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span class="inline inline-left">Fan-friendly band: The band Efek Rumah Kaca has its own fanzine titled In The Air, taken from the name of a song from the band’s first album.JP/J. AdigunaThe newest trend in local fanzines is related to the appearance of zines that focus on a single band.

Fanzines are media that usually serve the interests of a musical genre and not one group exclusively.

We know all about punk, metal and hardcore fanzines but now there are also zines for band groupies.

“They are basically made by fans and dedicated for fans,” Harlan Boer, the manager of indie band Efek Rumah Kaca, said.

Fans of Efek Rumah Kaca published their own fanzine, titled In The Air, taken from the name of a song from the band’s first album

The zine contains information on everything about the group, including interviews, band profiles, concert schedules, comments, reviews and photos.

The first such fanzine appeared in Indonesia in 2006 when music buff Karlina Octaviany launched Tercetak Tak Pernah Mati (Print Never Dies), a fanzine dedicated to local indie band The Upstairs.

She created the fanzine with a group of friends, who were also maniac fans of the band.

“We established the zine as a response to a problem with our mailing lists, which were too complicated to be resolved through online communication because not everyone was connected to the Internet. That’s why we developed Tercetak,” Karlina said.

Starting with a print run of 200, the publication is considered a success as it almost sells out every edition.

Tercetak has now reached its fourth edition.

Karlina was asked by Ricky Siahaan, a member of Seringai, to make a fanzine for his band.

The zine, which is sold for Rp 1,500 (17 US cents), has been published three times since its first release in 2009.

Indie communities believe that this kind of phenomenon is a new thing in the local fanzine scene.

“It is mostly due to the good access to information that everybody now has. People can make all kind of fanzines,” Harlan said.

Most of these fanzines are not directly connected to bands and or their managers. The zines are truly media of the fans, by the fans and for the fans.

— JP/Ika Krismantari