Interview with La Peste (zine)
Rezine: What's the mission of La Peste?
La Peste: We're tired of sexism in the punk/hardcore scene. I guess our "mission" is to expose the problem, talk about it and hope it gets resolved. The zine gives us the space to speak out about issues that are really important to us.
Rezine:Who is in La Peste and how do you share the work?
La Peste: 9 emo ladies. We're always writing, making art, reading, doing research, etc. We're always thinking about the next issue and what we want to share with people. We usually work on our own and we put everything together at the last minute.
Rezine: How did you think of the name?
La Peste: We brainstormed all together and La Peste sounded good. We researched the name to see if it wasn't taken by any collective and it wasn't (to our knowledge).
Rezine:Who can contribute to your zine?
La Peste: ANYBODY! (as long as you don't identify as a cis-man)
The zine is non-mixte.
Rezine: How did it all start ?
La Peste: We had a conversation about sexism in the hardcore scene and how we felt we didn't have our place in it. It's not an inclusive safe space, we heard stories of women getting assaulted in pits, of men saying "no clit in the pit". We talked about why some of us don't go in the pit, why it's so intimidating to some of us. We shared experiences of slut-shaming (it's a big thing in the hardcore scene) when you're a woman, apparently the only thing you seek is attention from men... (eyeroll). We talked about transphobia, homophobia and racism. It's all very present in the hardcore scene. We talked about why none of us plays an instrument and why we're scared/think we're not able/good enough to start a band. Why it's so intimidating to us. Why it's so easy for a man to start a band and suck at the beginning. Why if we suck as a female band it's gonna be a bigger deal. why we're so self-conscious and we don't feel like we have our place when we go to a show that is a big party d'saucisses where we only see macho dudes in the pit. So, for all those reasons and many more we decided to make a feminist zine and critique all those things that bother us so much in the hardcore scene and in life in general.
Rezine: What keeps you motivated to keep on fighting?
La Peste: Homophobia, transphobia, racism, sexism, etc.
Rezine: Did you get hate mails for the zine? Do you have a ridiculous rant you want to share?
La Peste: Not really, generally speaking everybody has been really nice and supportive! Although, we feel like some people don't understand the zine. We got told to "just start a band"...like the zine is not important and starting a band would resolve every problem we have with the scene? As if it was easy to start a female hardcore band...?!!!?
Rezine: Is it hard to come out with a zine when you are a collective?
La Peste: No, we have a collective because of the zine. It's actually easier because we're more members working on it!
Rezine: You always promote bands in your zine, who should i listen to now?
La Peste: Gazm, Triage, Dame, Krimewatch, Ahna, Crawler, white lung, Girl, Punch, Maladjusted, Manhunt, Lilith, G.L.O.S.S., Vexx, Ringer, Sheer Mag, Leather Daddy, Perfect Pussy, Firewalker, Stuck Pigs, Nosebleed, Meter Feeder, Kommunion, Torso, Exit Order, Hardware, Malokio, Iskra, Cloud Rat, Suffix, Damad, Nausea, Rape Revenge,Nightmare Collective, Oathbreaker, Dark Castle, Bleed The Pigs, Rare form and many many more!
Rezine: How does music influence you?
La Peste: Music follows us everywhere. We all met because of music. We started the zine because of our love for hardcore. Music influences us in everything we do!
Rezine: You always do a launch show at Soundcentral, what's your connection with the place?
La Peste: Mina works there but it's also a safe space and a DIY record store. Shawn has been supporting us since day one so we're giving eachother visibility. He's letting us use the space for free and we bring people there when we organize the launch. It's been pretty successful so far! Also, La Peste fits perfectly at Soundcentral. I wouldn't wanna do it anywhere else. Thanks again Shawn!!
Rezine: Do you have a lot of stuff for the next zine?
La Peste: We just started talking about the next issue and we do have a lot of material to cover.
Rezine: Do you have other projects other than the zine?
La Peste: Not really. It takes a lot of time and organisation to put a zine together and we don't have either of those, we all work/study. It's already difficult to make time to see everyone at the same time... we wish we had more time for other projects!