Joe Goblyn, Desilu Muñoz, Sifry Borrayo and Paul Carrillo grew up in different parts of Southern California … Whittier, the Norwalk area. Lynwood and West Covina, to be specific.They came together as Applesauce Industries “just to make cool stuff regardless of what it is”. As such, they have a wide range of work, including photo zines, illustration zines, screenprinted, hand-drawn and graphic-driven zines. They don’t focus on one specific angle or topic, but “just want to be creative and put cool things out into the world.” And for the last three years, they’ve put that cool stuff out on both coasts, including three years at the LA Art Book Fair, two year at the NY Art Book Fair, and, of course, the inaugural Long Beach Zine Fest.
When did you start making zines … and why?
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away… Not really, it’s been years. As a group it was close to three years ago, but some of us were making stuff for years before that. There’s some background in the punk/DIY scene present and that whole ideology really pushes you to make zines. Everyone’s voice is important, you know?
How do you create your zine content?
Basically, since we all do art and photo stuff regularly, it’s not so much of a thing s creating content for a zine as it is collecting it or creating theme to gather stuff to fit into.
Why do you make zines?
We make what we make because doing all the creative stuff that you can is important. It’s cool to see people’s reactions when they like what you made, or to inspire someone to make something of their own. When you explain to someone at the table that we made all the stuff that they are looking at, it’s like they get it in their head that creating something of their own isn’t that far out of reach. Also, having a physical item that you made and put out there is really rewarding. Like, 10 years from now someone might come across this thing that you made and see what you were doing creatively at that moment in time.
In addition to zines, what are you passionate about?
We have a varied group and that makes for some varied interests: art, photography, museums, bars, anime, comics, junk, thrifting, old cars, film, music, baseball, basketball, shoes, jewelry, hoarding, podcasts, the list really goes on and on…
What is your biggest challenge in making zines?
Making new stuff semi-regularly. The more zinefests/pop-ups/book fairs/events that there are the more that you feel you have to have something new for each event. You start to feel like the stuff you have is “old” and then you realize that you only put it out three months ago and have to kind of see that you aren’t a machine. But the pressure is definitely there to make new stuff almost constantly.
What do you like about your local zine community?
The local community is great. There’s a lot of people that we’ve met through all this that we wouldn’t have otherwise and that’s awesome. Especially meeting folks that have a passion for different forms of art and being creative. The clusters of talent that exist so close to us are amazing. You know what else is great about the local zine community? The fact that there’s a LONG BEACH ZINEFEST. How about the fact that you guys are making this thing happen again? That we have a group of people that aren’t just creative, but driven. Thank you for making this a thing we have to look forward to.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start making zines?
You have the internet and it basically gives you access to the sum total of human knowledge. You can punch in “How to make a zine” and get a lot of good info. Other than that, just know it takes time and a bit of trial and error, but it’s worth it when you have that first issue in your hand. Also, don’t ask people where they get their stuff printed. They probably took a lot of time to find a place and develop a relationship with the folks that run it. That’s part of what you should be looking for.
Why are you tabling at Long Beach Zine Fest?
Because it was amazing last year and will be so again this year. And because all of our friends will be there. And because it’s awesome.