HI SHARI, HOW ARE THINGS?
Great, thank you. Except for intense tiredness! There�s been a severe lack of sleep this week.
CAN YOU REMEMBER THE VERY FIRST BAND OR SINGER YOU EVER HEARD?
LOL, probably Elvis Presley. My mom�s a fan, so she no doubt had his albums on when I was a small kid.
WHAT FIRST GOT YOU HOOKED ON GOOD MUSIC?
Good music? I�m glad you think I have good taste in music. Well I guess it was Bon Jovi when Slippery When Wet was released in 1986. It kind of changed my life. They opened the doors to rock n� roll. My second ever concert was the Monsters Of Rock festival at Castle Donington in 1987. Having said that, when I was at middle school I used to like Adam & The Ants, so I think even back then I knew what good music was.
HOW DID YOUR LOVE FOR GREAT MUSIC LEAD YOU TO FOUNDING YOUR BELOVED 'BLACK VELVET' MAGAZINE?
I started off doing a little fanzine for an LA glam band called Alleycat Scratch. I saw them play in LA in 1992 and was so impressed that I decided I wanted to do something to help them. There was a girl in the States who put out a newsletter for them but I wanted to do something better, and to help them get noticed on this side of the pond. So I did that for a year until they split up and that�s when Black Velvet came into operation.
DID YOU WRITE A FANZINE BEFORE YOU STARTED ON THE MAG, AND HOW DID YOU INITIALLY FUND 'BLACK VELVET'?
Just answered that one! Black Velvet�s still really a fanzine though. It�s progressed a lot but it�s still a fanzine. I look back at the early issues now and think they�re awful although at the time I was so proud of them. It�s funny. When it first started out it was photocopied on my work photocopier. Badly. Then I went upmarket and went to the local printers for issue 4 onwards and have been using them ever since. I�ve always had a job so paid for it myself.
'BLACK VELVET' IS NOW ONE OF THE MAJOR MUSIC MAGAZINES IN THE COUNTRY AND IS EVEN SOLD ABROAD. HOW DID YOU SO SUCCESSFULLY RAISE YOUR MAG'S PROFILE TO SUCH AN INCREDIBLE EXTENT?
I wouldn�t say it�s a major music magazine. I wish it was. I just persevered. I�m a very stubborn person and once I set my mind to do something then I don�t give up. So many fanzine editors used to do one issue and then give up. I always had ambition to make it big. I still want to make it big. So I promote it as much as much as I can. Things like giving out flyers at gigs, posting on message boards (although obviously I don�t spam), constantly updating the website and I think just improving the quality of it helped a lot. You see it and it looks good with its glossy pages and full colour cover so people take it seriously.
IT'S RUMOURED THAT YOUR FAVOURITE BAND OF ALL-TIME IS NEW JERSEY-ITES BON JOVI. IS THIS TRUE?...
Haha. Yep. Bon Jovi were the first rock band I got into in 1986. 17 years later and they still rock. But my taste in music has widened a lot. I used to be a glam rock freak but now I like pop punk, emo, some melodic hardcore, all sorts of rock.
WHAT ARE THE BEST AND THE WORST ASPECTS OF RUNNING 'BLACK VELVET'?
The best aspects are just enjoying what I do. I love writing about music. I love rock music full stop. I love going to concerts and listening to CDs. It�s fun. The worst aspect is how busy I am and how I have little time for anything else. Sometimes I miss not being able to sit down in front of a TV and watch TV, or go out with a friend just to hang out. I only really go out to gigs. If I�m not at a gig I�m working on Black Velvet at my computer. It takes up so much time. It�s probably a good job I haven�t got a boyfriend. I don�t know how I�d fit him in! Once every three months the day the issue goes to the printers maybe. Haha. Just kidding.
ASIDE FROM THE MAGAZINE YOU FERVENTLY SUPPORT PRO-ANIMAL CAUSES AND ABHOR FOX-HUNTING & GENERAL ANIMAL CRUELTY. PLEASE TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR LOVE FOR ANIMALS AND THE GENUINELY BRILLIANT CAUSES THAT YOU SUPPORT?
Well I became vegetarian 14 years ago. It was when my first dog died. For some reason right after his death I decided to stop eating meat. I�d gotten to know a couple of others in my town who were vegetarian and into animal rights and I think they inspired me. I�ve always loved animals, although it�s really over the last few years that I realised I really ought to try and do more to help them, to stop the cruelty that goes on in the world. Just over a year ago I became vegan. I gave up all animal by-products. That was inspired by Tyler Rann, guitarist with Midtown. I discovered they were into animal rights and vegetarians/vegans earlier in the year and wanted to interview them. I figured I�d do an animal rights/vegetarianism interview � my first proper animal rights/vegetarian interview. I did a telephone interview with Tyler since he was the sole vegan in the band � the other guys are vegetarian. Just listening to what he said made me �open my eyes� (to quote Goldfinger, who are fronted by another animal lover and vegan, John Feldmann). He�d tell me how their crew guys became vegetarian when they went on tour, how he�d go to his local vegan restaurants every day to try and keep them in business, how his brother adopted him a cow, and basically was very, very passionate about animal rights and how animal cruelty sucked. I told him I still ate cheese and he said that was ok as at least I wasn�t eating meat. I was doing �something� and every little bit counts. I never thought I could give up cheese as it was my favourite food. I rarely went a day without eating cheese pizza! Then a few months later on the Midtown yahoogroup there was a discussion about veganism and something hit me and I just decided on the spot that I was quitting cheese and all other animal by-products. I said �that�s it� and as I said earlier, when I make my mind up to do something I do it. I have good will power. From that day on I was vegan.
More recently I�ve wanted to do even more for the animals. So I went on my first animal rights demo on July 31st and then I went on another in September and this weekend I�m going on a national march in Cambridge to try and stop primate experiments at Cambridge Uni. I really feel that I need to stand up for the animals. As others say �they can�t speak so we have to�. They are so defenseless. Ask a human if they want to be tested on and they can say no and it doesn�t happen. Animals don�t have that choice. They get used and abused. It makes me so sad. They deserve to live as free a life as we have; a life without cruelty and torture.
There are lots of great organisations out there trying to help animals. One that does a lot, and who a lot of bands in USA promote is PETA. Visit www.peta.com or www.peta2.com � if you go to peta2.com you can read about all the bands that are vegetarian and into animal rights. It�s a great site. I found out last week that Ian Grushka of New Found Glory had become vegetarian. I didn�t know that. There are loads of bands into animal rights, it�s great. Go to that site! Then there�s VIVA, WSPA, BUAV, DogsTrust (which used to be the NCDL but just changed its name). The BUAV was the first one that ever sent me literature in the mail. I must have signed a petition or something when I was in my late teens and from then I�ve been on their mailing list. BUAV stands for the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection. I get sent heapsof raffle tickets from all sorts of animal organisations. I usually end up buying most of them myself because I don�t know anyone else who wants to buy one. If anyone�s reading and wants to help get in touch! I have about 12 books of raffle tickets here at the moment!
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