Ablaze *11 A4

Ablaze! fanzine was originally published in Manchester and Leeds in the 80s and 90s. It grew from a scrappy cut-and-paste A5 zine into a beast of a magazine, dominating Britain’s zine scene with brattiness and derring-do. The Ablaze! story can be read in The City Is Ablaze!, a book that could have been subtitled The Art Of Upsetting Popstars.

Issue 11 includes interviews with Sleaford Mods, Kate Nash, Viv Albertine, Dismemberment Plan, Laetitia Sadier, Peaches, Katie Harkin (Sky Larkin, Sleater Kinney), Slum of Legs, Esper Scout, Trepàt and Cowtown.

This 60 page A4 full colour extravaganza also includes features on riot grrrl and spirituality, indie music in India, DIY versus austerity, behind the scenes at Norman Records, record reviews and a new section – book reviews.

The live review section includes Kate Bush, Duran Duran, Sleater Kinney, Joanna Gruesome and The Three Johns.

This edition has an anti-austerity theme running throughout, and it’s reflected in our concessionary price for the magazine, selling at just £3 on this site for people who are on low wages or who are unwaged.

Immediate reactions to the zine tend to be around the high quality of the paper, the amazingness of the artwork, and the fact that it has a spine! It’s been likened to a book, and more specifically to an urban novel.

“I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed reading it and how much so many of the articles resonated with me, especially as a woman working in mainly male-dominated industries (music, journalism, digital). I found the whole ‘zine really liberating but also validating to read as well as entertaining and interesting. Really refreshing to read words like this about music, but also to hear open conversations about women and creativity.” – Sarah Lay, Louder Than War magazine