Shotgun Seamstress and the year 2007
I've been reading the Shotgun Seamstress omnibus, which has been great so far. The zone highlighted Black voices in the punk scene, something well needed, and the zine does it well. It's also been a fun time capsule. The second issue is from 2007, Osa Atoe speaks about the punk scene in Portland, OR. And like, man, right before PDX blew up. She talks about how cheap things are, and the solidarity of the Black punk scene, small but close.
But the thing that struck me, just because of how anachronistic it was, is that nearly every band listed or featured in the issue has a MySpace account. I haven't gone looking yet, but who even knows if these pages and the music on them exists anymore. And it's both funny and kind of a bummer.
Finding old zines, both on Archive.org, and old websites riddled with link rot, is both a joy and an experience in melancholy -- it oddly enough inspired some of the foundation of what would become Space Raccoon (working title); there was once signs of life here but... where is everyone? I love that a moment in time, and specifically a moment in time in this niche community, has been captured. It's been documented, and as such we can look back at it. But one step out into its orbit and everything is gone.
I suppose that's how history is.
-kosmo