Sensitive Skin #8, April 29, 2012
15 years in the making, it’s finally here – we’re proud to present the “lost” interview with William S. Burroughs, conducted by Allen Ginsberg, from 1992. The two old friends go to a sweat lodge together and then discuss censorship, the cut-up method, the film version of Naked Lunch, and the death of Joan Burroughs, among other things. Along with the interview are some previously unpublished photographs of Burroughs by Ruby Ray, from the iconic RE/Search magazine photo shoot of 1991. (I refer to it as the “lost” interview, as I actually lost the file at one point! But I found it! Good.)
Ruby remembers: “When I met Burroughs, it was at a party at Mark McCloud’s house – Mark is the owner of the illegal art museum – LSD art – we were all partying for a while, and I’d had a drink or three. Vale introduced me to him, and I said, ‘Pleasure to meet you Mr. Burroughs, you’ve been a big influence on me, even though you hate women.’ Vale dragged me away. But Bill still agreed to do the shoot – though he pointed the gun at me the whole time, with that sly grin on his face…”
We’re also proud to present a portfolio of Ruby’s photographs documenting the West Coast punk scene of the late ’70s, with shots of X, Flipper, Sid Vicious, Jello Biafra and more. Man, this issue is so packed with goodness I can’t even begin to describe it! Wait a minute, I already did describe it here!
Anyway, I also wanted to mention that we’re distributing the “magazine” in book format going forward – that is, it’s no longer getting a date on the front cover because, well, the material doesn’t expire. That means that bookstores can keep us in stock indefinitely, and that we’re much more easily distributed (via Amazon and select bookstores), as we have an ISBN. If your favorite local bookstore doesn’t stock us, have them order us! This will be the format going forward, more of an anthology than a magazine, coming out twice a year rather than four times – better, faster, stronger – much like Steve Austin after he was bionically rebuilt, but at a much lower cost, especially after inflation is factored in. Enjoy!
-b
Sensitive Skin #7, October 15, 2011
Wow, lots happening in the Sensitive Skin world! First of all, this current issue (and selected back issues – we hope to have the whole catalog available at some point) are now available for purchase in print format!
One of the reasons we decided to take the trouble to create a hard-copy version is we were blown away by how beautiful the printing quality is – thick, glossy, full-color pages, in a perfect-bound format that’s more like a book than a magazine.
On a sadder note, I’m going to have to step down as publisher and managing editor of Sensitive Skin, in order to fulfill some familial duties (eg, I got a job). I’m going to turn over my duties to an old friend, B. Kold, who has magnanimously accepted the (unpaid) position. Welcome back, B. Kold! We’re glad to hear you’ve recovered from your, ahem, “health problems” and are ready to be a responsible and productive member of society once again.
At any rate, another great issue is here, and we proudly present:
• A short story by Rob Roberge, author of Working Backwards from the Worst Moment of My Life and the neo-noir novels More Than They Could Chew and Drive;
• a novel excerpt from Díre McCain, publisher of Paraphilia Magazine;
• a short story by Drew Hubner, author of American by Blood, We Pierce and the upcoming East of Bowery (the first in a new series by SENSITIVE SKIN Books);
• a memoir by Erika Schickel, author of You’re Not the Boss of Me: Adventures of a Modern Mom;
• a filthy and hilarious prose poem from John S. Hall, vocalist and lyricist of King Missile;
• additional writing by blogger City of Strangers, poet Marguerite Van Cook and screenwriter Mark Netter;
• art by Shalom Neuman (who currently has a one-man show at the Naional Gallery in Prague) and downtown NYC sculptor Janice Sloane;
• a short film by Flame Schon, director of the ’60s underground classic documentary, Dope;
• music by contemporary composer Mike Fink (Cal Arts) and Bay Area jazz trio LaMacchia/Myrner/Feiszli.
• additional artwork by Chris Bava, Jim C, Jeff Spirer and Ted Barron
Lots to check out, enjoy it! I’m out of here!
-b
Sensitive Skin #6, June 4th, 2011
Hide your wife! Hide your kids!
Our sixth issue is here at last! We’ve got writing by Carl Watson, Bonny Finberg, Sean Flaherty, Patricia Eakins, Max Blagg, jennifer jazz and Mike DeCapite. All great stuff…
We’ve got a film clip from Blood in the Face, by Anne Bohlen, Kevin Rafferty, and James Ridgeway, featuring the first on-screen appearance by Michael Moore, as well as the captivating Coppertone Nazi hillbilly she-wolf. (You’ll see).
We have two special musical features: rare and unreleased tracks provided by Elliot Sharp, and some long-lost tracks by 1990s NYC’s greatest industrial punk dance band, The Spitters.
For the first time, we’re presenting two featured artists, paintings from downtown doyen David West (downtown by way of Chateau Rouge, that is) and graveyard-digging (in liking, that is) John Griffin.
Check it out!
-b
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<p>Yep, it took a little longer to get this one out the door. After knocking out four editions in 6 months, we decided that in order to maintain our sanity (what’s left of it, that is) we’d settle into a quarterly schedule. As you may have noticed, however, we’re publishing in between issues – each weekend we present work by a previous, present and/or future contributor. And, though we may not be publishing an official “issue” as often, the good news is that each issue will have lots more content.</p>
<p>I have three words for you: art and music. OK, I probably shouldn’t have counted the preposition. But besides the usual scads of great stories and poems, we’ve got boatloads of art and music this time. Double the music – two features this time – contemporary classical by Dan Becker from San Francisco, and some never-before-heard cuts from ‘90s downtown NYC art rockers Timber.</p>
<p>Our featured artist, Samoa Moriki, guitarist for The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black and singer for The Lonely Samoans, has now done for the world of fine art what he did for rock-and-roll – created the haute couture furry ass-less chaps of painting, if you will. In addition, the whole magazine is now chock full of paintings, photos and drawings by David West, John Griffin, Shalom Neuman, Holly Van Voast, Ted Barron, Sebastian Mlynarski and Hal Hirshorn. Look for features by these folks in upcoming issues.</p>
<p>Without further ado, I present issue #5 of Sensitive Skin, featuring:</p>
<p>• an excerpt from the novel “Narcisa” by the world-renowned tattoo artist and spiritual outlaw Jonathan Shaw;<br />
• an excerpt from her new novel “The Savage Library” by Melissa Febos, author of “Whip Smart”;<br />
• paintings by punk rock legend Samoa Moriki (The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black);<br />
• poems by Lyn Lifshin, Wanda Phipps and Steve Dalachinsky;<br />
• additional stories by Norman Douglas, Jennifer Adams and D. Scot Miller;<br />
• video by Johanna Ellen;<br />
• music by contemporary classical composer Dan Becker and ‘90’s downtown art-rockers Timber (members of Swans, Run On, Yo La Tengo, John Zorn, Fred Frith, etc).<br />
• more art and photos from David West, Charlie Homo, Johanna Ellen, Sebastian Mlynarski, Hal Hirshorn, Holly Van Voast, Ted Barron, John Griffin and Shalom Neuman.</p>
<p>You’re gonna like it. Remember, it’s fun to listen to the magazine while you read it!</p>
<p>-b</p>
<h4>Issue 4, November 2010</h4>
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I know, I know, I say it every time. But this time I mean it. Man, do we have some great stuff for this issue!</p>
<p>So, if the theme for the first issue was Drinking and Drugs, issue 2 was travelling and transportation and issue 3 was hillbillies, then the theme for issue 4 is…er, well, let’s just say it’s a potentially dangerous practice that is seriously NSFW. Yup, keep this one out of the kids’ hands…</p>
<p>First, we’re proud to present an excerpt from <em>Froggy Chocolates</em>, the brilliantly twisted “children’s story” by the one-and-only Darius James. We plan on publishing the entire novel sometime next year.</p>
<p>We’ve also got an excerpt from a novel-in-progress by Stewart Home, who wrote one of my favorite novels of the 90’s, <em>Pure Mania</em>. Music by the great Ralph Carney, who’s played with everybody from the B-52’s to Tom Waits to Allen Ginsburg. Incredibly beautiful photographs by Hal Hirshorn, whose recent show was featured in the <em>NY Times</em> a couple of months ago. Not to mention excellent work by Jill Rapaport, Michael Carter, Merry Fortune and Jim Boyett, plus a very cool video from Barbara Greczny. And check out the great illustrations to the Home and Boyett pieces by up-and-coming artist Marina Loeb.</p>
<p>But there’s more than content! We’ve made two great technological strides since the last issue:</p>
<p>1. We’ve moved “music” out of the “what not” section to its own header because…well, because it deserves it! We’re also ready to make music front and center because we’ve finally figured out a good way to present music, with a pop-up music player that plays on all devices, including iPad and iPhone, and also allows you to “listen” to the magazine as you read, because the music will now keep playing as you click through various stories! So go ahead and re-listen (or just listen, if you’re new) to the great tracks we presented in our first three issues from <a href=)
Bob Bannister,