What is The Reprobate?
It’s a new print magazine, aimed at the modern contrarian; the sort of person who is tired of empty thought and thought control, who wants something a bit different and challenging. It’s essentially the successor to my old magazine, Divinity, which caused something of a stir back in the day. The Reprobate will be more style-conscious perhaps, but just as willing to kick against the pricks and frighten the horses.
What kind of content can we expect to see in the mag?
Too much is never enough, that’s our slogan. I’d say ‘pop culture’, but there’s plenty of unpop in there too. We’re doing music, movies, books, arts etc., as well as disgraceful misbehaviour, deviant sexuality, general decadence, fashion – the interesting kind – and weird oddities. The idea is to remain pretty unpredictable – not to be obscure for the hell of it, but to write about things that people might not be all that familiar with. Ideally, we will entertain, inform and outrage in equal measure.
Issue 0 is already out – what’s in it?
It started as a small sampler, but ended up at 88 pages. It’s a heady mix. We have a big piece on Alexander McQueen, a tour of the crumbling Salton Sea resort in America, a look at the Jack the Ripper Museum controversy, Jason Atomic’s Satanic Mojo Manifesto comic strip, ouija boards, Laurel and Hardy, gonzo porn pioneer Ugly George, weird medical experiments, a piece on the sensual powers of perfume and lots of reviews. It’s fairly eclectic, but it’s just a taster of the sort of things to come. You can read it on the Indiegogo page until the end of July, or find it on our website.
Who’d be your dream Reprobate interviewee? Someone that truly embodies the magazine…
People who have lived the life, had their ups and downs, battled the dullards and are full of stories: Ollie Reed, Ken Russell, Ernest Hemingway and Anita Berber come to mind. I’ll be revamping my old interview with Russ Meyer into a new, retrospective piece for the first issue, and you don’t get much better than him. I had dinner with Jess Franco, but didn’t interview him – he might well be our role model in terms of being a cultural iconoclast and bon viveur. We interviewed Human Centipede director Tom Six – not about his movies, but about his fashion tastes. That’s the sort of interview I’m really interested in – people talking about something other than their latest project.
Is it a NSFW mag?
It probably depends on where you work. There are certainly discussions of an adult nature, and while we won’t be engaging in gratuitous content for the hell of it in print, we won’t be holding back either.
What’s your previous experience in the magazine industry?
I’ve been publishing assorted magazines on and off for about ten years between the late eighties and nineties, as well as working as a writer for a variety of magazines, from the respectably arty like Rapid Eye to the bottom-of-the-barrel grumble rags like Ravers (not a dance music magazine). Indie publishing is very much in my blood.
Where will the mag be available?
I’m not expecting to get it into WH Smiths, but specialist retailers – indie shops, record shops and so on – should be a good bet for finding copies. We are scheduled to print around November.
Is it going to be tied to Nottingham in any way?
We’re thinking global, not local, in terms of coverage. But I’m based here, and I’m keen to do coverage of anything interesting. We will be doing city culture guides, and Nottingham seems a good place to start. We are keen to use local photographers and models for our esoteric fashion shoots, so if anyone wants to volunteer, they should get in touch… as should fashion dandies and local eccentrics.
What’s the IndieGoGo campaign for?
The main thing is covering the initial print run – it’s why I’d say it’s pre-ordering rather than crowd funding. And we want to pay writers and photographers – not very much, but more than nothing. Those costs can be crippling to start out. The campaign ends on Sunday 31 July, and I'd suggest that everyone support that, but people can still pre-order issue 1 after that from the website. And we might be persuaded to offer subscriber bundles later too.
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