Out of the Darkness: An Interview with Ex-Yugo HC Punk Zine Publishers

Serbia-based fanzine Out of the Darkness stands out as one of the premier Balkan hardcore punk zines. With ten issues published, it offers valuable insights into the ex-Yugo hardcore punk scene, spanning from its past to the present.

The zine features engaging interviews with active DIY bands and key figures from the hardcore scenes across Europe and beyond. In this interview, you’ll discover more about this exceptional fanzine and the driving passions of its authors, straight from the source!

Let’s start with an introduction to your fanzine! What was the initial idea to start Out of the Darkness and how did the zine change from the first issue to the epic latest one?

Zgro: It started about ten years ago as a webzine by some people from the punk scene in Novi Sad, Serbia. Nemanja and I became zine partners—writing reviews, news and gig reports. In 2016 I decided to make a pilot issue of the fanzine. I think it is very important and wanted for punk fans to have a printed copy. Nemanja joined us, while the previous staff left. Since then, we’ve published ten issues, and we’re currently working on Out of the Darkness #11, which will be released in the fall.

Nemanja: At first I was indifferent, thinking that printed zines wouldn’t attract many people in the region. I was wrong, we’ve received positive reactions and we’re humbly overwhelmed by everyone’s support. Comparing the 10th issue with the 1st issue, it’s obvious that we’ve gathered a lot of supporters from the former Yugoslavian region. This is something I have been striving for since we started to take our work seriously. At the moment there are 15 people from: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and also from the Balkan diaspora, who are also deeply involved in the punk scene and willing to write and help further. In the near future, I would like to change our model and involve younger people in the editorial process. At the moment, 90% of the contributors to Out of The Darkness are 35 years and older.

What is your general process from start to finish for an issue of Out of the Darkness? Is this a collective effort? Basically, how many people have contributed with interviews, translations and writings so far?

Zgro: Nemanja and I started from scratch, while many of our friends helped us with reviews, reports, columns, interviews, art… He is well connected to a lot of people in the scene through social media, and we have both been into punk rock for decades.

Nemanja: We conceptualize ideas thoroughly before each issue. However, we’ve noticed a pattern: by the time we get to the final stage of the process, we’re always running out of pages because there’s a set limit with our printer. Especially right now, with so many people involved, it’s impossible to satisfy everyone’s requests. In the new issue we even managed to get Marko from Vitamin X to do an interview, in addition to writing reviews for us. As for the website and social media, I am the only one working on it.

Igor doesn’t get involved in the digital space and social media. He focuses on the administrative part of the zine process. (i.e. orders, printing, merchandise and shipping) With great help from Djole!

Why do you think it’s important for non-English speaking countries to have DIY punk zines in their native language? Are there any other active zines from the Yugo region that are doing the job of keeping the scene alive?

Zgro: The people who write for the zine are all from the Ex-Yu region. This is their “mother tongue” (mutually intelligible across several different Balkan nations), so we’ve never thought about writing it in English or any other language. There are very few printed fanzines in the Balkans.

Nemanja: Well, from the beginning I wanted to have columns, I like to believe that punk is more than just a music. Although our spoken English is good, I think the best way to express ourselves is to write in our native language.

I don’t see the point of writing in English anymore. The time is over when people from the West looked at the punk scene of former Yugoslavia as a novelty, like it was in the ’80s (a good example is the Slovenian hardcore punk scene of the mid-’80s).

Better to have a strong impact on our stomping grounds than to try to impress someone who is far away from what we do. Don’t forget the financial factor. Postage rates are high, and I don’t think someone from Germany or the Netherlands will pay 10 euros to get a zine from ex-Yugoslavia.

As far as I know, in Serbia there is Oprem Dobro fanzine with 105 issues, but only in digital format. In Croatia there’s Virus fanzine with one printed issue, and also a new fanzine from Pula called OOPS, made by a great young guy Luka.

Alex who plays in the band Disease (Skopje, North Macedonia) publishes Just a nightmare fanzine, and if I understood correctly, it’s a monthly publication. Check out his Instagram page for more info.

I have a bunch of zines from Serbia and Croatia from around 2000 to 2010, but I’m really interested in learning more about punk zine culture in Yugoslavia from the past to the present. I know this is a huge topic, but can you briefly go through some of the most important zines you know about?

Nemanja: Well, you might have more fanzines from ex-Yugoslavia than I do. They were left in my mom’s apartment and she threw away my whole collection, so I’m left with only the fanzines I made myself.

The most important fanzine for me is Tri Drugara, which is the fanzine that Zgro did in the ’90s, that is how we got connected. I don’t think I would enjoy it as much now as I did when I was 14. But I won’t forget what that zine meant to me back then.

As for brief history of fanzines in this part of the world, I suggest you to check this article that was written by Dario Adamić, great friend who published Zips and Chains fanzine in the ’80s and ’90s and right know he is involved in reissuing punk hardcore classics on No Plan Records. he is also behind Goodwill Records, you might have heard of…

You’ve done some excellent interviews with bands like Chain Cult from Greece, King of Sorrow from Bulgaria, etc. Do you think it’s important to keep an eye on the Balkan scene in the surrounding countries outside of the Yugo region?

Zgro: There are a lot of good bands worth interviewing, but we are running out of space as mentioned before. We try to cover local and regional scenes first, then some European/world names… We don’t think that bands from Portugal or Finland are that different from bands from Greece or Bulgaria.

What are some of the highlights of the zine so far? Your favorite interviews, articles, etc.? Is there something you’re really proud of putting out there for people to read?

Zgro: Almost every issue has some great and exciting content! I will mention few of the most interesting interviews: Red Dons, Chris Colohan from SECT, Mike Gitter from xXx fanzine and Apology, Dwid from Integrity, Battery, Grand Collapse, Jaded Eyes, together with lots of great Serbian and Ex-Yu goodies… Also, there was a splendid article in last issue—”Blast from the Past,” where we had people from the old school crowd, and bands who attended the shows in Ex-Yu in the late 80s, such as Verbal Assault and Youth Of Today.

Nemanja: I’m excited of the transcription of the interview I’ve done with Mike Gitter about his xXx fanzine book. I spent literally two weeks on that book. Swallowed each segment of it, and I was really psyched to have him in the zine. He was rather surprised with the questions I’ve sent, and answered everything in less than 24 hours. I’m also rather moved by the conversation I had with John Brannon of Negative Approach. After their show I hesitated to ask him about doing the interview. On stage that guy is pure evil, but behind that mask he is such a good person, and a great story teller. Career Suicide is a band I followed from the beginning of their career, hence that conversation was fun! We didn’t just recycle same old stories about the “good old times” and something that was in the 80s, but about the moments we all experienced.

I’m really impressed by the artwork of Davor Gromilović who did the cover artwork for the latest issue. Tell me about the artists you’ve worked with…

Zgro: We prefer to keep the artwork fresh, adding new talent/artists for each new issue. Nemanja chooses most of them, and they are all very grateful to have their work promoted on our covers. Besides these ten people, many others from the Ex-Yu scene did some artwork on their own, which was printed as free stickers.

Nemanja: Well, Davor is well known for his art and it was such a great experience to work with him. He is also well established outside the Balkans and we are so proud of his achievements.

I’ve been in contact with him since the early 2000s, yet we still haven’t met. He was deeply into punk, had his own label and band Csihás Benö. He is little older now, and is setting his priorities straight, and became more focused on his art. Thumbs up for that, as ‘punk is just a waste of time’. Everything that he is doing is superb! I really hope to have him again working with us.

As for other contributors, I find them via social media or word to mouth. Most of the times these folks are connected to the scene in some ways, or honestly I really like their work. Each cover of the fanzine was done by a different individual. Some of those artists include Doomsday Graphics, Cartbox, Contemporary Bart. They are great in what they are doing.

Cover page of the upcoming issue will be done by Ljuba, former bass player of punk rock band Red Union, and currently plays in Vršnjacko nasilje. Old friend and great artist, he has done work for many others as well.

Besides publishing your fanzine in a printed form, you’re also putting out a lot of stuff on your website. What is your take on webzines and fanzine archives online? What do you think of MRR going digital?

Nemanja: The website is mainly there to show the presence of the zine and to publish the content we’ve printed. We don’t pay much attention to it, our main focus is the printed format of the zine. This is why our website lacks material published in the 9th and 10th issues.

Maximum Rock’n’Roll had to shut down in the mid-’00s because their politics changed and they were promoting stuff I wasn’t into. Their reviews were trite, and sometimes it seemed like they didn’t even listen to the music they were reviewing. I stopped following them because I don’t like reading long articles on a computer screen.

You’re doing zine reviews. Let’s talk about your favorite fanzines from 2020 and 2021.

Zgro: The only zine, pardon, magazine which I’m reading cover to cover is about UK hardcore punk called Down For Life. Keep an eye of the new Novi Sad zine which is coming out soon, and is done by Miljan (ex-The Bayonets) who runs Ljudi iz podzemlja podcast and plays in the the aforementioned band Vršnjačko nasilje.

Nemanja: I just finished My War fanzine from Belgium. Razorblades and Aspirin is good too. I’m glad Mike Thorn improved his interviews. I hope someone will get to publish that fanzine in Europe, as ordering stuff outside EU became impossible because of all the new regulations, tariffs and taxes.

How did the pandemic affect the hardcore punk scene in your region? What’s the state of hardcore at the moment?

Zgro: It is the same everywhere, not only in Serbia. Big names will survive, not only in music. The bigger problem is with smaller venues and promoters. On the other hand, I think DIY punk will always find a way to survive.

I saw a lot of Serbian metal/punk/hardcore bands at Exit festival a few weeks ago on the Explosive stage, and they all sound great. Everyone was excited to play live after one and a half years of hard stop.

Thank you so much. Anything else to add?

Thank you for the opportunity. Hope to see you somewhere soon!!!

OOTD #11 is on the way!

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