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!

But on the other hand, a wave of new bands is coming inland, the pits are the domain of a new generation and you’d think there’s life in the scene yet. As long as people step up to replace the infrastructure that was there before and doesn’t just complain that nothing’s happening the way they want, all while navigating a city whose rent is doubling and where the cracks in UK ’23 are spilling forth all sorts of fucking garbage. Which begs the question: what do you reckon!

So! If you’re interested in submitting something, here’s what we want/don’t want:

• Yes, please: columns, interview ideas, photos from recent DIY gigs, cartoons, jokes, pointers to where who and where we should be covering in the zine.

• No, thank you: requests from PR or booking agents of any kind; interview pitches for bands with two Instagram posts and a management email; anything that contains hateful or discriminatory content (this should be obvious; no TERFS, no creeps); anything that is too explicit (someone asked this and I described the zine as like a BBFC 15, make of that what you will).

• The zine will be sent to print in October 2023 to go on sale in the autumn; as such your submission if approved must be ready by the end of September. There will be a launch event, more details on the horizon 😜

• I will cover your expenses if you require them (travel, subscriptions to archives, photo developing costs). AS is just me and has barely broken even, but I don’t want anyone to get out of pocket for it either. (If anyone has advice on applying for an Arts Council grant, please get in touch; there will also be another call for adverts closer to the publication date.)

If you are interested, please email: hello@anothersubculture.co.uk, put PITCH somewhere in the subject, and give us your best!

That's all for now, will say that now is a good time to get your September events submitted for the next listings zine and that I should hopefully be doing another zine fair in London at some point this year too. Going to enjoy the rest of the summer, see DEVO and attempt to play some cricket so next newsletter next month! Cheers all - B P / A S