Who's That Girl: Phoenix’s Reigning Zine Queen Dishes
by Jacki O.
courtesy Your Invisible City
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Chelsea Hodson is the kind of girl that almost makes me regret wasting my high school years smoking pot behind the athletic shed during lunch (I said almost). She makes zines, runs a zine distro, goes to school, has a job (at Kinkos appropriately) and even has quite a social life! And she just turned 18…..How does she do it??
I got to sit down and talk to Hodson over lunch one day and she explained it all.
Hodson got interested in zines when she was 13. She went to Tower Records in Tempe, saw some zines, and was impressed with the idea that someone could just make a magazine. She saw a lot of local zines, some good, some…well….let’s just say not so good, and thought “I could do this” and she did.
Her first zine was called Robots Will Someday Rule the World which she calls “really crappy”. She made 4 issues of Robots (the last issue just came out this January) but says that she’s ready to move onto another zine. In between Robots Hodson made Best Foot Forward with friend Rachel and is now working on one about high school.
I asked Hodson about her definition of what a zine is and she believes that self-publication is what zines are all about. They gotta have some heart and soul put in.
Her current favorite zines are Modest Proposal, First Rebellions, Night Organ, The Blacklist (out of L.A.), and Issue#12 of Burn Collector,
What does she think about Phoenix’s zine community after starting the zine distro Xerox Attack?
“I started Xerox Attack to let people know what a zine is” She says.
For Hodson it’s all about spreading zine love. She wants to see more people in the valley know what’s out there in terms of zine culture and that they themselves can make zines.
I asked Chelsea what she thought about the local independent scene in Phoenix she says she loves some of the local bands such as Reindeer Tiger Team, Asleep in the Sea, Awesome, Treasure Mammal, and Wonderful Wednesday, but also feels that the local culture is obviously lacking.
But she says it has a lot of potential and there is a lot of people doing a lot to change it……
And to anyone involved in zines in Phoenix, Chelsea is part of that group of people working together to bring something special to the valley.
You can catch Chelsea selling CDs at Modified during shows or selling zines at her Xerox Attack table during shows. Her zines are also available at Stinkweeds.
