hello and thank you for watching another
after art artist interviews today I am
here with Charissa Lucille and Marna Kay.
they are both artists, zinesters, and
co-owners of Wasted Ink Zine Distro in
Phoenix, Arizona. WIZD acts as a home
to self-publish zines from all across
the country the shop also serves as a
place for events like poetry readings
musical performances and workshops.
[Amanda] Can each of you share a little bit more about your background?
Marna do you want to start?
[Marna] I've been in the zine scene since I was 17. I wanted
to write some really hard-hitting
articles but my journalism teacher was
kind of against it. Me and a few friends
of mine decided to actually start doing
a zine to write about things that we
thought mattered. We did it for seven
years and in that seven years I just
fell in love with the zine scene and
everything that it was about. [Charissa] I was in my
last year of college and I really just
needed an outlet. I was studying
journalism and I just felt like I didn't
have a place to publish what I wanted to
write. And so I was sitting with a friend
explaining my frustration and she said,
"Well why don't you make a zine?" And I was
like, "I need to go make a zine right now."
so I went home in a month later I had
started my first zine without really
even knowing what I was diving into.
[Amanda] Why was it important to make with a physical
space rather than a website shop or
an Etsy shop or something like that?
[Marna] So we decided to have a physical
space because zines are a physical
medium. Having it online, you don't get to
see it. You don't get to feel it. You
don't get to let it influence you.
It's just not the same as coming into a
store and picking up a zine and looking
through it. [Charissa] In Phoenix you sometimes
would find using coffee shops or sort of
tucked away in various bookstores and
things like that. There wasn't a place
just dedicated to zines, and we really
wanted to make sure people understood
that this is a valid art form and not
just something you find with a
bunch of flyers and stuff.
We decided to open WIZD to give
zines a good home.
[Amanda] So why did you decide to take on WIZD together and what are
some of the challenges that
you've experienced just because it's not
just your own thing you have to work
together to do it?
[Charissa] I think that it was kind of a no-brainer to us to do this
together because we were both so already
involved in the zine community whether
it was local and in different states and
I think that we both bring a little bit
of different skills to the table and we
balance each other out pretty well so it
was kind of like you want to do this thing?
And we were like, "yeah let's do the thing."
It had always been a dream of Marna's to
open the shop and I heard that and
really just felt like it was really
important it was like the next step for
us as friends and us as business collaborators.
[Marna] Yeah, when I moved here I didn't know
any zinesters at all and then I met
Charissa she I just had so much passion
when I was talking to her so the first
time we met was at Coffee Cartel and
we were talking about the LA Zine Fest
and stuff like that and she just lit up.
She was just so passionate about it
and I was like this is the person I want
to work with, you know.
It seems to me like she loves zines more than I do!
You know? So we got together and she told
me about about this place opening up and
she was like, "Do you want to do this? Do you
want to do zine shop?" And I just like
was like, "What?!" it was crazy. It all
happens so quickly. We honestly didn't
know like how things were going to turn
out obviously you know but as time went
on we realized that that us as partners
actually worked really well because she
has a different like interests and stuff
like that it was seen her introduction
into the zine scene and how it's like
transgressed like what it is now is very
different than when it was when I was
getting into it like 10 years ago she's
more - like the more literary part of it
and I'm into the more like musical like
underground part of it that it like just
works out and we've noticed that I think
working together we're able to encompass
an entire demographic of people so she
gets this one side and I get this one
side and then we just like bring people
together it's hard sometimes because our
work ethic is a little different the
reason why it's just gone like
crazy haywire like everybody just know
and we're just blowing up is because
we're able to reach out to different people.
[Amanda] what is it like running a
community-oriented business while
working full time while working on your
own creative projects how do you find
the time to do all this? [Charissa] It's exhausting
but the reward is so worth all the
effort even thinking about my own
projects it is harder to make my own
work just because of the shop and all
the different events were doing is
things like that
I really have to push to find time and
to make time for my own projects and
just make sure that I'm more lenient
with myself on deadlines because life
happens and this shop comes first [Marna] yeah
it's definitely very exhausting but also
very fun this is just my lifestyle
having WIZD is incorporated in all of
my creative projects I use it as a tool
to help me meet people and to go places
where you know I would normally go just
to promote the shop and also like my
creative endeavors and also meet others
in stores that in turn you know help the
shop out because now we're making
connections in different places actually
getting like my zine out and stuff
that's the hard thing.
[Charissa] Because we both work full time and we're also
doing the shop it just requires expert
communication between the two of us like
very good planning. [Marna] we also have two very
amazing volunteers this time around
since we've opened at the shop here in
Phoenix that have helped us
exponentially because when we were in
the Tempe shop we were opening the shop
every weekend if we didn't open the shop
there was a potential that we would lose
money or visibility so having these
volunteers come and help us out has just
been so great and I think that really
helped us mentally and our spirit feel
you know because it is a big
responsibility having a a
community-based type business very big
and
it's hard to try to be always physically
and mentally available for people needs
while also trying to fulfill your own
[Amanda] how can others use these as a form of
self-expression and why are zines important?
Zines are important because
there are no rules about them you can
make whatever you want whatever size you
want whatever color you really have
complete artistic freedom within zines
and they can be platforms for different
types of topics whether you're
publishing your poetry or you're
publishing your artwork or you have
something to say that's more politically
focused you know these are just a really
good platform for all different types of
language and words and I think that if
you're excited or you want to learn more
about these a great place to come is our
shop so that you can sort of integrate
yourself with a community and learn
where to start how to print what format
you like there's a lot of resources here
that can get you started and I think
that's one of the most important parts
about our shop is it lifts people up and
give them the tools they need to make a
zine and sell it. [Marna] I just think is really
important because everybody has a story
to tell and everybody's story is very
important when I was doing things when I
was younger and I was a teenager and I
wanted to be heard and I wanted to feel
important and empowered and I felt like
because things were so easy to do and
cheap I was able to do that because you
know having video, being
videographer you have to have all the
equipment photography same thing you
know but with zines all you need is an
interest or a belief or a passion that
you want people to know about or to
share you know information with and
things are just like the easiest way to do that.
[Amanda] How did you prepare to open your
own business and start WIZD? What kind of
skills are experienced do you think
helps make that happen? [Charissa] I think that we
have laid the foundation by sparking
interest about zines ahead of time by
doing monthly zine nights,
tabling our zines in various places. We
had enough interest that when we
decided to open up it was a kind of a
no-brainer to people people already sort
of knew what it was and then we just
began using our own social media
platforms to do calls for different
zine vendors as well as donations to
our library that first wave of zines
that came in were so inspiring and
exciting because we had just started so
I think that we really have were
successful because of the groundwork
that we laid before hand and then just
continuing that the whole time we're
open we're always trying to do more
outreach and meet new people and get new
people in the shop. [Amanda] what do you wish you
would have known before you started?
[Marna] I still think like to this day I'm
learning about how to run a business and
how to just keep up with things that are
you know backing stuff I don't know any
of that you know I know a little bit but
I'm not like a pro I didn't go to school
for business
I mean Zine mentality, hello, it's not like
that is it we try to be like not
corporate at all you know we're very
just loose so it was just like hard for
me to kind of like get into a routine
and try to be on time for things it's
still hard for me but I'm learning and
I'm still learning and I think what's
the most challenging part of having a
community-based business is being aware
of you and your actions and your words
that was very hard for me to kind of
like be aware of and and like really
think about how I'm representing myself
and how people perceive me so it's
always it's just a continuous learning
process. [Charissa] I wish I had known how to handle
extreme and rapid growth because that's
really what we encountered you know we
started off with maybe
35 vendors we thought, oh this is
exciting and then you know really diving
into the zine fest and everything just
kind of exploded and now moving into
this new location has really helped with
that it's just a matter of making sure
that continues and how to keep up with
it and keep beings in the shop because
we are selling out like crazy.
[Marna] Yeah, I think the Phoenix Zine Fest
definitely made us more visible because
I feel like ever since then has just
been insane. [Charissa] There were always smaller
events that were being focus that
existed but we you know after being to
the LA fest, the Long Beach zine fest,
the Oakland Zine Fest, like we've been
to so many we really wanted to show
people what that felt like and what that
looks like
and our first zine was extremely
successful. we had 65 vendors we only
planned it with three people, so that was kind of intense.
this year we have a much bigger and
better team and we can't wait to do the
second zine fest and get more people
interested in traveling from different
states. [Marna] Just zine fests in general are
widely known and then it's national
there's almost a zine fest happening in
every state now we've become just way
more visible so we're just like way into it.
[Charissa] there was someone the other week who
said oh my god did you go to the Phoenix
Zine Fest? and we were like yeah...
we did it! [Amanda] where do you see WIZD going
you know in the next couple years do you
feel like you're going to be sticking it
out for the long term? [Charissa] my vision is to
just continue growing it and to have a
good variety of things in here to have
more workshops and different events that
happen and just continue to build the
same community and provide support for
artists. [Marna] yeah 100%.
[Amanda] Is there anything that you want somebody
watching this video to understand about
making art or creating zine? [Charissa] I would say
don't take no for an
answer and always find a way to make
your art happen and put your art first
as priority. [Marna] you shouldn't let anybody
tell you that you can't do something or
you can't say something then you can't
feel something or you can't be something
if you want to do something and you want
to do it now then do it now you have the
capability to do that on your own you
don't need anybody to make you wait to
do something. [Charissa] like you've made it in the
art world because you make art because
you've made it.
you are your own stamp of approval. [Marna] Exactly.
[Amanda] Thank you for watching. If you're
in the Phoenix area be sure to check out
WIZD, located at The Hive on 16th Street
between McDowell and Thomas and you can
also find them online at WIZD-AZ.com
and across social media. if you want
to see more videos like this and get
practical tips and resources for artists
be sure to subscribe
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