It's September, and the point I want to hammer home is the fact that sometimes, you need to stop giving a fuck and utterly annihilate whatever is in your path with pure determination, drive, and speed. In short, I found a fucking way just like Kurt Cobain said in his song 'Territorial Pissings'.
The last few months of my existence have been plagued with a special kind of disease—called caring too much about what others think and letting them project their own insecurities onto you—thus making their insecurities your own. Despite making ample progress in the academic department, with me getting straight A's three terms in a row, and topping three of my subjects with full marks, I've remained stagnant and complacent in the social and 'life purpose' department.
There are people within the scene who have already garnered more attention and made more of a name for themselves, with them securing friend groups, relationships, membership in bands, and tons of positive public attention. Meanwhile, I've basically been either too scared to fucking go out there and make change happen, or clueless about what to do as I lay in my bed consuming cheap dopamine produced by the slop content engagement machines called YouTube channels or whatever the fuck those personalities on social media like to present themselves as.
I knew that it was time to do something and here I am. The fact is that if you want to be a public personality, you have to make peace with the fact that there are people who want to exploit your position and use you as a pawn to rise themselves up. I haven't been immune to that fact, but I'm facing it head on by just fucking doing it.
Not many people can say that they write a magazine with an audience of eight hundred. Let's be honest here, most people within the scene simply go to gigs for a fun time and possibly to get shitfaced, and don't actually care about the spirit of the music that much. There are people who have it better than me, there are people who might have better people skills or have more connections. But the thing that nobody can beat me in is in making this magazine and being fucking cool. Writing a magazine and getting straight A's are dreams that some people would die for, and I'm going to let people who are jealous of me stand in my path towards being fucking great.
A testament to this philosophy of mine is my experience at a recent gig at Paddington Skatepark. People have commented that I looked lonely, and I was. It was the first real gig I've been to in months and I felt awful feeling like the underdog in my own game. But you know what? I'd say that I rocked harder than a lot of those people there. A lot of them were there to get intoxicated and fuck around, but I actually went there to experience the music, so that was something that already made me actually enjoy the experience of being there. Much like the first local gig I had attended at Paddington Skatepark, it affirmed to be the connecting role music has as an artistic medium of expression, and made me want to share and document that experience with others through the medium of a music magazine.
I want to thank Guy of Findaway and Tani for their indispensable role in shaping how I experienced the memorable events detailed in this issue. I also want to thank Eliza for taking on the role of my new mentor figure that I've been dearly needing in this new chapter of my life. And of course, I offer thanks to Arran McKenzie and Johnnie Campbell of Piss Off for their role as the preeminent supporters of this project.
I wrote this entire editorial in 15 minutes. Usually, I would procrastinate and always be concerned about 'getting it perfect', only to realise that the original concept and 'braindump' was better than the overedited and regurgitated slop of ideas that I would usually end up with after hours of typing to insanity. What I've learnt from my long hiatus and creative and social exile is that you need to capture your inspiration and drive when it feels unstoppable and as if it is a mad urge. You need to then funnel that energy into whatever work or passion and have and just do it. Stop thinking. Start doing.
From the archive. Editorial · September 2025 · phone notes carried verbatim.