Much more than an excellent alt. music, arts and lifestyle read, Devolution magazine has, in its 8 year evolution from photocopied zine to respected glossy, inspired something of cult. To a great degree, that's down to the passion and personal touch of editor Nickie Hobbs, who in her own words doesn't put in a 70+ hour week for the financial rewards, so when she found the mag's future in question recently there was a lot more than a job at stake. SinZine speaks to Nickie about the reader-instigated 'Save Devolution' campaign - and urges you to get involved, and support truly independent and alternative media at its best.
Now, I know you clicked here to read about Devolution magazine and its esteemed editor Nickie Hobbs, and so worry I'll come across a touch self-indulgent when I begin with the personal. However, my own experience of editing a fanzine - the long-running 'Bubblegum Slut', which was laid to rest this summer after more than 10 years in print - has led me to feel that with self-publishing it is always personal.
Devolution, Nickie's paper 'n' ink baby, has to my mind always perfectly encapsulated this greatest virtue of the underground press throughout its own 8 years and counting. From Issue 1 the lady's big personality and passion for her subjects has leapt from every page. Her dedication to giving every reader her time and personal attention has helped Devolution to amass an army of supporters, who in turn happily devote hours to promoting the mag. And, as Devolution's readership has grown and its name gained recognition, she has shown an inspiring allegiance to those original small-press aims of exposing new talent over the big names which Devo is now quite capable of attracting.
For a long time, Devolution and Bubblegum Slut developed side-by-side, and a flick through either publications' back issues will prove we regularly reviewed each others' work for years. Around the often punishing schedule which balancing zine editing and being able to pay the rent can inflict, Nickie and I would always manage a couple in-person catch-ups a year, at festivals or the ever expanding Devolution Xmas event, and for me at least these came as a rare opportunity to chew over those 'problems only zine editors have' with someone who, not only never looked bored to tears, but who saw eye-to-eye on many points. To a great degree, the following interview reads much like one of those conversations comparing editorial experience. It captures why Nickie does what she does so well, and describes the wonderful rewards which do come for all those mind numbing hours spent transcribing interviews and mailing out mags. But with Devolution having hit hard times recently when Nickie's personal life was turned upside down, this interview also reminds me that, when you invest so much of yourself into a project, the problems it hits become personal and whatever happens at home inevitably affects your passion.
This was among the reasons which led me to stop publishing 'Bubblegum Slut', and so Nickie's perseverance now gives me all the more reason to admire her work. That admiration is evidently shared by the 500 odd folks actively supporting the 'Save Devolution Magazine' Facebook campaign, which set up within days of Nickie making it public knowledge that the magazine's future was threatened. The offers of help which have poured in, financial and otherwise, show strongly the level of love and loyalty which Nickie's work on Devolution has inspired. At this pivotal point in the mag's development, I asked my good friend and the lady behind it all about her story so far and where she goes from here.
The obvious point to start at is with the story of how you got into this game! Did the inspiration for Devolution come from finding the zine scene and simply falling for the idea of self-publishing? Or, Devo being a mag which has so effectively carved out its own niche, I wonder if the starting point was quite the opposite, and it was a lack of what you wanted to read which you led you to thinking ‘if you want something doing….'?
It was definitely us deciding that there was a market gap. There was a magazine that catered solely for music or for fashion or for lifestyle and with the demise of Meltdown magazine which was aimed at the gothic audience there wasn’t anyone around at the time doing the obvious and amalgamating the lot into one whole resource, Devolution bridged the gap and fused punk, rock, metal, thrash and gothic music with burlesque, tattoos, fashion, lifestyle, modelling, photography and genuine alternative people who wanted to be involved in a special project that could be shared and loved around the world. The idea was quickly transformed from theory to practical and the rest truly is history.
At the point you published your first issue, did you see Devo becoming something that you would eventually give up the day job for, and come to live and breathe to the degree you do now? Or did the all-consuming nature of zine-editing kinda creep up on you too?!
The first issue of Devolution was a colour photocopy and staple together affair! Some people are very proud to have owned a copy of that makeshift first edition and I love being able to say that that was how it started. It truly had an air of 100% DIY. Our 3rd issue was the first glossy printed affair and was received highly by readers who were all looking for that unique blend of music, fashion, features, competitions and articles on alternative lifestyle matters. I had no idea that Devolution would be such a well-received publication but it certainly grew fast and strong and without the corny ‘if it wasn’t for the fans we wouldn’t exist’ line we really wouldn’t…simple as! The support, understanding contributions and readers are what kept us striving for a bigger better and more versatile magazine. Devolution was born in 2003 but even by the end of that year it had carved a name and niche for itself and our family was born. The increasing workload was never a problem and there was certainly no creeping of It, that workload just smacked us all in the face and we knuckled down and ran with it, one minute it was a drunken idea that we formulated in the pub and the next we had a readership fan base and the support of a very healthy and vibrant diy community. I kept my very high profile document analyst day job for 4 years while running Devolution and the pressures of maintaining them both came to a close in 2006 when I resigned from my post to take Devolution full time. This magazine has never and will never make me any money, but then I knew that before I quit my job. Its hard work, frustrating, demanding and so stressful but the reward and respect along with being able to do something I truly love is sometimes worth more than the financial gain, however at this point I would like to thank the readers, advertisers and bands who appear on our covermount cds because despite not doing it for the money, it needs a certain financial amount to obviously produce it!
As mentioned above, one of Devolution’s strongest suits is the way in which it has established an identity, and a niche of readers who go all out identify with the mag - whether by wearing the merch with pride, signing up to the army of Devo girls & boys or just enthusiastically promoting the mag anyway they can. How do you define what Devo stands for, and also sum up the core readers with whom the mag’s outlook has struck such a chord?
Wow, these are hard questions! Obviously I can’t speak for the majority but from the feedback I have had many readers and contributors love the magazines moral grounds. They love how we aren’t afraid to include bands, models and artists who might not necessarily shift units of the magazine if they are relatively unknown and they love how personal we are. I dedicate a lot of time to ‘customer service’ and making people feel important and special, like they are truly part of something big and wonderful. We try not to mass produces email answers or have standard responses. I even handwrite notes to readers and spend a lot of time networking with people and asking them how their day is or chatting to them for lengthy periods of time at our events and stalls around the country. It takes a large proportion out of my daily routine but in the long run this approach has proved fruitful time and time again so I will continue to do this. I try and familiarize myself with as many readers and contributors as possible and I think many appreciate the personal touch and how I go out of my way to bring them into the Devolution circle. We stand for a very simple message, be yourself! Celebrate your individuality and your art. Share your experiences; be active and involved within this alternative community. We are all so creative and so unique in our own ways and Devolution embraces it all. We are guys and girls who appreciate the finer, freakier, more outlandish more surreal things in life and Devolution is the platform in which it all stands upon. Though I speak as if we have global domination the truth is we are a tiny tiny proportion of this alternative globe but we are passionate and sincere and to quote one of my muses ‘it isn’t the size of the crowd, it’s the heart of the crowd that matters’ and goddamn our crowd have a huge beating out of your chest heart that is captured amongst our pages.
At the time I edited a print zine, I was often asked whether I feared the dominance of digital media to be fast making print extinct. I know there are far less labour-of-love inde mags out there on paper than when you or I started, but I still do feel that there is reason to believe the best of them will survive. What’s your take; are there always going to be some qualities to the magazine that would just never translate if stuck Devo’s content up online?
Plain and simple I truly believe us going digital would ruin Devolution. Granted we would be more accessible, we would probably become more regular with our releases and our production costs would decrease dramatically but I have said for almost 8 years and stood by the fact that I just don’t see that happening for us. I think it would be stupid to ignore the technical exposure and so in the future we may look into certain platforms like IPhone and Ipad having a digital Devolution option but I could not turn our glossy A4 printed beauty into a lifeless on screen download that people can take or leave as they wish. The printed version of the magazine is something I know that people love to take with them anywhere they go, it’s accessible any time of day or night without needing an internet connection and it is something you can pass round to friends and relatives to read over and over. A printed magazine feels great, smells wonderful and can be treasured and kept to be brought out time and time again. We also offer physical cd covermount cds every issue and an A3 poster which bring the entire package to life. The cost of printing rises annually and in the download age many people won’t fork out £4.00 for a magazine, they want it but they want it for free and to do that it would mean jeopardizing everything I and others have worked for over these years and I’m not ready to do that just yet. We may be fighting but it’s a cause worth fighting for and I truly hope we can stay afloat and keep printed media alive! There is no disrespect meant to other editors who have opted for a download digital magazine, I read many of them regularly myself but as the Editor of my own magazine I want a physical format.
The amount that gets invested into a self-published mag can make running one alternately a real joy and a serious source of stress! For you, what have proved the hardest parts of the job? And then what do you consider those greatest rewards, that encourage you to keep going every time it gets tough?
The toughest things are definitely technology failure! In the past year everything has failed me literally weeks before print in most cases. The most recent problem was a motherboard failure 2 days before we were to go to print with Issue 29, which resulted in a 9am Argos trip for a laptop and an afternoon of reinstalling programmes, fonts and going over emails to resave all the artwork and interviews etc. and then turning that issue around in 8 days, then the following Issue 30, somehow it managed to corrupt the file which resulted in the loss of almost 68 pages of work which were not salvageable, meaning I spent 14 days doing 15 hours shifts putting it all back together again to get to print. I can’t begin to tell you what stress, frustration and self-doubt comes into play during these difficult periods. We have no official IT team, we do not work in an office building with help at hand, everything is dealt with by us personally using whoever or whatever means are at our disposal and at the end of the day if the knowledge or money isn’t there, we have to get resourceful and find a way to fix it! I could easily have walked out on this magazine several times, especially in the last year but it means too much to me and it means a hell of a lot to our readers and advertisers to let adversity win. So each issue ends up becoming so personal and so significant that it is engrained with each page. The rewards are seeing it arrive fresh from the printers, seeing and hearing the response from our fans when they all get their copies and being able to promote and publish some of the most amazing talented people in the industry. Every single band, model, artist, photographer, burlesque dancer, event, lifestyle piece, review and make up artistry is chosen by myself and my wonderful team and every issue is an outstanding showcase that we are all very proud to put together for the rest of the world to share.
I’ve definitely learned that, when working for yourself, time management is just about the single most important skill there is - and yet I still haven’t got a clue how you handle publishing & promoting the mag, AND putting on two ambitious annual events in The Alt Collective, and Devo’s Xmas party - and that’s before even considering all the mundane stuff like mail outs! Enlighten me; what’s a typical working day-in-life like for you?
A typical day for me would be to wake up, brush teeth, swap one pair of pyjamas for my ‘work’ pyjamas which include vest top and usually my awesome stripy bloomers by Little Red Mischief which are comfy and cute so I don’t look too ridiculous answering the door to the postman at 1pm in nightwear ha-ha, then I will check Facebook, emails, post and start replying. I almost always make a to-do list for each day and a typical day will include talking to my wonderful contributors to see how they are getting on, organizing guest list passes and interview requests and I guess a lot of my day is spent networking. On top of that is the processing of the daily webshop orders to package and send out, post office runs, sending out invoices, drumming up advertising and writing my own interviews and features for the current issue that we are all working on. I used to skip lunch for years but have now tried to include that and I have an obsession with hoovering when I am trying to solve a problem or work out what is the next important thing I need to do – weird I know but therapeutic none the less! Being self-employed and working from home can be pretty boring and is a very isolated and lonely existence and the only real connection with the outside world for most of the week is via Facebook, telephone or emails but all this boring daily routine stuff is what builds up each quarter to produce Devolution and though I don’t really earn much of a wage despite my 70+ hour working week I do think it’s the lifestyle that works for me, and obviously there are many perks to working at home and living outside of the normal 9-5 routine. I think it would be very hard for me to go back to that if I am honest.
Without dwelling on the details, Devo’s future has been under threat very recently - resulting in the rapidly growing ’Save Devolution Magazine’ campaign. The appreciation for your work that has been demonstrated in many quarters via this is quite inspiring - did you even have an inclining that there was quite so much support there until your readers and colleagues stepped up? And, while I imagine the whole campaign has been quite overwhelming, what stand out to you as some of the most touching individual offers of support for the mag generated?
The ‘Save Devolution Magazine’ campaign was something I thought would never ever have to happen. Unfortunately due to some substantial untimely and out of my control personal issues that arose and knocked me for six a few months ago meant that my world was turned upside down and Devolution faced imminent closure. A friend of mine created the Save Devolution event back in early October to raise awareness to my personal situation offering anyone who wanted to help the chance to make a difference. Within 72 hours I just couldn’t believe the sheer amount of support love friendship and enthusiasm that came flooding through my inbox and via the event page to not let the magazine or myself fail. I have never been so bowled over by the generosity and concern from both friends and total strangers and I am so truly grateful and so utterly overwhelmed everyday even now. I had no idea how much appreciation was out there for the work Devolution does and the work I personally do for people around the world. I have had people offering me cash donations, businesses taking out advertising, readers purchasing subscriptions and merchandise, designers auctioning off their wares and unique special one off creations. There are people who maybe couldn’t help financially so they have found other ways to help raise awareness like Sinzine who have interviewed me about Devolution and things like that. Even now the campaign is still something that people are involved in and sharing on their Facebook pages etc. Essentially any donations received are helping to keep on top of our printing bills and to help with the funding of this year’s Devolution Xmas party. I am just so glad to know so many beautiful souls that really come through when it mattered and this campaign has only enhanced my ambition to keep it running and to strive for a successful and lengthy shelf life. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has helped me and Devolution.
The campaign has focused for a large part on the Xmas party - an event which has itself grown at an amazing rate year-on-year. What can you tell us about plans for 2011, to persuade those who haven’t got their ticket already to hurry up?
This year is our return to form at The Face Bar in Reading on Saturday 26th November. We have 4 amazing bands, opening with Kerosene Queen from the Midlands, then feisty Mancunians Obsessive Compulsive, a special performance from the rockabilly horror duo Devilish Presley and then our freaky headliners The Shanklin Freak Show closing the stage. In-between that we have our gorgeous Devo Girl Miss Bruise Violet performing a new act and the cabaret/burlesque/sideshow collective from Southampton known as Carnival Of Carnage who will be providing almost 90 mins of entertainment. We have DJ’s, stalls offering handmade wares, Reading Holistics are providing treatments and massages in our relaxation area, there are free goody bags on the door to the first 100 people who arrive, a tombola with some insanely great prizes, free sweets and cupcakes and the very talented Scott Chalmers has his usual photo booth set up offering free shoots to anyone who wants to step in front of the camera so remember to dress to impress! 12 hours of entertainment in a great venue with many wonderful people who are all there to have a fun time and network for just £15.00, we want this to be our biggest party ever so do come on down and share this very special event with us!
It’s a great array of acts that are getting some exposure this year, and when you receive bag loads of music in the mail, I’m sure you’ll agree that one of the major perks of zine editing is to be made aware of a lot of new talent! From the vantage point of having all this stuff sent your way, what emerging artists can you recommend to us right now?
I have my eye and ears on some great new bands right now who are going to be making a lot of noise and winning over a lot of new fans in the next few months so my top 3 recommendations right now would be the following:
Long Day Fear (http://www.facebook.com/longdayfear) are a rock metal band who have that stoner, blues and gurn metal vibe. Their songs are infectious, the riffs are punchy as hell and they will be supporting My Ruin in January on their UK tour so make sure you get to the shows early enough to see these guys perform!
Koru (http://www.facebook.com/koruband) are a metal inspired band that I saw live recently and they absolutely blew me away! The band are tight as hell and vocalist Roy has an extremely diverse vocal range allowing for a very versatile performance. Great guys with fantastic musicianship and they put on a highly entertaining show!
Evestus – http://www.facebook.com/evestus This creative soul has been on my playlist for the last few years but I am very excited to announce that this metal industrialist who also has elements of orchestra, rock, rap and punk in his music is a media mastermind who is as creative visually as he is musically and with new material being unleashed in early 2012 I think it’s the perfect time to introduce him to Sinzine readers! I would also like to add all of the bands playing the Christmas Party, make sure you check them out too as there is a reason why they were handpicked for this year’s event and they are all amazing so show them some love too!
And of course Devo is as much alt fashion and lifestyle mag as it is music paper, so how about designers and brands coming up at the moment? Who do you tip for great things?
Wow – this could simply be answered with a lengthy listing of designers because right now the scene is bursting with creativity and there is so much choice out there for people of all ages, sizes and tastes. It would be very difficult for me to narrow down to just a few so I’m going to list a few that I have personally collaborated with recently or am having items made up for me to personally wear to events in the next few months.
SweetDelirium Jewellery -
Specialising in real animal and bird skull jewellery, antique medical and scientific equipment converted into wearable curios, real X-ray prints, 3d wall art and more. They have the most beautiful creations and I will be rocking a very special custom made headpiece at the Xmas Party!
MT Coffinz –
They are based overseas but have the most magical creations as well as a vegan make up range. Each item is handmade and makes you feel like an absolute princess when you wear them. I am very lucky to be getting another item made for me in a bit of a super mad rush despite their backlog of orders over the Halloween and Xmas period just so that I can feel glamorous and I can feel like belle of the ball once again! I can’t wait to see the final result of my chosen skirt!
Santa Macabre –
I have been raving about this little diy jewellery company for many months and now own quite a collection myself as well as getting custom made Devolution items to sell via our webstore. I love the religious, movie and horror inspired items as well as have a penchant for the custom made faux fur collars which are going to look so great as part of my autumn/winter wardrobe over the next few months!
Intravenous Clothing –
A local designer based in Reading who have some gorgeous quirky and unique designs amongst their arsenal. Latex, handmade jewellery, fascinators and hats, vintage pin up bags and steampunk and burlesque inspired items, they all have all had an intravenous injection of creativity and you should head to their page to spy their range.
Finally - the only closing question there could be! If you could play God for a day, who would you make an angel and who would you send to hell… and why?
Do you know in almost 8 years of using this as my interview closer question I don’t think I have personally EVER been asked this? Hmmmm I have thought long and hard and still do not know if this is a satisfactory answer but here goes. I would make my muse Tarrie B Murphy of My Ruin an angel. That woman has been a very dear friend to me both on a personal level and a professional one and has been an absolute saint to me over the last 14 years. Her music her attitude her inspiration and her friendship warrants recognition from me and I think she deserves to live as an angel for a day. Hell? Well I don’t want to get too personal but I would say that place would be absolutely reserved for a very complicated friend of mine who has unnecessarily brought chaos, mistrust and sheer confusion to my once secure and untainted princess life.
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SAVE DEVOLUTION EVENT
