then a couple of years later we held a few at Gilman, but even then I had to come out the pocket at first for posters, decorations, and trophies.  Thankfully Will Rutherford (who also painted the walls behind the Gilman stage for us) stepped in as treasurer at some point and I was able to get reimbursed for some of that stuff.  The trophies were from a spot in Fremont, and I used to drive out there from Berkeley to pick them up, usually a day or two before the shows.  Gilman was never that supportive of the UGZ Speed Trials, but there were always enough of us to win the vote.

Punk Paparazzi

Last Saturday in Oakland, attempting to photograph Josh and Robin (Black Fork, Severance Package) in front of 1-2-3-4-Go! Records with my old Olympus OM-1, while Pat Libby and Serena were behind me with iPhones taking their own photos.  I have no idea how my photos turned out (yet), but here's one of Serena's pics from that day.

UGZ Speed Trials

Here’s a Larry Wolfley photo taken at Burnt Ramen, and in the background you can see the top of a UGZ Speed Trials poster from 2002, the first year we did one.

SWANN DANGER

Jim Nastic playing drums for Swann Danger at a show we booked for them at 924 Gilman in 2008.

1984

1984 - CRUCIFIX 30TH Anniversary, which took place last Saturday in Oakland, California. 1984 performed the “Dehumanization” album in it’s entirety.

REAGAN SS

Reagan SS set from the 2002 Rampaging Insane Depravity Fest. The 2002 R.I.D. Fest took place at various venues throughout the Bay Area and Southern California. This set in particular is from day two of the fest, which took place at both Warm Water Cove in San Francisco during the day and 924 Gilman in Berkeley at night. Reagan SS played the Gilman show in the Bay Area and a house party in Long Beach when the fest moved south the following weekend.