Interview with ikm (RIVERSIDE READING CLUB / JUST ZINE)
OWN (hereinafter O): First of all, could you please give us a brief self-introduction?
ikm (hereinafter i): Right now I'm working with RIVERSIDE READING CLUB and also creating a zine called JUST ZINE .
I feel like both of these activities give us a glimpse into the culture that Ikm likes.
For me personally, i RIVERSIDE READING CLUB is pretty much an extension of my everyday life. When I buy a book and read it, I tell my friends, "This is how interesting it was," on social media and elsewhere. I think there are times when people write their impressions of a novel, but in the end they just go through the plot, but rather than writing like that, I want to write in a more frank way, like talking to a friend. When you talk about a book with a friend, I think you want to talk about specific details rather than the plot. Or, more like, "This book talks about that music, doesn't it?"
I know that feeling! It's like sharing what gets you excited in a book. So when did you start JUST ZINE ?
I started around 2018 and just recently released my fourth book.
But hadn't ikm released a new album before that?
I did release a few. The first thing I actually made was a zine compiling Russian hardcore and culture. I was unemployed and had a lot of free time at the time, so I compiled and edited Russian culture I'd found on the internet and printed it out. Russian straight edge bands and things like that. I also put a selection of songs on CD-Rs . I basically gave them away to friends, and I think I also sold a few on TRASMUUNDO and my own website.
Now that you mentioned the word " hardcore, " I can really sense the hardcore culture in what you create. What first got you into hardcore?
I joined the basketball club in junior high school, and a senior in the year above me lived very close by, behind the school. He loved hardcore, and I think that's when I first heard it while hanging out at his house. Sick It of Aff , Biohazard , etc. I think it was mostly New York stuff.
O I think hardcore has many different aspects, but what aspects of it did you think were cool at the time?
Looking back, I think that overall, everything about him was cool. Not only was his music great, but his fashion was cool too, and the senior who introduced me to his music was cool too. He was a year ahead of me, so I graduated when I was in my third year of middle school, and we stopped seeing each other at school. Then, one day, I happened to meet him in town, and he was wearing Crusties clothes. From there, he introduced me to a lot of Crusties bands. I wasn't able to go, but he went to a LOS CRUDOS concert in Japan, and I ended up listening to a LOS CRUDOS record. By that time, I thought hardcore was super cool, and I was totally hooked.
O LOS CRUDOS was super cool, wasn't it? And Limp Wrist followed.
I absolutely loved the sound of LOS CRUDOS ' albums. If I went to a record store and saw a sign that said " Direct Descendant of LOS CRUDOS ," I'd buy everything (laughs). That's how much I was into it. Around the same time, Tokyo had a pretty thriving studio live music scene. That's how I got hooked on the Tokyo hardcore scene. Some of the live studio shows I saw around that time are among my top five of all time. EXCLAIM and CHARM performed at ON AIR STUDIO in Shinjuku, and they were absolutely amazing. A lot of the merchandise sold in that scene was DIY . T -shirts were hand-printed, and I discovered, "Oh, there's a way to make things like that." And, of course, there were zines. I was also influenced by the zine published at the time by the man who now runs a shop called " @@@ " in Shinjuku 3-Chome.
The unique culture of the hardcore scene that influenced you at that time is reflected in your current activities.
That 's probably true. I think that kind of vibe naturally comes out in my own activities. Like, "Let's make T- shirts," or starting something on our own.
What was the trigger that made you start your own activities?
Actually , there really wasn't any particular trigger. Do you remember the time before mixi when blogs were popular? Everyone was either using or checking out online message boards or blogs. I started blogging around that time too. The content of my blog was ultimately about a small scene, and when I went out to see a live show, I'd meet people who read my blog. A lot of the friends I'm still in touch with today are people I met back then.
O : Have you always liked to communicate on your own, through blogs and the like?
No , it wasn't that big of a deal, and I wasn't really that worried about it. It's probably the same as using Twitter now. Ah, but I feel like there were a lot of people in the hardcore scene who were quite vocal about things. Like people who wrote blog reports about the shows they went to, or people who wrote reviews of the records they bought. I think that would have been similar to Twitter today. So it's not like I was conscious of sharing that much.
OHow many years ago was that?
i About 15 years ago, I think? Also, I think it was big that not only the performers in the hardcore scene were cool, but the listeners were cool too. Of course there was the music and fashion, but at the same time, they could talk about society and politics. I think that's what made it cool.
I'm sure there are many other aspects to hardcore, such as its fashion, DIY nature, and political aspects, but I was really captivated by it overall.
That 's right. But I didn't think about it that much at the time. Looking back, I guess that's what it was. The people listening to it, including the audience at our live shows, were all cool. Not only were the players cool, but the people listening to it were cool too, and they were doing all sorts of things, which is quite rare when you think about it (laughs).
O That's true (laughs). It's not like the scene is made up of bands alone. So, I'd like to hear about your current activities. Can you tell me who the members of RIVERSIDE READING CLUB are?
It's open to the general public. Marcy ( WDsounds ) and I write a column called "Good Books Good Days" for Asahi Shimbun Digital. The party is at BUSHBASH , and we do it together with the owner Kakinuma, PHONEHEAD , and mau ( Snigglers ). Personally, I think that anyone who gives out T- shirts should be a RIVERSIDE READING CLUB member (laughs).
Was O Senninsho also a member?
I was turned down by Senninsho-kun. When I asked him to join, he said, "I'm not good enough yet to join."
O I see (laughs). So, is there anything you're into lately? This is just my personal opinion, but I feel that the things that are trending within ikm are reflected in the things you release.
It 's nothing too dramatic. But lately I've been seriously carving eraser stamps. It all started with a book called "Friday Black," and someone made a zine based on the story. That person contacted me and asked if they could feature a manuscript I'd written previously. After that, I received an eraser stamp as a thank you gift. I was really happy, and when I saw it, I thought maybe I could make one myself. My father used to make woodblock prints, so I had all the tools and I thought I could do it.
Thank you so much for giving me the OWN eraser stamp as a gift! I'd also like to know about the production process.
First, I create the original drawing and then copy it onto tracing paper. Then I transfer it onto an eraser and carve it. Recently, there's been a lot of eraser stamp YouTubers , so I checked them out first (laughs). Also, there's a novel (Tommy Orange's "There There") that features MF DOOM , and I got really excited about it, so I made an MF DOOM eraser stamp. It turned out pretty well, so I got even more into it. Recently, a lot of stores sell erasers sized specifically for eraser stamps, so maybe they're becoming a bit of a trend (laughs). Personally, I'm not a big fan of stamps made by people who neatly recreate a single frame from a manga. I think a copy would be fine, and I like the unique style and feel of eraser stamps. Going back a little, I feel like there was quite a stamp culture around ' 90s hardcore records. Even paper bags had stamps on them. That vibe was part of it. For this edition of JUST ZINE4 , we made the cover logo into an eraser stamp.
O ikm- san always introduces his current obsessions to the people around him in an interesting way.
I don't know. But when I post on social media , I try to do it in the same way as if I were talking to a friend. That's why I try to write using words I normally use. Well, social media is all about the desire for approval (laughs).
O Oh really? (laughs) So how did JUST ZINE get started?
At first, I was asked to publish a zine for an event, but the schedule was pretty tight and I thought there was no way I could finish it on my own, so I asked people around me to help me create pages freely, and that's how the first issue was produced. Zines were just starting to become popular around 4 or 5 years ago when I produced the first issue, but when I looked at the popular zines, I often thought that they weren't what I had in mind.
By the way, what is it like?
I started to think that the motivation for wanting to make a zine was a little off. You make a zine because you want to show the pictures you've drawn or the writings you've written, or because you want to share the music you like, so I thought that deciding the content because you want to make a zine was the wrong order of things. With that in mind, I decided to title the zines I make " JUST ZINE ."
O I see. That makes a lot of sense. By the way, how do you make offers to participants?
I make the offer right when I go out to play. So I don't generally ask for it. If I do ask for it, it's like I meet someone again when I'm out and I ask, "How's that thing going?" I don't think it's right to ask for it by email or phone for a zine. It's not work, it's just an extension of having fun. So it can take a really long time to publish one volume (laughs).
Oh ! I feel like your commitment to what you do , or rather, the sense that it's just an extension of having fun, really comes through in your activities and your zine.
People who can make an offer in person in places I visit. So naturally the people who appear are mostly people from the Tokyo area. I really like it when things are decided in places I visit. I was also asked to do some work at Eve House. Also, this 4th issue came at a time when opportunities to go out and have fun had decreased due to COVID, so maybe that's why it took so long to release it.
This is just my personal opinion, but JUST ZINE is consistent and also has new expressions and selection of artists, so I always enjoy reading it.
I 'm very happy. But it's not my achievement at all. It's a fanzine after all, so I'm a fan of everyone. I'm the one who offers it to people I want to see. I don't feel like I'm doing it alone.
The criteria for the offer are also typical of ikm . I'd like to talk a little about OWN . You 've contributed to the OWN column and even came to our launch party. How did you feel about the launch of OWN ?
I 'm really happy that an eyewear brand has risen to prominence thanks to the taste of someone who always hangs out in the same places. I have bad eyesight so I usually wear glasses, so I wanted to try OWN .
Thank you! Is it #02 that you're using now? How is it now that you've actually used it?
Yes , I chose #02 . This is just my personal opinion, but I feel like the shape of #02 embodies the image of sunglasses I have in mind. The slight upturn at the corner of the eye is just right. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to the clothes I wear, so when I thought about which design would look more like sunglasses without being too edgy, #02 was perfect. I was also considering #01 , but #01 seems like it would look good even with clear lenses, so it gives the impression of being more like glasses than sunglasses.
How about the fit?
The iFit is really good, so they feel lighter than they actually are. Also, I have poor eyesight, so I usually wear glasses, and OWN are my first pair of sunglasses. I'm thinking about using them as prescription sunglasses in the future.
Finally , do you have any information about ikm ?
i JUST ZINE4 has just been released, so please check it out if you're interested. Also, I'll be doing a RIVERSIDE READING CLUB party at BUSH BASH in Koiwa, so please come along too.
[Items worn]
#02 BLACK/GREEN
Price: ¥18,700 (tax included)
【 INFO 】
@ikm
@riversidereadingclub