20. print isn't dead

i'm sure you've noticed the lack of updates on this blog.

i had a realization, a revelation if you will, after an afternoon of laying on my bed reading all the zines i had in my little zine box a few months back before i left for tour. during my summer travels, i traded and collected as many zines as i could from people. we visited some of the coolest zine libraries that i thought i would never see. i had the opportunity to read and relive old issues of Panic Button, Hearttack, MRR, and other classic zines that so many of the "older generation" talked about. My favorite zines were the little per-zines that were filled with stories of life, friendship, memories, and nature. i read those zines over and over and studied every detail on every xeroxed page. i held in my hand a captured moment of someone's heart. diaries and art forgotten by the rest of the world, worn away with time. this newfound connection sparked inspiration in me. i still cannot find words to express what i want to share with you all.

we live in a day of high end technology and instant gratification. often the convenience of it all deceives us into giving in. our meter of life has determined that in order for efficiency and convenience, substance has to be sacrificed. we may not see it's hollow emptiness at first glance, but there's a reason why we keep buying and filling our lives with more empty shit. i don't want my world to be made from a factory. i'm sorry, i didn't realize this turned into a rant. i have many things to say on this subject and even more on the relation to this and diy as direct action politics. we'll save that for another time.

a zine will always be greater than any messageboard or website. what you hold in your hand is hardwork and a piece of it's creator. when you read that old, tattered, worn out zine, whoever made that zine is speaking to you through time and space. that one single thought has survived and jumped into someone else's mind. there is no official index or corporation that can ever touch this underground. sometimes you come across a zine so good that you swear it wasn't chance, but fate who was to blame. there's nothing i can get from a computer that can come close to this feeling. i don't believe it's the tools used but the attitude and heart you put in that makes something diy. i am not anti-messageboard or against advancements in our ways of communication and expression. i admit that from time to time i go on a few popular ones just to see what people are talking about. but in those threads and replies, i don't find anything worth my time or interest. it's all a playground. there's gossip and rumors and fights and cliques even in this imaginary plane we call "the internet".

sometimes i find blogs even worse. in my opinion, the easy accessibility to quickly post your thoughts to the world wide web has been plagued with such a fast food kind of mentality. i'm also not anti-blog. that is just ridiculous. there are some really awesome blogs that i enjoy reading, but it's not often that i do that. i still get some people asking me "why do you do a zine? why don't you do an online zine or a blog instead? more people can read it. why do you still do a paper zine?". yes, an e-zine or blog could expose me to so many more people (as this blog does?) but i don't see how that would even matter. that does not motivate me one bit. i want to write for myself.

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my zine is available at many of the shows i go to and i also mail them out. i have copies in my bag wherever i go in case i meet someone that i think would be interested. i've met alot of kids through my zine and that personal network is something i cherish. that's all that matters. it's our underground, so i want to keep it that way. i know that if kids really want to read my zine and my writing, they'll ask or search it out on their own ("diy chooses you." some kids will never get it). i'm not saying that i'm trying to limit my audience. i'm not trying to be an elitest prick. no. just ask and you shall receive Kyeo Speaks. i believe that through effort and decent content, Kyeo Speaks will grow on it's own and hopefully become something more. i'm just letting you know that i'm going to further continue to limit my online content and keep most of my thoughts in print, in the real world.

i hope i made points that made sense. i welcome your opinions. you can email me and i'll find a way to get my zine to you. blackjazze@gmail.com // kyeospeaks@gmail.com
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okay, now here are some real updates since i was last here.



KS4 is finished! this is sort of part 1 of 3 of the tour edition. it's mostly the telling of the MOLDAR/Matsuri US tour last summer. other contributions by members of ColorChromatic, John Cota, Touche Amore, Ordstro, and more.

i told everyone that the next Kyeo Speaks was going to be part 2 of our journey but i really miss writing about other things besides my summer. KS5 will probably go back to the old format and re-touch on some of the topics that are normally discussed in Kyeo Speaks. we'll see how it goes.



okay, let's get into the real updates. last month i put together Calculator's "spring/summer 09" cassette tape. it was released and sold for $3 at the last Calculator/Comadre/Dangers show at HydeParkHalf in October. i made 25 and sold half of them at the show and the other half in mailorder within a week. another run may be happening by the end of this month for the next Calcualtor show. we'll see.



my stupid solo project, cdxx (www.myspace.com/thecdxxgospel), has a new cassette demo out. there are 6 songs on there that i recorded on my four track. i made it for the ColorChromatic/cdxx fuck the man weekend tour in October. we played San Francsico, San Jose, and Sacramento. thank you to all our friends for being our friends. that's probably the only reason we left LA in the first place.
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i have a new band called Summer Vacation. i play guitar in it. Sean(homemade) plays bass. Aaron from Baby's Breath plays drums. we're still brand new and of course, suck. we played our first show last week at HydeParkHalf with Punch, Sheeep, and ColorChromatic. thank you ramy for asking us. check out the track we have up at www.myspace.com/summervacationca. we recorded them on my four track so the quality isn't so great but you get the idea.

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i made the flyer for this show. i am so, so excited to see Drowning With Our Anchors play in LA again. HydeParkHalf is a new spot that has been having shows in the summer. The last MOLDAR show was there in August. we sort of collective has started up and we are all working together to make the space into a legit community youth center. first, a tutoring service is being set up and from there, we will branch out to other services and classes such as art, music, and dance. i am very excited about volunteering with this group and would like you to be involved as well! you can read more about HydeParkHalf ("The Half" as some of us call it) at http://www.hydeparkhalf.org/. our next meeting is on Sunday, November 11 at 11am. see you there!

also if you like good skrimz and more, buy records from ramy (www.myspace.com/olhardevidro) or erick (www.myspace.com/affinityindex).