Hello, paper punks. It's been a busy couple of weeks and it is now time to put on #NOTAFEST. Another Subculture is 10 is this weekend - Friday at Spanners until 2am, and then an all dayer on the Saturday over at Nunhead's Ivy House. Line-up is huge, noise will be played, come on down.

You haven't got long to get advance tickets: until midnight tonight (23/11) for Friday and until midnight tomorrow (24/11) for Saturday! There will be tickets on the door - a couple quid more, although no-one turned away for lack of funds of course. Any and all profits too, after paying the bands/venues will be going to Medical Aid for Palestinians who need all the cash you can give to help out in the nightmare in Gaza right now.

Hello, paper punks. It has been a month on the micro and the macro - but as ever, there will be gigs: November's listings are online, in the post for Patreons and appearing in the usual record shops, venues, and gigs across London post-haste.

One thing about this month's issue is that I have included information about already announced protests for Palestine and an immediate ceasefire; Another Subculture supports the work of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and other organisations working to get people on the streets, writing to MPs and keeping up the pressure to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and I have included information about announced marches/actions in the grid this month; where more events and directions to take action appear, they will be shared in the usual places.

There are, as you can expect, plenty of gigs and nights that are raising money for aid and towards medical organisations such as Medical Aid for Palestine, MSF and The Red Cross/Crescent and I have pointed out these where if you want to get your event promoted by AS then of course send it through via the website.

Hello, paper punks. A quick announcement: tickets for Another Subculture is 10 are now available. Two days, fourteen bands, two favourite venues (all in SOUTH London), not a fest.

Friday 24th November
PC WORLD, SKITTER, CHURCHGOERS, HELLISH TORMENT, RUBBER (& REPETITIVE STRAIN DJs)
Spanners, SW9 £10adv (£5 unwaged) 20:00-02:00
>>> CLICK HERE TO BUY FRIDAY TICKETS <<<

Saturday 25th November
HYGIENE, SNIFFANY & THE NITS, GIMIC, PLASTICS, SHAKE CHAIN, RIFLE, MORREADORAS, GROSS MISCONDUCT, SUBLUX (first show!)
Ivy House, SE15 £14adv (£7 unwaged) 15:00-00:00
>>> CLICK HERE TO BUY SATURDAY TICKETS <<<

All very exciting - and thanks to everyone who's getting stuck in to help too. A few things to know: both gigs are 18+; accessibility info is on each ticket page but please email if you have any questions; remember to take a lateral flow before you go (we'll have some masks at the door if you want them) and there will be a livestream for at least Saturday on the AS YouTube channel (the internet at Spanners has been patchy but that may be nothing a 4G modem can't fix?). SEE YOU THERE. 1️⃣0️⃣

Next email at the usual time; don't forget to get your event submitted in time for the November 2023 listings, and sign up to the Patreon if you want them in the post (no idea what's going on with the rebrand but all seems well so far.). Solidarity with the Bandcamp Union (and everyone closer to home striking this month too!)

Cheers, get to the gig - - B P / A S

Hello, paper punks. October's listings are on-line, in the post for Patreon people, and getting out and about in the coming days. A slight printing error and a vague Halloween theme in honour of Michael Parkinson, why not? (Ghostwatch, it's a lot of fun.) 

Hello, paper punks.

This is the month where everything gets colder and wetter and there's like a festival or an alldayer every week. Tomorrow (1st September) there's the Fuzzbrain extravaganza Hoodstock at Colour Factory, there's a weekend of sheer noise and grindcore at Chimpyfest next weekend and then after that, oh boy, the final Static Shock Weekend. Got a plan to "document" it — take some photos, get some vox pops — so if you're going and want me to record your substance-enhanced thoughts and feelings come find the big guy with the MiniDisc hat.

Took the day off work and got the September listings in some of the usual spots around London, so go find if you're heading to BOOKS, World of Echo, All Ages, the Record & Book Bar down West Norwood way and more besides; you can also download the PDF right now. Patreon people got theirs early, so sign up there to get the post! Much to enjoy this month, had to get the thin text out for all those line-ups too, whew...

Some news:

Hello, paper punks!

The next issue of Alternative Strategies is under way.

Having spent the last issue talking about the underlying foundations, histories, issues and all that’s wonderful and frustrating about The Punky in London, I want to go back to chatting to bands, reviewing gigs and spelling out what the battle lines are at the present moment. On the one side, we are seeing the end of a lot of institutions that blossomed over the 2010s: Static Shock Weekend ends this September, and Pump It Up/Ready Eye called it a day just last month; venues, shops and promoters are packing up;  what remains of the good music media remains in a precarious state. It’s been rough!

Hello, paper punks, and happy August! After a busy busy month, it's time for another monthly calendar - you can now download the latest version online and print copies will be in the letterboxes of subscribers by now too. Paperboy mode will be engaged over the coming days including at a few gigs here and there over the next few weeks.

As is expected, it looks like there's an all-dayer and an excuse for a BBQ every weekend in the month, and while the international festival routines have simmered down we're still seeing packed lineups and banging club nights all the way through so go find your evenings in the yellow pages!

So what of July? Started it on holiday over in Oakland, California watching Mika Miko (and ESG, Gravy Train!!!, Warp) in the not quite heat - only to return on a flight one day and get straight on a six hour train the next for Glasgow Zine Fest. I was nervous about turning up with my London-centric media but it was a great weekend, albeit one of those where you're tabling, sleeping, tabling, home. A bit like touring if you think about it! There was also the Current Affairs night at the Lexington too; gig of the year contender right there.

Hello, paper punks. Hope you've had a bountiful and not-too-bloody-hot June, which has if anything been my favourite month of gigs so far this year with Physique, Ribbon Stage, Gamma, Keno, R.Aggs and Screaming Females (and that's with me missing Sial, Savageheads and DJ Travella, fuck!) Will this momentum last with homegrown bands this summer... well, let's have a look:

July's listings are online now – a little early, and with nearly 60 events spanning punk, hardcore, electronic nonsense, experimental days and club nights across the capital. This page was printed earlier than usual and another run will be done soon, so if I've missed your event there's still time to get it online: email me, and don't forget the DIY Listings London website too. Hard copies are going to be at BOOKS Peckham with others sent to All Ages, Rough Trade and World of Echo too, and will be at gigs wherever I am.

Anyway! I'm going on holiday tomorrow so will be 'out-of-office' until Monday 10th July. (This means that if you want to grab a zine, it won't be posted until then, so go find in the city!) Out of the country and then back for Glasgow Zine Fest, where I'm excited to be tabling all weekend, although a bit worried about jet lag and selling London-centric media, but there we go.

Hello, paper punks. One of those "finally, it's ready" emails for you: The third issue of Alternative Strategies has been picked up this afternoon and it's our biggest and best yet...

Third punk paper. 48-page riso zine giving the scaffolding a good shake. UPSET THE RHYTHM ruminate on their two decades of putting gigs on under the same banner, and we talk to LIZ PELLY about whether underground music can resist being moulded by streaming and ‘the Mood Machine’.

There’s catch-ups with FIRST TIMERS, London promoter CRYPTIC GROWTH and VHS fanzine TORQUER and new writing on radical education, HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT, hardcore picks and where to find the best records on your way to Selhurst Park. And then there are reviews, photos from gigs across the city and a comic where GAME destroys the New Cross Inn. Loads and loads.

With new writing, photography and comix by LEIGH ARTHUR, JONNY BROKENBROW, DOLLY CARRIE, CREG CLARRRK, ELENA COLMAN, TOM OBERST, BEN PERKINS, SAM ROBINSON and COLETTE ROSA. Edition of 220, printed by PageMasters on green and black in Lewisham town centre, June 2023. I want to hear your band. ANOTHER SUBCULTURE.

Hello paper punks - a new month, three bank holidays, ol' sausage fingers getting coronated (is that the word?) and there's still lots of Loud Noises to consider. The May calendar zine is out now - in Patreon supporters' letterboxes, out and about (at Books Peckham, World of Echo, Crypt of the Wizard, WASTE, Waiting Room SE8 and more) and you can download a PDF on the website too. The extra bank holiday is looking particularly busy, whether it's the MOT rave on the big day to BIB supported by a cast of thousands on Monday 8th, cor blimey. And of course, there's First Timers at the end of the month - the festival where every band plays their first set and has given us bands like Big Joanie, Primetime, Charmpit, Breakup Haircut and many more...

On the back, I've given that side over to Sister Midnight, who are in the thick of getting a new venue readied for opening, we can hope, at the end of the year in the centre of Catford, just south of Lewisham. Always a pleasure hosting, playing and going to gigs in their shop in Deptford before the pandemic and can't wait to see what their plans are for the new spot, so have a look on their website, become a shareholder and see how you can get involved.

What else is happening: as my alter ego as one half of Repetitive Strain I'm co-hosting Pink Pound & Vaiapraia at Matchstick Piehouse on Friday, and Alternative Strategies #3 will be going to press this month, so hold tight for more info there. Mainly just to enjoy this acceptable temperature and not get too burnt - so far I have successed in one of these...

Take care, keep rockin' in the free world, get to the gig - - B P / A S

Hello, paper punks. Three nudges for you on a Friday:

1: You have until tonight (Friday 14th) to get your order in for an Another Subculture shirt. Getting the order off next week, you'll look great in early May courtesy of VinoSangre. If this goes well, yes there will be entertaining long sleeves in the pipeline, but I need to finish the next issue of Alternative Strategies first (more on that in the near future...)

Hello, paper punks.

Hey, it's spring, why's it miserable outside? Go indoors and have a dance at the fifty plus events on the April newsletter, which is now online for you to download. Having to choose between another great Spiral Jetty night at the Avalon or the one-two of Scratchclart/Aya (and Finn) the other end of the P12 has me breaking out into a cold sweat. Anyway! Yeah, fucking loads on this month spanning hardcore/indie pop/field recording/techno/noise/good old crust on a Sunday afternoon, so go enjoy yourselves.

Hello, paper punks.

You can now download the March 2023 gig calendar from the Another Subculture website, as well as find it here and there/out and about/etc and etc in London over the coming days. Patreon supporters got theirs in the post last weekend, and so can you; as always, if you have an IRL/mailorder spot where the grid can rest, give me an email.

Spring is on the way, February was full of noises - last weekend it was wicked to see No Home, R. Aggs, Findom, Sniffany and the Nits, new favourite Gamma, LaVire and more - plenty on, back to days where you have to choose wisely and March is no different.

Hello, paper punks. Quick plug:

As mentioned in my last internet newsletter Another Subculture's next gig is enroute: No Home, Findom and Paddywak will play cool noize post-punk noises to you at the Avalon Cafe on the Surrey Canal Road on Sunday 12th March.

Tickets are now available on WeGotTickets - £8 or £4 unwaged - fill your boots.
*** LET'S CELEBRATE AND VAPOURISE ***

Hello, paper punks.

The February 2023 calendar is live and kicking and will be out and about in the Big City (I'm taking the 1st of the month off to distribute, everyone's on strike then so I recommend you do the same!), heading to the Patreons' postboxes and online for you to download right now. Got a bit of a template going and there's 35+ reasons to leave the house, and a little bit of news too:

Alternative Strategies is coming back in the spring and I'm spending next month getting some interviews and ideas together. As such, submissions are open if you want to get a column, interview, photos, cartoons, rude words or whatever else printed on London's finest recycled paper come April/May. Deadline is the end of February to pitch and then you'll have another month to get it in: email hello@anothersubculture.co.uk for any more details and to pitch.

Hello, paper punks. Happy New Year if you're reading this after a Saturday night to forget the general state of the past twelve months - I keep saying that in the micro, it's been a good 2022 even if the macro has been ever more concerning, upsetting and tedious.

If you're reading this and it's still New Year's Eve and you need somewhere to go: I'd recommend the Ivy House in Nunhead, Soft Landing at the Avalon Cafe, Marquis of Granby in New Cross, Rhythm Section's night at Corsica Studios, Biddle's Bar up in Clapton (Alec from Skitter's DJing), Venom & Leather at Helgi's and having a nice good sleep if all else fails.

Hello, everyone! Quick monthly update about the quick monthly update: the December (and therefore Festive) one-sheet is out now, and can be downloaded at anothersubculture.co.uk. Decided that red paper was worth a go - this may look great with the toner shining in the winter sun, but perhaps isn't the most readable, hmm - but these are going out to Patreons in the post (these may be delayed due to the strikes; read up on the CWU website here - solidarity to every striking worker in this chaos country!)

It's Christmas, come buy paper:

Hello, paper punks. Why is it this warm still? Probably fine.

A quick email to make you aware of a couple of past, present and future events to keep you tiding over. Everything is pivoting to Christmas and end of year lists that really do just look like shopping lists and I'm going to be compiling the December listings over the coming days - let's see if that second half drop-off continues and not because of The Disease. If you have New Year plans or just want to put on a gig where you can cover the Greedies, then submit your event on the website before Tuesday 22nd November.

Get to the gig This Friday: leather.head, Joy-Rides, Gross Misconduct at Dulwich Hamlet FC

Hello again, paper punks.

Still a bit of a mess out there, hope you're keeping steady - been going out more, seeing the sights and getting the colds. The booster's in my arm and the plans are in the brain, even if out there everyone seems a little knackered and wondering how not to lose money while promoting (or renting, or breathing in London?) Going to see Special Interest tonight so that'll solve everything for what, twenty minutes? And there's a fair bit to update you on, starting with:

November listings out now - and online

Hello again, punk papers.

A quick one while I recover from Static Shock Weekend: Alternative Strategies' autumn 2022 issue is out now and I'll be getting some distro copies out in the world throughout September. But I'm starting shipping orders from tomorrow, so buy one RIGHT NOW.

I will also be tabling at the Anarchist Bookfair zine zone at the Freedom Bookshop in Whitechapel this coming Saturday (17th September). Entry is free, I'll have new and old zines and whatever merchandise I still have ready for you - come down, get some seditious literature, save a few quid on postage. If you've got zines and want a table, email Pete (of BOOKS fame) at books@books-peckham.com but be quick!