Into To Gullible 26 - Split With Snakepit - 2005

Ten years ago in Richmond, Virginia, I was new in town, in high school and just getting into punk. I started doing this zine, singing in a band and going to five dollar, all ages shows at the club down the street from my parent’s apartment. Ben was one of the cool, older kids. I’d go to shows in his attic, see his bands and buy his zines at Soundhole. I was all of sixteen and he must have been about twenty. In Richmond, where the scene is centered on the college, people in their early twenties are the scene’s elder statesmen.

I left Richmond at the beginning of my mid-twenties. By then, I’d done twenty-five of these zines, had twenty-seven roommates between five punk house addresses, toured ten countries in two different bands or with just my guitar, and never had a job that paid made more than seven dollars an hour.

Most of the stories are from my last couple of years in Richmond. A lot of fun was had, some knowledge was gained and a few things, like some friendships, my liver, and this zine, suffered. While still in Richmond, I couldn’t get a perspective on what was going on, so I was doing zines of drunken emails and fictional short stories. I wasn’t as proud of them as I am of this one.

It feels great to be doing a split zine with Ben. I’ve always liked his music and his zines, so I guess I look up to him. This difference is, now, I’ve caught up, and we’re both older punk guys. I live in Brooklyn, sometimes I tuck in my shirt at work, and when I read too much Snake Pit, I find myself “Snake Pitting” my day, or mentally reducing it to three panels worth of action. I lie in bed and, to the sound of my neighbor’s car alarm, decide whether I’d draw something inane that happened at work, or what I cooked for dinner. Dinner usually wins.