Editorial / Zine Review: Seven Inches to Freedom #9

So I’m reading Joe Lachut’s fanzine Seven Inches to Freedom #9 which I ordered a copy of based on its title alone. I love vinyl & I love 7” (45) records. I was hoping for something that embraced DIY recording culture in all of its beauty and forms. What I got was a punk / hardcore zine. Okay, I need to do better homework.

Joe writes “I don’t want to live with the late teens / early 20s punks who want to rage all the time … I want to hang out with them & do stupid shit, but then I want to be able to go home…less and less people are on your side as you pack on the years. Punks fade away or become domesticated …even loved ones drop some ‘it’s time to grow up comments’ … how can we age gracefully & think about our futures while still holding all those values that have come to define us … when does crashing on couches and floors become a thing of the past? Because I still want to do that!”

This dude is 28 years old. Man, I am depressed as hell reading this.

First of all: It is time to grow up. Why do you think America is in the mess it is in currently on every level? It is because we refuse as a culture to mature. We are youth obsessed. We deny reality. We distract ourselves to death. What exactly do you think the “punk” scene is a reaction to? If you think less people are on your side now, wait until you get to be 51, then talk to me about how you feel when people start acting like you’re invisible.

Secondly: What values? Drink until you puke? Sleeping on floors or in piss soaked alleyways? Losing your hearing from loud screaming shows? These are values to embrace?

Thirdly: Listen to some real music man, don’t limit yourself to two kinds of music and think that is what the world should revolve around. Open up to life. Unplug a little. Do less sludge violence to your self.

Fourthly: I may not care for most of its subject matter but this dude knows how to write & create a zine. I highly recommend Seven Inches to Freedom to anyone who wants to study what a great fanzine looks like.

Write to Joe Lachut at PO Box 457 Ft. Myers FL 33902