Puzz: A Look at Vermont-made 'zines
By Brad Searles
In every issue of the Good Citizen, I spotlight the creator of a different area ‘zine. This issue’s Puzz focuses on Lila Rees, the outspoken, self-proclaimed “chick” responsible for U.S Herstoree. We spent one Monday night at the Gaslight Laundromat doing laundry, playing pool, making balloon animals, and talking about stuff…
B: First pfff, tell me a little about yourself…
L: Want me to just tell you some fun facts?
B: Sure, go ahead…
L: Well, I smoke Marlboro Reds, my hair color is officially called “High Lift Coolest Blonde,” and I just got it cut. My favorite show of all time is Pee Wee;s Playhouse. Um… I was brought up on David Letterman, mostly because my brother used to tape it every night. When I was like 6 or 7 I had a ditsy dream about Davud, and I told my cousin and she said “eeeeewwww!” but I thought it was cool.
B: How about books or movies you’re into…
L: When I had no life, like in 8th grade, I read the Exorcist in a day… that was rad. I read the Amityville Horror, too. My two favorite movies are Predator and Predator 2… They’re way good. The remake of Lord Of The Flies was pretty good, too. Last night I saw Purple Rain… I liked the 80s hairstyles. I just waxed it to get fashion tips from Prince.
B: You mean “The artist formerly known as Prince…”
L: He’s so lame. He was cool, like in 1985.
B: Alright… tell me a little about your ‘zine…
L: Qell, ,y ‘zine is personal, I guess… it wasn’t meant to be personal in the beginning. I mostly talk about things I care about, what’s going on in my life, and local bands and stuff…
B: So what issue are you up to?
L: Number 8 is the news,,, number 9 is coming out in June, I started it in February of ‘94 and number 7 was the anniversary issue.
B: Do you have a favorite issue so far and why?
L: I dunno… the one with the fat naked chick on the cover… number 5. The summer one. It had the beer reviews, and a cool interview, and a cool cover. It was the first time I made stickers and stuff. That was a pretty good one. My newest one looks really good… and it’s got Todd Dunn in it. (She’s smiling) I like that a lot… it's got, like, pictures of him with his shirt off.
B: A lot of people think that you slam people too much, and that’s a big part of your ‘zine…
L: No it’s not… because…well, I am a negative person. My whole attitude is “hey if you think the worst and something bad happens then you, like, expected it, but when something awesome happened then you’re psyched, So if I don’t like something, I say it sucks or whatever, but when I like something, people don’t ever hear that I like it. You know, I gave Todd that interview… five pages of Slush. I did a six page James Kochalka interview, and nobody ever says, “Wow, you give a lot of attention to things you like.”
B: They just focus on the negative stuff…
L: Yeah, I think there’s a lot more negative people out there than me. I’m not out to hurt anybody or anything, which may sound like a total bull…
B: Well, sometimes you must bum people out when you slam them, whether they show it or not…
L: Just because I don’t like a band doesn’t mean I don’t like the people in it… just the music, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying I don’t like something.
B: I’m not saying that… I’m just saying you have to deal with people getting mad at you because you slam their band or ‘zine… even though it’s not a personal thing.
L: Yeah, that’s true. But there are a lot of musicians and ‘zine writers in this town who make it a personal thing. I’m getting to the point where I don’t even know if I want to do a ‘zine anymore because I’m so sick of this whole town, and what people are trying to do. It seems like every time somebody does something good, whether it’s their band or a ‘zine, or doing a project, they get shit on for it by other people. I don’t know it it’s jealousy, ‘cis that’s really cliched, It’s just people who are bored, or they get off on it. It’s just really sickening, it’s really lame. As much as my ;zine is supposedly negative, I’m not going “Ha ha ha ! I hurt that person’s feelings!” I’m not thinking about that when I write. I’m not that mean of a person.
B: Talk a bit about what it’s like to be one of the few, maybe only, females doing a local ‘zine.
L: I don’t think it’s a big deal that I’m the only girl doing a ‘zine, bit I do think it shows how much this while punk and hardcore scene is really male-dominated. I’’s tiring after a while… only hearing male viewpoints. There’s only a few other ‘zines, and they’re all guys. If you go to a show, it’s like, a guy working the door, guys selling zines, guys in the pit, guys on the stage, guys everywhere… and there’s probably like ten girls out of fifty guys. It’s so annoying after a while. It’s just too bad that more girls around here don’t get involved, or have things to say.
Lila has plenty more to say, so keep an eye out for copies of U.S Herstoree on local ‘zine racks. Check out next issue’s PUZZ, when I’ll be talking to the guys that bring you Poo-Poo Magazine.
Brad worked at Tones, an indie record store on Church St., occasionally plays drums and sometimes runs Club Fub Records. He actually got this article on time. Send your Vt. made ‘zine to him ℅ Good Citizen or stop by Tones and say hello.