I hope you all have been well! Just in time for the holidays, CWP Zine #2/12 [Courage] is now available!! 

Cover art (design, handpainted screen + screenprinted) by Jhonny. 

The featured conversations on punk, spirituality & creativity in Zine Two of the limited edition 12 zine series include:

Larry Livermore (Lookout Records, the Potatomen, the Lookouts)

Henry Rollins (Black Flag, the Rollins Band)

Dan Jones (God So Loved The World, Seraph’s Coal…)

Jason Cruz (Strung Out, Blackheart & the Pistoleros)

Porcell (Shelter, Youth of Today, Judge, Young Republicans, Violent Children)

Heidi Minx (Built On Respect, Punk Rock Domestics, Franky & Minx)

Photography by: Stephen Booth, Nat Thompson, Natalie Lorenz, Kim Wheeler, Eric Vogel & Benjamin Nichols.

Zine Two’s foreword is written by my dear friend Greg Attonito, frontman for the Bouncing Souls. They’re on tour here in Australia right now with the most excellent Hot Water Music. Get along to one of their shows if you have the chance, I promise it’ll be neat! :)

I mailed out all current subscribers’ a copy of CWP Zine Two [Courage] yesterday! As it’s a busy time of year for the worldwide postal service—with the holiday season upon us and the extra gift/card mail and all—please allow for a slight delay.

Apologies, that I am a little behind in getting the zines out. I will be working hard through the holidays though to catch up and start the New Year as up-to-date as possible.

Announcements about Conversations With Punx Zine Three will be made soon. Thank you for all of the love, support & encouragement!!

Be excellent to each other…

It’s almost time to retire CWP Zine One featuring: Ian MacKaye, Don Letts, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Johnny Siera, Greg Attonito and Shanti Wintergate. Thank you to everyone who ordered a copy, subscribed, came to the launch or wrote me saying they enjoy reading the site—your correspondence, feedback, encouragement, love & support is appreciated.

I thought I’d share with you some thoughtful correspondence I have received in relation to CWP Zine One:

 I got your zine yesterday and dived into it last night. You know how you stated all of those conversations happened at the right time in your life? Well this has arrived at the right time in my life when I needed such uplifting insight and positive brain food. You will help a lot of people with your words and your interviews and I’m really grateful. ~D.M

I’m similar to you I have at times found myself branching away from punk that meant so much to me growing up. Punk rock Is certainly still a big part of who I am, although amongst our exceedingly desensitized culture I found a large part of my punk fraternity were lacking interest or ability to relate or intrigue with their deeper side, making me all the more determined to go searching mine with other interests and genres. From folk to dub, dance and back again I’ve found some lack of feeling or ways for people to express their beliefs not a thing limited to the rougher genre. Music In its essence I suppose even if only subconsciously allows people to connect with deeper emotions and hopefully provokes thinking for these people like my fav punk lyricists instilled in me long ago. Tis refreshing to read these interviews from such intelligent artists I respect whom share similar views to each other and indeed myself but all have different ways of sharing or expressing how it works for them in their day to day lives. ~R.

Conversations With Punx Zine Two is almost done and will be available for order shortly. The line-up has been finalised. CWP Zine Two features:

Larry Livermore (Lookout Records, the Potatomen, the Lookouts)

Henry Rollins (Black Flag, the Rollins Band)

Dan Jones (God So Loved The World, Seraph’s Coal…)

Jason Cruz (Strung Out, Blackheart & the Pistoleros)

Porcell (Shelter, Youth of Today, Judge, Young Republicans, Violent Children)

Heidi Minx (Built On Respect, Punk Rock Domestics, Franky & Minx)

Ordering options for that particular issue will be available soon here at Conversations With Bianca. All of these conversations are some of my favourite yet! Subscriptions are available now here.

Photo: Dan Jones of God So Loved The World (one of my all-time favourite Australian hardcore punk bands) by Alex Newton.

Cover art by Jhonny Hobo for CWP Zine Two will be posted soon!

Create forever!

PS – If there are any conversations you’d like to see sooner rather than later in a upcoming issue, let me know :)

I am incredibly lucky to have some very strong, creative, forward thinking, beautiful, innovative, independent, inspiring women in my life. I decided that I wanted to help raise the Universal awareness of their awesomeness. They’re ruling their Universe one day at a time, they’re being them and they’re making a positive contribution to their communities, the world and others lives. Let me introduce the first rockin’ lady: Miss Heidi Minx!

You see so much bad stuff in the world, or so many stupid things in the press; banal things that don’t make a difference in the world except to fuel a gossip fire. I have had so many people reach out to me since starting this – offering their skills, wanting to come and work with me while I am there. People I have never met, but who have found out about the project because of people spreading the word virally. I like people stepping up, and saying, “I don’t have a lot of money, but I can build a website, or pitch a documentary movie.” It is a very amazing reminder that we are a global community, one that’s not always dictated by language or lines on a map. ~Heidi Minx, Built On Respect (book extract)

10 Reasons Why Heidi is Ruling It:

1) Built On Respect. As part of Built On Respect it’s Miss Minx goal to embrace the DIY mentality, to personally work to raise funds, and also to directly oversee their disbursement while documenting it, working side by side with different community organizations. The majority of her work has been done in India working with Tibetan communities in exile teaching them sustainable business practices, English and helping at a free art school which works to help keep Tibetan Traditional art alive. For more info check out BuiltOnRespect.com.

2) Punk Rock Domestics is Heidi getting her Martha Stewart on. On PRD she says: Feel more like a home wrecker than a home designer? Tired of 10,000 shows on the home and garden network that DON’T include decorating with spray paint, or vegan recipes? Only know the names of flowers from your tattoo artist? Then you’re in the right place. Never mind Martha Stewart, we’re here to share recipes, decorating tips, even how to make your clothing better!” Check it out for your dose of D.I.Y.

3) Franky & Minx. Heidi has ran and created her own fashion line Franky & Minx. Every lady’s dream! They have super cute handbags (as rocked by Davey Havok, he has a PVC clutch, Mei-Ling Koller has a pink one & Camilla ex-Horrorpops rocks tartan print)! And the clothes & accessories have been worn by members of Sick Of It All, Agnostic Front, H20, Madball and more!

4) Home Rockanomics is a book Heidi has recently released. I just got my copy from Amazon.com in the mail! It’s an extension of Punk rock Domestics. Filled with d.i.y projects and recipes from your favourite bands. For more info on the book click here.

5) Inked For a Cause. Heidi does a regular column for US tattoo/culture mag Inked. She chats with awesome people that do awesome things. Inked For a Cause specialises in promoting people that are inked and that help others.

6) Rumor has it that Miss Heidi is hard at work on a project about Tibetan tattoos/tattooing while on her latest visit to India. Another feather in the cap, another way to bring attention to the cause :)

7) I admire Heidi for using her success for good. She’s been interviewed countless times, wrote for various mags and appeared in magazine spreads. Despite her rising profile Heidi remains grounded and continues to go about her business as usual.

8) I think it’s wonderful that she’s a business woman. She does business without selling her soul. Heidi has a super work ethic—she’s always doing a million things at once and always ready for new opportunities that arise.

9) She sees the world while helping it. As well as working in Dharamsala, India Heidi has also contributed her time and effort working as a volunteer in Haiti. Recently I came across the book 500 Places Where You Can Make A Difference. It’s a travel while helping people, animals and the planet guide. You can serve communities while exploring them in a unique, connected way. Care for orphans in Delhi, India, teach English on the beaches of Salvador, Brazil, track dolphins in Oahu, Hawaii, help build a school in Madagascar, care for baby elephants in Sri Lanka, or teach swimming to kids in Fiji. There’s 500 ideas, surely one will resonate with you!

10) Last but not least, she has cultivated a great network and support group of friends to help her on her adventures. Heidi isn’t trying to sell something to people, she’s trying to connect with them and share information. Finally is you don’t believe me about Heidi’s awesomeness have a listen to what Heidi’s pals have to say:

My & Heidi’s pals The Bouncing Souls:

Heidi visiting Tamding in his studio to hear about his art (he’s a tattooist and musican), how he uses it to promote a Free Tibet, and how he came to live in exile:

Sick of It All Inked for a Casue:

If you know any awesome ladies doing awesome things let me know!

Meow for now,

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I love the weekend! It’s one of my favourite times of the week! I have all day to work on the things I love most and I get to hang out with my wonderful little family. Pure and total bliss!

Things to do with your weekend:

Start something you’ve been meaning to do forever. Whether that’s organising your desk (post coming soon!), cleaning out your wardrobe, painting a picture (with your sunglasses on!), learning a new language, writing a long lost friend, calling your parents, going on that nature hike, researching your business idea… Don’t wait one minute more! Go for it! Get motivated! You don’t want to miss your ship do you?

We all gotta make our decisions or take a back seat every time / And when you can’t figure out what you wanted / And you’re sick of playing of everything is fine / You don’t know what it is but you want it / You’re on your way there once you set your goals / Set your goals – CIV

Make a mix tape. It’s something hip hoppers, punkers & indie lovers have been doing forever! I used to LOVE when more people made mix tapes; for the most part I think it’s becoming a lost art form. Lucky for me I have awesome friends that still like to swap tunes (old school cassette style even!) with me. I’ve found out about so much rad music that way. It’s how I first heard of Bad Brains, A Tribe Called Quest, Spank Rock and so much more! I like to make mix tapes according to my moods. I have tapes that cheer me up when I’m down, tapes to lighten my mood and that are super fun for when I’m feeling angsty; I even have tapes for my more mellow moods that I listen to while I drift off to sleep.

A pal of mine, James, used to do a CD swap night at his bar once a week where you’d come in for tacos & beer and exchange mix CDs with other people there. Such a lovely idea. For more on mix tape culture check out the books: Mixtape: The Art of Cassette Culture (it has a foreword written by Thurston Moore) and Love is A Mix Tape. Send me a mix tape! Or even better learn to make mash-ups! My Honny is a mash-up king (listen to the below)…

If you like what you hear contact Hobo DJs (hoboobituaries@gmail.com) for a FREE mash-up party CD featuring over an hour & a half of awesomeness!

Volunteer. Do something to help someone else. Helping others helps you, it helps you to be less self-absorbed and the connections built through acts of kindness builds community and can give you a feeling of contentment & achievement. My lovely friend Craig Fairbaugh volunteers and promotes the Burrito Project.

“Tommy Towne and his buddy —they’re super bleeding heart liberals that want to make a difference in this world—got the idea to make a difference through a grassroots level in their community. They decided to make a really easy form of food, a burrito, put them in their backpacks and went riding through Skid Row in downtown L.A., handing them out to all of the homeless people. I wanted to get involved because I thought it was one of the coolest things that I’d ever heard of. It’s a way to show people that you can help someone so easily. Not being able to eat is one of the worst things in the world. You can make a huge difference.” ~Craig Fairbaugh (extract from my book).

My bud, Heidi Minx has taken volunteering to the next level by starting Built On Respect. She travels to India where she works within the Tibetan community helping folks learn sustainable business practices/models, teaches English and works with a free art school that helps keep traditional Tibetan art alive.

Go see live music. When was the last time you got out of the house, away from your stereo/IPod, television, gaming console, computer and went and saw a live music act? Nothing quite beats seeing a rockin’ live act. When you’re at a gig (I feel) you get to be a part of something really special. I find it can be a quite spiritual/ritualistic experience. I often marvel at the fact that when a show happens there’s an energy that is created by the people there—the performers and the audience—that wasn’t there before. Being front and centre at a show watching one of your favourite acts can encourage you to totally be in the moment, be truly present.

From my own experience going to gig I know that the minute the first chord is struck I can forget about the daily grind and relax and enjoy myself. I always find people complaining to me about there not being any good music out there, these are usually the people that stay home and aren’t out there even looking. There’s plenty of good music you just have to open your eyes, ears, mind and heart! I also find that a lot of musicians complain about people not coming to their shows yet they never go to a show unless their own band is playing… which = lame. Stop complaining and start supporting, peel yourself off that couch! One of my favourite bands to see live ever is Deathcage from Sydney, Australia.

Photo courtesy of Deathcage

Other notable ways to spend your weekend:

Have a fiesta at your house! Invite all your friends, dress in theme and gather around to smash the Piñata! Yay for sweet candy treats! Nachos! Sombreros!

Read a book (some suggestions can be found here). The older I get the shorter my attention span seems, so I tend to end up reading a million books at once, jumping between them. I just can’t get enough information. Sometimes I feel like a big sponge just sucking it all up. Any recommendations? I also adore comics! My collection is all bagged and boarded up (ha… ha).

Eat ice-cream with someone super sweet. Another favourite activity is getting ice-cream (chocolate-chip cookie dough yum!) with one of my homies and sitting and watching people go by while we chat and gawk! ha ha…

Make some iced herbal tea. I love, love, love the tea from Australian company T2. Their site has tips on brewing tea, what tea suits you & tea for you according to the Zodiac. Right now I’m crushing over the following tea flavours: Bright Night, Detox, Turkish Cherry & China Jasmine. I love nothing more than brewing herbal tea, adding a mother-load of ice and fresh herbs like mint from my garden and organic lemon on a hot summer’s day (which we’ve been experiencing here in Australia over the past few days). I love hot tea too! It’s so comforting. Plus tea also has a number of health benefits.

MISS B RANDOM STORY: I remember when I was eighteen going to see Good Riddance and Sick Of It All play in my hometown, before the show GR’s Russ was drinking chamomile tea for his throat… we chatted over a cup. At the time I thought it was really strange, I had the really retarded, narrow-minded view that drinking tea was not punk rock… thankfully I’ve become a lot wiser since then and realised how silly thinking like that is. Many years later I would find myself including herbal tea in little care packages I’d put together for touring pals, I once gave Nick 13 some chamomile tea & an Australian slang dictionary!

Take a road trip. I love hoping in the car on a Sunday morning and taking a trip somewhere. I love traipsing through the forest or exploring beach coves and little hidden spots of natural beauty. Australia is full of them. One of my favourite spots in Natural Arch it’s one of the best places in Australia to see a glow worm colony—it looks like a million stars in the sky. It always takes my breath away when I visit there. I feel when I get out in nature I come back to the city feeling a little more in touch with the planet.

Partake in city beautification. Make your neighbourhood pretty by learning stencil art. There’s a straight forward tutorial here to get you started. Maybe you could create something and take part in Stencil Fest!

I remember being super excited after I brought The Bronx’s first album and it came with a Bronx stencil. I got to stencil my own Bronx tee shirt. Get your creative on!

Photo by Robyn Gallagher

Photo by Adrienne Serra

Photo by Solid State

Hope you all have a great weekend! Be excellent to each other & do something fun!

PS- If you’re in my ’hood on the Gold Coast this weekend come hang with me & my family Hobo Obituaries at the Gold Coast City Art Gallery from 2pm. It’s all ages & free. Music, art & good people… what more could you ask for to make the perfect weekend?!

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Back To Life, Back To Reality – En Vogue

Today, tomorrow (depending where you’re at in the world) and over the next couple of weeks, many of you will be heading back to work fresh from holidays. Unless perhaps you’re Henry Rollins, then you don’t really take holidays! I remember speaking with Henry the day after Christmas a couple of years ago. He was in his office gleefully working. He told me it was one of his favourite times of the year because he gets the office all to himself and can work uninterrupted… ha, ha, ha. I can definitely identify with that one! And just this morning the ever-lovely Heidi Minx and I were expressing our frustration at businesses still being closed in-turn hindering getting things into motion for world domination this year (ha!). It’s go time…

As you step back into the work place, whether it’s in an office, working retail, collecting garbage, icing decadent cupcakes, waiting tables, whatever it is you do, take the time to notice how you’re feeling about it. Are you bouncing off the walls happy and ready to get stuck into it all? Are you filled with dread and possibly mild (maybe even major) anxiety? Or have you just accepted that work is work and it’s what you do to get by? If you’re feeling either of the latter maybe it’s time to reassess your situation. Your work should give you purpose and a great sense of achievement and fulfilment. It should be something you love to do. We spend so many hours of our lives at work shouldn’t it be something we adore?

A little story…

Once upon a time there was a vibrant full-of-life girl named Bianca. She got herself a job working in an office at a shipping company. It wasn’t a particularly hard job: answering phones, filing, running errands, pushing paper and getting the boss coffee. Her parents were so proud she had a ‘real’ job. Her mother even took a photo of her in a pants-suit (it was a maroon pinstriped number) as she was out the door on the way to her first day at the office. Her mum stuck the photo on the fridge which is where it remains to this day (blah!).

Monday to Friday Bianca dutifully got up at 5 am to catch two buses to get to work. The journey was fun-filled with the tunes of Bad Religion, Ice-T, Suicidal Tendencies, Rancid, Public Enemy, Nofx & Social Distortion to kick-start the day. The artists kept her company as she amused herself by making up stories in her head about fellow commuters to pass the time. The downtime on the commute also gave her time to dream as the lyrics of her musical crushes inspired her to want greater things than what was currently her life. Bianca always knew she was destined for something so much more wonderful.

One night, after a few months in her job and a particularly uneventful, ordinary day, she went home to bed exhausted. The job was a no-brainer. She didn’t get to utilise her skills and talents; she felt she was being wasted. As she drifted off to sleep she dreamt of numbers, big long lines of numbers (think Matrix style). The numbers kept running in her head over and over. They wouldn’t stop! She awoke with a start and had the realisation, if she continued working in her job she’d either a) keep feeling restless, bored and die a slow painful death or b) become accustom to it, accept it, ultimately numbing herself to continue on, lose her spark and die a slow painful death. Because the idea of dying a slow painful death isn’t so appealing she decided to do something about it.

The next morning Bianca walked into work gave her two weeks’ notice and left! That afternoon she telephoned her big sister Julie in tears. She had no idea what to do? As big sisters often do, Julie offered some sound advice that would change Bianca’s life. “You love writing and you love music,” Julie started, “You make your little zines. Why not try and make a living from those things you love? Why not call one of the music magazines you like and try to get some work doing that?” After a little further discussion and with a new hope in her heart Bianca hung up, scrabbled through her piles (many, many piles) of magazines and choose one to call.

After writing down what she was going to say (dork! ha!) It basically went something like this:

Editor: Hello, Rave Magazine.
Bianca: Hi, I wanted to enquire about the possibility of writing for you guys.
Editor: Have you written for anyone before? What type of music do you like?
Bianca: I haven’t really written for anyone, but I make my own zines! I really love punk and hardcore music.
Editor: It just so happens our punk guy has gone overseas for a while, maybe you could fill in for a bit. Do you have any samples of your work?
Bianca: Sure, I can bring my zines in.
Editor: Sounds good! Come by tomorrow.

And the rest they say is history… the editor was impressed with Bianca’s work and enthusiasm. She walked out of the office with her first assignment to review a local punk gig.

Countless gigs, about a million interviews and many rock n roll adventures later she finds herself still writing and so, so much happier than if she stayed at the shipping company. She took a leap of faith and it paid off.

Lessons learned: follow your feelings and engage in work that makes you feel alive, that makes you happy to jump out of bed in the morning and get going. Trust me, it is possible to do something you love for a living. I am huge advocate of working for yourself (more on that in coming posts!). I come from a family of entrepreneurs. The following friends are living proof you can love the life you live and live the life you love:

John Engelhardt is an artist and illustrator. His work has been nominated for awards & he has worked with the likes of Australian hip hop kings, Hilltop Hoods.

Lake from Redstripe Clothing . She started out having a market stall in 2001. Now she has a store as well as an online store and is totally rocking it. She’s a clever, driven lady.

Mark Lobo is the man responsible for the magical photo of me here. His photos are beautiful art. The way he captures the sky in his shots is amazing. Love his cloud work!

We all have to start somewhere. Once upon a time…

Ashanti worked in day care; Jon Bon Jovi made Christmas decorations; Steve Buscemi drove an ice-cream truck; Kurt Cobain was a janitor; John Legend worked at Sears; Madonna served Dunkin’ Donuts; Gene Simmons rescued people as a lifeguard; Elvis Costello got his technology on as a computer programmer; Macy Gray worked at McDonalds; Lil’ Kim worked the counter at Bloomingdales department store and Eminem was a short order cook.

If you could do anything at all for a living and money was no object, what would you do?

Have a rad day beautiful people!
Love,

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