In retrospect, this is my saddest column. I wrote it when MRR was in crisis, but when I still had hope the print edition of the magazine could be salvaged. I wanted to do my part to drum up support for it, but subsequent developments proved me wrong.
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Whenever I’m out and about wearing my gang colors (read: my MRR t-shirt) and aside from comments like “cool shirt” I get questions. “Are they still around?” (Yep, 37 years and counting.) “Where can I get a copy?” (Order a copy online or buy one in select stores.) And, very rarely: “How can I help MRR out?” Here’s my rather lengthy answer to that last question.
GIVE MONEY
Money is the most and least important way you can help MRR. Most important because, as the song goes, “money makes the world go ‘round.” Money is crucial to the production of the magazine and the survival of the overall project. But it’s also the least important element because people frequently give money without doing anything else, often to assuage their guilt for not doing anything else. We’re still glad to take your cash, and there are several ways to give it to us. NO STRINGS ATTACHED: Just give us the money. In the old days, punks would send MRR cash in the mail. Of course, it was in payment for subscriptions or records or what have you, but the result was that Tim Yo had lots of spare cash to use without reporting it to the Feds. Those days are long gone and we don’t recommend you send us money via the post. But if you don’t need your donation to be tax deductible, then just send us a check or money order. Sorry, MRR doesn’t do BitCoin. TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATIONS: MRR is a not-for-profit, not a nonprofit. You can’t give us money directly if you want it to be tax deductible. Fortunately, we partner with a great little nonprofit, San Francisco All-Ages Art & Music Project (SFAAAMP), which is a legit 501(c)(3). You can send your donation to SFAAAMP, c/o John Downing, 3653 24th Street, Ste. 2, San Francisco, CA 94110. Make sure to mark it for MRR.
MRR is also happy to exchange product for money. It’s called commerce, and there are several ways you can purchase stuff from us. BUY SINGLE ISSUES: We can sell you single issues or multiples of any single issue—current or back issue—so long as it’s still in stock. They make great gifts for friends and family. There are deals for 6 back issues, and you can download PDFs of the current issue and select back issues online. SUBSCRIBE: This is the best way to get your copy of the magazine. Subscriptions are available for 6 and 12 months respectively. Not only do you get it for a discounted price, subscribing gives us a steady dependable income we can count on for the duration of your subscription. Gift subscriptions for friends and family are also awesome. OTHER PRODUCTS: MRR offers records and comps, as well as lots of great t-shirts, for you to buy. We give away free buttons and stickers when you purchase stuff from us. ADVERTISE: If you have something punk related (music, zine, book, etc.) advertise it in the pages of MRR. Our rates are cheap. Depending on what you do, we can do an ad exchange. ROUND UP: A 6 month subscription sent to anywhere in the US costs $26.00. Why not round up to an even $30? Most of our styling t-shirts go for $15 apiece. Why not round up to $20? That’s the idea. DO A BENEFIT: You can organize your own benefit for MRR in your local scene, or have your band play a show to benefit MRR. You can even sell MRR at local shows and we’ll send you a bundle.
LEND SUPPORT
There are lots of ways to support MRR non-monetarily. Whenever you find the magazine at your local record shop or bookstore, make sure to tell them how glad you are to find MRR there. If your favorite record shop or bookstore doesn’t carry us, ask them to do so. See if your local library will carry us. MRR is on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Like us, follow us, comment on and repost our stuff on your social media. Mention and review us on websites, blogs, podcasts, and everywhere possible on the internet. Do the same in the remaining analog media like print magazines, newspapers, and books. If you do a zine, mention us, review us, and put up a free MRR ad. Patronize the businesses who distribute the magazine and patronize our advertisers. Make sure they know you like us. Attend MRR PRESENTS shows and events. Listen to and follow Maximum RocknRoll Radio online and on your local radio station. If your radio station doesn’t carry the radio show, ask them to do so. Tell the bands, labels, authors, zine publishers, etc. you like that you saw them in the pages of MRR. And send us your music, zines, books, comics, etc. so we can review your stuff in the magazine.
VOLUNTEER YOURSELF
There are shitworkers, reviewers, columnists, and coordinators listed on MRR’s first two Top Ten pages, but we’re all volunteers. I like to divide the volunteers into two basic categories: IN IT FOR THE GLORY and BEHIND THE SCENES. In It For The Glory are volunteers who want to see their names in print reviewing records, demos, books, zines and movies, doing interviews, recording radio shows, listing top tens, and writing columns. Behind The Scenes are volunteers who do things for MRR without wanting credit in the magazine. That includes picking up the mail, distributing the magazine locally, to subscribers and internationally, green taping and filing records, cleaning up the office, tabling at events, putting on shows or other events, coordinating various departments of the magazine, and coordinating the entire magazine. Of course, volunteers can be in both categories. I used to be listed as a shitworker under “George Impulse” and as a columnist under “Lefty Hooligan” until the coordinators made me decide how I wanted to be credited. Being the glory hound that I am, I opted for columnist. All MRR’s volunteer positions are open to anyone who wants to step up, provided you have a commitment to the magazine and punk rock. In It For The Glory volunteers should also be informative, entertaining, and provocative in whatever they write or record for MRR. At their most basic, Behind The Scenes volunteers can just show up and do their job. Those Behind The Scenes volunteers who coordinate specific departments or who coordinate the whole enterprise need to be vetted by MRR as a whole because they are responsible for running and producing the magazine. In general, volunteers should be consistent and dependable because nobody likes a flake. But any punk can and should volunteer for MRR if you want to support us.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SCENE
I’ve always been into weird, edgy bands—Deviants, 13th Floor Elevator, The Up, MC5—so getting into punk wasn’t a stretch when I lived in San Diego. I can’t remember whether I saw The Ramones at San Diego State University in December, 1978, or October, 1979, as my first ever punk rock show. I was a heavy drinker in those days, so things are hazy. I was a regular at San Diego’s Skeleton and Zebra Clubs. I did a two-sided broadside called Point-Blank (subtitled an anarchist no wave monthly) in 1984 and a regular zine called San Diego’s Daily Impulse (an anti-authoritarian news journal that went from bimonthly to quarterly and then to monthly) from 1985 through 1989. I regularly tabled at shows and progressive events, and organized two Anarchy Picnics at Balboa Park and one Hardcore Picnic at Mariner’s Point that turned into a full blown riot. I put on several benefit shows and helped set up various anarchist affinity groups and anti-authoritarian organizations, including the short-lived Borderlands Anti-Authoritarian Community and a chapter of Anti-Racist Action.
Such was my local punk street cred when I moved to the Bay Area in 1991. I immediately got involved with MRR. Not exactly the Bible of punk rock despite Tim Yo’s tongue-in-cheek issue touting that status, MRR was a leading international magazine of punk rock that made a point of covering local punk scenes. It still is and does, despite the general decline of print media and punk music. So, by all means, support your local scene. But if you do a zine or play in a band or put on shows or record a podcast or whatever else you do in your local scene, send it to MRR. We’d love to cover it. By supporting your local punk rock scene you can support MRR.
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