Hello! My name is Tilly, I’m eighteen and I live in the northwest of England. I am the creator of Antithesis, which is a fanzine focused on alternative music and culture. I occupy my time working on Antithesis, playing guitar, going to gigs and spending much time outdoors as I live next door to two national parks, the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales.
I created the first issue of Antithesis as a part of a college project. It was the final project of the course and I had the opportunity to choose a topic for myself. I chose the topic of: alternative music, because it is something I have been really passionate about since the age of thirteen/fourteen. After discussing with my parents (big alternative music fans themselves and responsible for much of my music taste!) they helped me decide that a fanzine would be the perfect choice for this project. I did lots of research into eighties/nineties fanzines and the Riot Grrrl movement to help me gain inspiration for both the visual aesthetics and the articles. I chose the name ‘Antithesis’ because I wanted it to be obvious that it was about people, bands and a scene that goes against the grain and are different/alternative to the majority of society. The definition of antithesis is: ‘a person or thing that is the direct opposite of someone or something else’. The zine took months of creating samples and mock ups to get it right, but I was very pleased with the final outcome once it was complete. It included real band interviews, articles, playlists and more. I loved creating Antithesis so much that I simply continued making it after I left college.
I brought out the third issue last month (March 2022) and it’s forty pages long cover to cover, which is twice as long as the first issue. Something that I really love about the development of Antithesis is that it’s gone from being a zine made by just me, to involving lots of different creators. I’ve been embraced by an online community of other fanzine creators and it’s been wonderful to collaborate with them. It’s made Antithesis so much more interesting and diverse. Creating this zine has introduced me to so many new bands, cool people and projects so I can’t wait to see where else it takes me this year. If you wish to get a copy of Antithesis you can find them at www.antithesiszine.com