I’m Ken Holewczynski and among the others thing I do, recently started Tabu Recordings (under my House of Tabu LLC), and have releases on vinyl from The Madeira, The Tentakills, Test Subject 17 and the upcoming Lords of Atlantis LP and Los Grainders - in partnership with MuSick Recordings. However, I also publish Exotica Moderne, a quarterly magazine covering the Tiki scene, events, bars, cocktails and of course, the music.
Someone recently poised the question of a new surf dedicated magazine and I’ve been giving it some thought. I’d love to do such a publication but there are a few caveats to consider.
First, I’d need a pool of writers. I have two very dedicated and insightful music writers for Exotica Moderne, but that certainly isn’t enough without over burdening them given we all have regular jobs to do.
Second, I’d need the support of labels or bands by way of advertising as printing is costly.
Third, I’m not sure of what frequency to think about. I do EM quarterly but maybe a surf oriented mag could be bi-yearly? I’m not really sure on that one but I know EM takes me 3 months to pull together and quarterly works for that. Frequency of publication would hinge of article submissions and how much support I’d get from advertising.
I would need bands and labels to submit their releases (I’d prefer physical media but certainly would accept digital-only as well). Bands would need high resolution photos (this is an issue with Exotica Moderne as many times people think an image pulled off the internet will work in print).
Anyone with the knowledge to write some historical surf guitar pieces would certainly be encouraged, too. If I was to pursue this, I’d want the magazine to cover all aspects. Most likely I’d also want to include some adjacent musical style like 60s garage, etc. to make the magazine a bit broader based.
I could go on, but these are the first major points and I’m trying to gauge interest from both consumers and possible contributors.
Comment if you would so I can make a somewhat informed decision (lol). Publishing a printed magazine takes planning, time and the costs are high, so I’m definitely looking for some feedback!

Cool idea, Ken. Hope muchly it comes to fruition.

--
Project: MAYHEM -and- Moonbase Surficalus by Hypersonic Secret now available!

Fady wrote:

I would never say there isn't room in the market for a better mousetrap or alternative choices. You've already taken on that challenge on the label side, granted in partnership with with of the main existing 4 labels or so (MuSick, DoubleCrown, Hi-Tide, Sharawaji come to mind).

It seems to me multiple labels works because there are plenty of bands interested in putting out recordings - some on their own, but mostly not it seems. By that logic, there should also be sufficient content to produce a complimentary publication. There are 2 prominent and long standing publications that you're likely aware of; DoubleCrown's Continental Magazine and Pipeline out of the UK. I believe they both aim for quarterly issues. Continental includes a CD with each issue, usually 20+ songs. I am pretty sure Pipeline is just print.

What I don't know, how much overlap they have content wise (bands/releases), or how much it matters. There's always been a few competing (or, complementary) music magazines covering pretty much any scene. And even if you included a CD/music, whose to say you couldn't work with contributing bands to purposefully include alternative tracks to what they may have submitted to the Continental.

I suspect your biggest challenge might be securing quality writers who are interested, knowledgeable, and willing to contribute regularly for some predictable quality content (rather than hit/miss ransom notes style).

If it were me taking on the venture... I might consider a super 'glossy' digital only version (with sufficient file/content protections), or more likely the other extreme, a super-lux high end print version a-la The Fretboard Journal or The Golfers journal. The quality long form essays and stories, artistic photography and such along with premium paper in this day and age seems counterintuitive, but both of those have proven it's a model that can work and last. Fewer subscribers at higher subscription rates, but often fanatical disciples that see the subject and style of the content as part of their identity, in turn, they are often in it for the long haul.

Hope that's some useful thoughts for you... even if it is just one person's take.

My current Tiki magazine, Exotica Moderne is full color, 48 pages and I've been producing it for 5 years, now going on 6. I do get support in it from Hi-Tide and MuSick in terms of advertising buys, plus releases to review from most labels and bands. Sean carries EM on the Double Crown site as well. The Madeira release was something I put out on my own, with Sean jumping in for his exclusive red vinyl version. The Tentakills, Lords of Atlantis are 100% done by me and Art pitched partnering on Los Grainders. I'm a DIYer from way back but I also play well with others (lol) Being an old school print person, a digital-only publication really doesn't excite me the way print does. That also may be push back from actually working on a computer for 90% of my day and when I want to relax, reading on a screen does not seem fun.

But you're right in the groundwork needed is quality writing and photography and reaching out to potential advertisers.

Just so you can see what I currently publish, here's a link to the latest issue of EM:

https://houseoftabu.com/products/exotica-moderne-20

I have spent some 15 years as a top manager in big publishing houses like Haymarket, ITC or Burda and was working a lot with hobby magazines - auto, sports, IT, DIY and some others. I also had a rock music web site/forum(no longer available) and moderatly popular surf music blog that I stopped writing when the ruzzian invasion started, so we may probably talk about contributing to you magazines. I also have a surf band that needs a label, so we have a lot to talk about if you wish)))

Concerning the idea of making separate surf music magazine - as a fan I am fond of the idea but as a publisher not really so. Maybe to make it a little broader as you said, including some other 50/60 stuff would be more interesting both for wider audiences and for advertisers or partners. If it’s this narrow - then it probably should be “ super-lux high end print version” for rich surf snobs, why not))) this is also a niche.
Defining target audience and their needs and wished is crucial here, world surf community is not so big but also not homogeneous.
I also understand your desire to make a print magazine, I have just received a bunch of Continental magazines and it’s so much fun to read them in garden)
These are just first thoughts, I guess I may come back later with more detailed thoughts and ideas.

Exotica Moderne looks like a great magazine btw!

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Hi Ken,
I am all in favor of more print magazines! Reviews and interviews carry more weight when published-- they just seem more real.
I have had a regular review column and been conducting interviews for The Continental for the past 10 issues, and I find it extremely satisfying work. I'm sure there are others out there who are passionate about the genre. Best of luck to you, in all your endeavors!
Ferenc

Buy Endless Drummer @ Bandcamp
Frankie and the Pool Boys website
Buy Speed of Dark @ Bandcamp
Pollo Del Mar website
My Blog- Euro Tour Blog
Pool Boys on Spotify
INSTAGRAM
Frankie & The Pool Boys on Facebook
Pollo Del Mar on Facebook
DJ Frankie Pool Boy on North Sea Surf Radio

nismosurf wrote:

I have nothing to contribute other than if it comes to be, please don’t make it digital only. That’s NOT a magazine, that’s a website and there’s millions of them and most of them are terrible.

J
Oh, I believe in print!

They said vinyl was dead, too, and look at us now.

--
Project: MAYHEM -and- Moonbase Surficalus by Hypersonic Secret now available!

Regarding sufficient audience... the thought keeps coming to me that rather than working in adjacent music genre's, what if you went literal with it... Surf music and Surfing / Surf culture?

That would definitely be a much bigger global addressable market. The other benefit, it's funny how few folks that surf today think of what we do when we say 'surf music'. They'd also get turned onto a good bit of music they've likely not heard ...and in turn become a new audience to buy surf music too! On the flip side, for those of us deep into the music, well, we'd surely get a lot of inspiration from great surf trip journals, photo's, and whatnot. Certainly subject matter ripe for the super-lux format.

You may still end up folding in neighboring music genre's or what the Surfing/Surf Culture community consider Surf/Surf-esq/Surf Culture oriented. Who knows. If you did, the key would be mix - what share would be this communities version of Surf music and what would go beyond.

More food for thought!

Fady

El Mirage @ ReverbNation