We're speaking with Mike Gitter about a new and updated version of his XXX hardcore fanzine book.
The current book is a classic collection of hardcore and punk interviews from the eighties that appeared in his XXX fanzine. It's a heavy, coffee-table type hardback thing, which i lovely(we have a couple here) but very expensive to get shipped from the US, where 99% of the copies are, to the UK and Europe. We are discussing with Mike and Chris about adding a few more chapters and creating a new lighter, slightly smaller page size format paperback version for the UK/ European market.
"xXx Fanzine (1983-1988): Hardcore & Punk In The Eighties' isn't merely a collection of articles, reviews, and photographs from one of hardcore America's best-known fanzines. It's a chronicle of punk's evolution in the '80s: a story of music and ideologies in motion.
xXx's story picks up while the first wave of hardcore was in full swing. Major players including Minor Threat had already released landmark records and bands were loading up station wagons to play now infamous venues like The Channel, A7 or D.C. Space. While based in Boston, MA, xXx's main writer and editor, Mike Gitter, not only concentrated on his own city's burgeoning scene, spearheaded by bands like S.S. Decontrol and DYS, but looked to other states and countries for xXx's reportage.
The current 288-page book documents a time when hardcore and punk were not mutually exclusive and bands and cities had a chance to develop their own diverse and strident sounds. This creative ethos and aural zeitgeist is literally spelled out on the 19-song compilation that's included with xXx Fanzine, a limited-edition LP (available exclusively through mailorder or special sales outlets). A wide variety of current hardcore, punk and hard music luminaries including Strife, Letlive, Fu Manchu And The Riverboat Gamblers contributed their interpretations to some of the most influential songs to come from xXx's original era. Now, in addition to reproducing (and restoring) countless interviews and pages from the 'zine itself, xXx Fanzine re-interviews countless bands and musical prime-movers including Ian MacKaye, Keith Morris and members of Agnostic Front, Bad Brains and Cro-Mags to give the book a rare "then-and-now" perspective. "xXx Fanzine (1983-1988): Hardcore & Punk in The Eighties" isn't merely a look back at hardcore's salad days, but a unique look at how punk's music and message shook the mainstream itself.