Hello Off Modern.

Firstly, thanks to Will and the bright young things of Off Modern for having me over here to write my waffling words all over these white pages. I can only apologise in advance…
To introduce myself, my name is Jacob Denno and I run the poetry & illustration magazine that is Popshot. Not exactly the kind of lucrative market the suits at Conde Nast might go for but in my humble and biased opinion, far more bracing than yet another fashion title. If you didn’t catch the interview a few weeks ago, perhaps go have a little peep to understand what this half baked idea is all about.

So to poetry and its wonderful array of stereotypes and perceptions. Initial associations might take you back to the 18th century and William Wordsworth or if you’re really lucky, back to the 17th Century where John Milton wrote the famously lengthy poem ‘Paradise Lost’. It’s possible that your perception of poetry may not have changed much since then - poems about daffodils and nature, more love poems than you knew possible and all championed by the aging education system who convince you this is the best thing you will ever read. Add in the fact that most people only turn to poetry when there’s a wedding, a funeral, a birthday or it’s valentines day and you would be forgiven for thinking this poetry thing is all a bit outdated and generic. But despite it being unfortunate that this is the case, it’s fortunate that this isn’t the case at all.

Which is where along with many other small publishers, magazines and nights about London Town - Popshot comes in. There is a raging scene of young and stupidly talented poets writing poems that challenge and verbalise the issues that face the modern day human. So it’s not all flowers and flamboyance. In fact, in the case of the poetry in our upcoming issue, it’s the direct opposite. So every month from now until I get handed my P45, I’ll be introducing the poets, illustrators, websites, events and collectives that are helping to shape the poetry and illustration worlds from the rather deluded eyes that I look through.

To pad out this block of text, here are two pieces from two illustrators whose work will grace the pages of our forthcoming third issue…Mr Tom Hovey and Mydeadpony.

Peace and pipettes.

www.tomhovey.co.uk

www.mydeadpony.com

It’s always nice when things go to plan. For January’s Off Modern we invited a selection of our favorite zines along to show their publications. One of these publications was Popshot Magazine, a perennial pulp of excellence from the worlds of illustration and poetry which simply demands respect. It just so happens that its creator Jacob Denno is a true hero who, much to our excitement, will be contributing monthly musings on his field to the Off Modern blog. Here’s a quick interview introducing Popshot and its soon to be infamous creator…

OM: Hello dear boy, how are things at Popshot Towers? When’s the next issue due?

JD: It’s beautiful here. I just had my nasal hair clipped by the Stockholm Beach Volleyball team and I‘m about to open a bottle of 1876 Cristal. Aside from that, everything is pretty normal and the next issue should be arriving back from the printers at the end of March.

OM: Splendid. How did Popshot come about? What were your aims and/ or intentions for the magazine?

JD: It was born out of confusion, really. I didn’t quite understand how poetry had managed to maintain its musty image whilst all around it every other art form had effortlessly pulled itself into the 21st century. So I thought it was about time that changed and wanted to create a magazine that could make people view poetry in a different light, far away from the much resented school anthologies.

OM: Popshot is a hybrid of excellence from the worlds of poetry and illustration. Why did you choose to combine these two arts when creating Popshot?

JD: They were two art forms that in my mind come hand in hand. Children’s books have virtually always had stories/poems accompanied by illustrations and we grow up knowing and loving this. I felt illustration could make poetry more accessible by helping to tell the story of each poem. Words compliment pictures and pictures compliment words, it’s the best relationship I know of.

OM: What sort of people contribute to Popshot? I understand you have had a few big hitters, or scribblers, from the world of illustration helping to make Popshot what it is…

JD: Generally, most of the contributors are out and out heroes. They help to make the magazine what it is, far beyond the stuff that I do. Regarding big scribblers, we have had a few although I like to think that a spotty 16yr old pencil wielder stands as much chance of making it into the magazine as someone who’s part of the mighty Peepshow Collective.

OM: How do you collate the contributions to Popshot and bring them together into a cohesive and interesting format for people buying the magazine?

JD: We do a call for poetry submissions before each issue, always on a theme. 24 poems are chosen from that and then individually sent off to illustrators, to interpret as they see fit. As much as possible, I try to stay out of this process and allow the illustrators creative control although it doesn’t always work out. Design wise, we try and keep it stupidly simple - this hands the readers focus over to the poem, the illustration and nothing else. Hopefully, these two elements alone are enough to maintain the interest.

OM: Do you believe that combining diverse elements of culture can help to create an environment whereby creativity can develop? We’d like to think we do that at our Off Modern events… Did you enjoy January’s Off Modern and in particular, the zine fair? Manage to shift any Popshot copies?

JD: Definitely. The classic is music and art - many artists take inspiration from music and vice versa. A highly overdone case and point would be Andy Warhol and The Velvet Underground.
I really enjoyed January’s Off Modern, I couldn’t feel my own face by the end of it and got a £60 parking fine for being there but it was really good to see people’s reactions to the magazine as they picked it up. One kid picked up a copy and just said ‘what the fuck?’. I never found out why…

OM: What excites you about Modern poetry and, for that matter, illustration?

JD: I feel as though modern poetry and the poetry of days gone by is representative of the differences between us and our parents. Modern poetry is louder, harsher and pays more attention to the minute detail. The bigger subjects like love and death have already been covered repeatedly in the past, but contemporary poetry is more ready to find comparisons between Lao Tzu and ejaculation (wait for Issue 3).

OM: How has Popshot changed since you started it and what does the future hold?

JD: It gets more polished every time. The core ideals remain the same but the execution refines itself. I already have problems with Issue 2 that have been corrected for Issue 3. Hopefully this will continue. As for the future, I just want to keep the magazine expanding and growing, both in number and in quality. One day I would like to throw the most epic launch party ever but I might need a billionaire on board for it to happen. It might even involve the Stockholm Beach Volleyball team…

OM: Can you give us a sneaky peek of what or who to expect in your upcoming publication? Anyone new you are excited about working with or any Popshot favourites from the past?

JD: Expect poems about taking your clothes off, porn, prostitution, swimming and beating up the Dalai Lama (it’s metaphorical). Now that I recount it, it sounds more like a sex issue but it is actually ‘The Liberate Issue’. It seems that sex and liberation come very much hand in hand. We managed to get some amazing illustrators on board as well. To namedrop a few - James Dawe, Holly Wales, Dan Hillier and Paul Holland. For Off Modern eyes only, I can show you Dan Hillier’s epic illustration of the poem ‘Icarus’. (http://www.danhillier.com/blog/wp-content/temp/2010/02/icarus23.jpg). All the illustrators are talented souls we’ve never worked with before bar one - the rather tremendous Daniel Almeroth.