Zines and the Corvallis Scene by Quinn Gatsby
Hello! I’m the Quinn behind Quinn Gatsby music and the main writer/editor of the Peaches ’N’ Scream zine! I’ve been pretty heavily involved in my local scene in Corvallis, Oregon since I moved here in the summer of 2021. Corvallis is sort of a nestled college town haven among many rural towns. I was honestly surprised to find such a diverse queer community in the north west part of Oregon. Other than towns like Portland and Salem, there really aren’t a ton of progressive cities in terms of being a disabled queer person and in terms of a progressive music scene. As an artist and as a zine writer, I want to bring attention to local bands in my scene and to talk about issues I’ve gone through in my life. So when I was made aware of this project I was really excited to be a part of it!
My experience as a disabled person in the scene has been both good and bad but thankfully, the good outweighs the bad a million to one. I have always loved punk, emo, and hardcore growing up and admittedly, I was a little worried about going to local shows. I have chronic pain so I was worried about how being at a punk show might potentially hurt me. The very first show I went to in Corvallis was put on by two lovely people who make up Bitter Half Booking. They made it very clear that people moshing needed to steer clear of those who had no intention of being in the pit and even spoke before the show about how the environment was a safer space for everyone. I mean, hell, half of the people at the show had canes like me and trans flag pins on their jackets like I did.
They definitely left a really good first impression. I can only count on one hand the few times I didn’t feel safe at a venue out of the dozens of shows I’ve been to.
At most venues I’ve been to, there’s always some kind of seating in the back for people if they ever need to sit down and nearly everyone I’ve spoken to at shows has been nothing short of supportive when I have an episode or a flare up while I’m in public. Within the past year, I discovered that I have DiD. There was one show in particular where I had an episode on stage and had to quit playing early due to the circumstances. While there may have been a couple of jerks in the crowd, I had a large group of people on their toes to help me out in any way that they could, even if it was just to listen to me talk about what had just happened. In many other towns that I’ve gone to shows at, it’s a very dog eat dog kind of vibe that you get but Corvallis has a very tight knit group of people that’ll always step up to offer help whenever they can, even if you’re strangers to them.
In my case specifically, the biggest thing I’ve come across has been misinformation regarding my Dissociative Identity disorder. Even in a place where a lot of folks at shows are educated people, there seems to be a stigma around mental health issues that people deem as ‘worse’ than anxiety or depression. I’ve gotten strange looks from people when I explain the reason why I did or said something the way I did and 90% of the time, it’s because of the disorder that impacts nearly my entire life. Sometimes even from people who I’ve known for months, suddenly I’m treated differently even though we got along just fine before I gave them one piece of information. Thankfully these instances are few and far between but truly the only way for them to get over this hump is to have an ounce of empathy.
The best way that I’ve seen people bring various issues to light has been through zine distribution at shows. From zines about how to support your disabled friends (written by other disabled people) to zines about at home remedies for chronic pain if you can’t afford a doctor. I’ve seen many people get up on stage and talk about these issues too. I’ve also seen posters all over town about resources for disabled folks and shows put on with the intention of raising money for someone in our community that needs it. I know that some of these things won’t be as possible as it is in our scene but for those reading this, the best thing you can do to support and assist disabled folks in your local scene is to shut up and listen. There are zines galore about so many issues that are far more articulate than I could ever be and so many musicians who’ve put a melody to struggles I couldn’t even begin to digress.
I was lucky enough to find myself in a small college town full of amazing disabled queer folks who stick together like glue. If you put on shows, have some extra chairs in the back for folks who can’t stand for the whole set, set some ground rules in place before any of the bands play, and have a zero tolerance policy for any kind of discrimination. If you go to shows, don’t be afraid to speak up. If someone’s being an asshole, do what you can to get it to stop. Be aware of your surroundings and if someone looks like they need help, don’t hesitate to ask if they need it.
There seems to be a new wave of people coming into local scenes where their motto is ‘if you can’t handle the pit, then stay at home’. Which goes against the very ethics of punk music. Punk is made by and for those who have been victim to constant punching down from an able-bodied, neurotypical, cisheteronormative, white supremacist society. And from my experience we are nothing if we don’t look out for one another.
@peachesnscreamzine // @quinngatsby
Originally published in print in Cripple Punk Mag 3, March 2023.
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