The Brief
Hardcore You Know the Score is a self initiated brief aimed at revitalising the Hardcore rave era which stared in the late 80s and ran until the mid 90s. The rave movement gradually lost momentum because of various social and political problems at the time and has since evolved into other forms of music.
For this project I wanted to put together a zine that pays homage to this period of musics history that has greatly influenced the music, cultures and lifestyles of today, while also bringing it up to date and introducing it to a new audience.
Audience
The zines primary audience will range from anyone who did not experience the rave scene first time round (15-25 year olds) and will work as an introduction to the music and culture.
It will also act as a homage to the era and act as an archive of ephemera and feelings experienced from the time. People who did experience it can relive some of the moments from their youth and encourage them to start listening again.
Mandatory Requirements
- A5 Risograph Zine
- Cassette Tape with mix of tracks from the Hardcore rave scene.
To run alongside the Disposable Society exhibition run by Goat Collective, the six members of Jarg People have been given a stall to promote ourselves, showcase some printed media and play music. For this we have decided to create another series of cassette tapes and some printed material to run alongside them.
Hardcore You Know the Score is a self initiated brief aimed at revitalising the Hardcore rave era which stared in the late 80s and ran until the mid 90s. The rave movement gradually lost momentum because of various social and political problems at the time and has since evolved into other forms of music.
From this short time period however a vast amount of content was produced in only musically but visually. Many club nights main way of promotion was through printed flyers and posters, as it was pre-internet, and the journalistic output was through zines - reminiscent of the punk rock movement.
For this project I want to put together a zine that pays homage to this period of musics history that has greatly influenced the music and lifestyles of today, while also bringing it up to date and introducing it to a new audience.
A Brief History
In the early 1990s, the terms hardcore and darkcore were used to designate some primitive forms of breakbeat and drum and bass which were very popular in England and from which have emerged several famous producers like The Prodigy, Lords of Acid and also Goldie. It introduced sped up hip-hop breakbeats, piano breaks, dub and low frequency basslines and cartoon-like noises, which has been retrospectively called 'old skool' hardcore, and is widely regarded as the progenitor of happy hardcore (which later lost the breakbeats) and jungle (which alternatively lost the techno style keyboard stabs and piano breaks).
Around 1993, the style became clearly defined and was simply named hardcore, as it left its influences of the techno of Detroit.
Below is a collection of images, logos, icons and memorabilia found in zines, books and archive websites.
eDEN Fanzine House Stylé
Seven issues published between May 1992 and May 1994, eEDN was a fanzine documenting the French house scence as it began to grow sold at clubs and record shops. The zines inception came about through DJs and fans of the music wanting to shake the stigma that electronic dance music and clubs held because of thier association with drugs and disruptive opening hours.
The respone was this well designed and engaging magazine that aimed to show the positve side to European dance music and club culture.
http://www.mmparis.com
Youtube Comments
The music and tracks I have curated highlight key moments from Hardcore's history and have added new songs that draw from the earlier music. The majority of the text content for the zine I will gather from Youtube comments section where people have reminisced and posted interesting (and humorous) anecdotes that set the tone of voice for the project.
The aim for this zine is to not be read in a linear way but to be picked up and flicked through at random, yet still get pulled into small stories and memories.
Imagine this blasting outv 10ft speakers with 2000 happy people dancing in sync inside a huge cloud of laser-coloured strawberry smoke and sucking on icepops. sigh. still awesome track but I miss raving so much.
For all those that were there, we had something pretty special, we almost changed this world for the better, so fucking close, i'm 48 now and look around me and see a world of hate! WTF is wrong with people now, so much greed and cruelty, it's not what life is about, glad i still have me vinyl, 1210's and friends from back then to smash it up with sometimes, LOVE, PEACE AND RESPECT to all.
Q. In a thousand years, presuming there are still oomans about that wanna hear music.... what era are they gonna plunder for decent dance tracks? A. Early 90s UK breakbeat hardcore thats what, none of yer Jazz, DUD-Step, salsa or 60s mod psych bleedin dancers.... COZ THEY KNOW DA SCORE.
Must of been 12 or 13 when i first heard hardcore on a south London pirate radio station. These tunes changed my life, after hearing these tunes you can never go back to bog standard pop music. I dont listen to this stuff much anymore apart from when i go on one of these nostalgia binges, but this music is what made me understand what dance music is about. I listen to mostly Northern soul, rare Groove Funk, and Hosue these days but these old hardcore tunes are what i cut my teeth on!
What IS the word I am looking for to describe these days? Oh... yeah... bangin'! Fkin superb, Shelley's in Stoke, Wigan Pier, Dome in Birmingham. Many years ago but like yesterday, I have hairs standing up where I did not I had hairs. Many thanks from an old raver - never did the gloves or glow-sticks, did not need them - JUST DANCE
Jeez, this was such a special time to be going clubbing... amazing people, vibes, no bad attitudes, great lighting, amazing rugs ;) etc. everything was so new... new genres seemingly popping up all over the place. hardcore was simply brilliant from 1990 to 1992. glad I was there :)
I cant believe the tunez that were made back then, I mean imagine what they would have done with todays technology. Thing is it cant ever be created again, it wasnt just talent that these people had it was such a love for the scene. Its gone forever and was so short lived, but for those of us that were there we can spend the rest of our lives rushing of the memories. You could hug a stranger back then and he/she would hug you back. Try doing that now!
Played this on VINYL last night & i was bouncing all over crossfading from this to Bukem & i can honestly say i was back to being 18 years old with all my mates around me watching me mix in the youth club. The last bit is me going back but those memories never die, I will put £100 on the table to any Dj that plays MP3S to remember they have a tune when played in a club cause u wont remember it cause u aint had to search for it and get a bus 40 miles to find it.
Nothing tops this music, 92 sure was a memorable year even though I was really young but I was there to live through these golden years when tracks like these were fresh out the box.
Liked it then, like it now, i was 16 in 86 stated with the acid and saw it through to around 95-96 when kids and boredom set in. These tunes remind me of a time when it wasn't about being commercial and mainstream it was more about having a fucking good time and if you could get away with it having it for free in a bloody big warehouse. Oi Oi to me old school bread bins and you young uns who know the score.
So fortunate to have experienced the era .. I am 45 now and still love it as much as I did then .... CLASSICS ...NEVER GETS OLD .... and will never die!!!!!
I want the... I want the... I want the... Amen break forever.
When you hear this track, and your from that Era, your hair stands on end, you get those natural good vibes, your energy changes, your back THERE..... then you compare it to modern dance music the modern sound is slick, but that original sound that the UK dominated is simply unsurpassable, this track is proof.
God this actually sends shivers up my spine. Literally. Oh man - so many memories.
Man, back in the day...even now, goose bumps just rise, I remember watching the lasers then closing my eyes and just being transported away from everything and just being in heaven, if if for just a moment.
Never thought I'd hear this beauty again. Gotta feel for the youngsters that missed the magic! This tune make me soo soo sooo happy. I'll chip in on that time machine if anyone sees one for sale.
Sweet fucking Jesus Christ man no wonder we had the best times of our lives listening to tunes like these all night , absolutely unbelievably amazingly astoundingly brilliant.
Bruvva, I only wish I could somehow find the words to explain just how fantastic those days were, but I could never come close. 1990 to 1993 were the best years, 92 for me, was the peak.
Bruvva, I only wish I could somehow find the words to explain just how fantastic those days were, but I could never come close. 1990 to 1993 were the best years, 92 for me, was the peak.
Selecting a Cohesive Typeface
The type has been inspired from some of the existing typography from the hardcore rave era from looking at old zines, flyers and posters on archive websites. Using a familiar typeface helps capture the the nostalgia and pays homage further to the late 80s early 90s.
The typeface used is Compacta Bold BT which has been subtly manipulated by compressing and stretching it.
Arranging Type
It its important for the type to be consistent throughout the zine but also keep it interesting. I have kept the typeface the same throughout (youtube comments are all in the same font as each other, quotes in the same font, own words ect). I have varied them up on different pages by switching between stroke and fills, italics and regular and different point sizes.
I want the typography to be simple and high impact to represent the attitude and energy people had towards the rave scene. The Compacta typeface is very bold and up front so have decided to invert the italics on the larger quotes to make it more readable.
To get the most variety out of the zine layout I have used a modular grid where I can freely arrange the content while ensuring that it still fits comfortably and seamlessly on the pages.
Full bleed images highlight the characters and people from the time and give a nice break from some of the more text heavy pages.
When printing I'll insert some colour pages to add another element and again make it more visually interesting.
Risograph Print
The most cost effective and best quality print option for the look I am wanting to achieve would be a Risograph printer. As the zine would be a physical product I want people to pay attention to the print finish and unique qualities a riso print provides and add another element to the overall design. The texture a risograph printer creates gives a DIY feel to the zine because of the ink used and the way it is applied and gives me more colour and paper options than a standard digital print.
northernprintmakers.co.uk
After finding which printers would be the cheapest option on my budget I decided to go with Northern Printmakers who are based in Dewsbury which I could go and visit and work with the machine. I emailed them to see the specifications and print/paper/colour options they had available.
I was shown how to set up a risograph for print and the different stages involved in the process.
The zine was then staple bound and packaged.
Additional Prints
This was an idea for a print that I could have alongside the zine for the exhibition that I did plan on screen printing but ran out of time. This could always work as an extension to the project however and can be revisited.
Final Risograph Zine
Overall I am pleased with the outcome and everything more or less went to plan during the printing process. Below are the final 24 pages that make up the booklet which I will be selling at Goat Collective's Disposable Society on the 5th of March along with the cassette.
I plan to extend this brief and make it into a series exploring other genres of music using a similar methodology, as finding out about the music and culture as a whole was one of the most interesting parts of the project for me. I have made 'Volume' stickers which I can apply to the other zines I create in the future and keep it as an ongoing series.
Cassette Tape
The tape design follows on from the zine and work together as a set. Full tracklist of the songs that were referenced in the zine which would give a reader who is unfamiliar with the music some context to the comments.
The cassette format is part of our collective Jarg People who use cassettes as a unique yet cost effective way of releasing physical music formats opposed to streams and downloads.
The concertina fold on the cassette packaging also provides an interesting place for experimenting with type and image that cannot be done with digital or vinyl formats.
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