Outburn's an actual magazine you can get at Barnes & Nobles & stuff.  it's had interviews with Jarboe & Lycia & Kill Switch...Klick & Trance to the Sun & Godflesh & other people & it's mainly put together by just two people who do other things for a living.

QRD – why did you feel you personally needed to do a zine?

Octavia – the reason I'm doing Outburn is because I love music & the musicians who create it.  I never thought I would do a magazine.  it just happened.  I've always had a strong passion for music.  in college that led me to becoming a dj.  I loved doing that & I was wondering what I could do after I graduated to stay involved with music.  originally, rodent & I were throwing around the idea of doing a mail order catalog.  then I started doing interviews on air & we thought, why not do a magazine?

QRD – what's Outburn's market & purpose?

Octavia – Outburn's purpose is to give artists a voice & expose the public to new music that seems to get minor coverage in the popular "Alternative" culture.  one of Outburn's goals is to bring a wide range of music like industrial, ethereal, noise, electronic, ambient, & experimental together under one roof.  we don't think it needs to be as segmented as it has been.  we're now calling it Subversive & Post-Alternative music.

QRD – how many copies do you press?

Octavia – we pressed 3,400+ of issue #5.  that's twice as much as a year ago & with each issue, our circulation is growing at an optimistic & steady rate.

QRD – do you feel Outburn is too professional?

Octavia – no.  I think our goal is to run Outburn as professionally & honestly as possible.  in other words, we say what we do & do what we say.  & most importantly we do it when we say we are going to.  as far as the way Outburn looks... why not make it the best we can; rodent is an educated & professional graphic designer.

QRD – how do you feel about cut & paste?

Octavia – I think there is a place for both "cut & paste" & "professional" magazines.  there are so many great writers, bands, & artists that need exposure.  & there is something personal & cool in an underground way about "cut & paste" zines.

QRD – do you think advertisements compromise your zine?

Octavia – no.  advertising helps in paying our expenses & therefore allows us the opportunity to do what we want.  I also think they add interest for the readers.  we don't let the advertising affect the editorial content & usually it works the other way around; labels often want to advertise because of what we decide to feature.

QRD – what would cause you to stop doing Outburn?

Octavia – if Outburn was a failure with the public & nobody cared about what we were doing, I would certainly be disheartened.  but as long as we can find resources to put together Outburn & we still love what we're doing, we'll keep going.

QRD – how do you think the internet has affected zines' purpose & quality?

Octavia – the internet is an incredible resource & there are some great e-zines.  the problem with e-zines is that they are intangible & temporary.  you have to read them on screen or print out the text yourself.  but they are cost effective in reaching a wide audience & have raised the stakes as far as putting out a quality printed magazine.  hopefully, Outburn is something worth collecting & re-reading.

QRD – what zines originally inspired/influenced you; what ones have recently?

Octavia – I don't think I was really inspired by any magazines, except that I saw people do "homemade" zines & I thought I could do that.  I also enjoyed collecting magazines like Propaganda, Ghastly, Permission, & Industrial Nation.  now I'm inspired by the fact that Outburn has come so far & improved so much since we started in the summer of '96.  I feel that we are now a "real" magazine that has a chance of being successful & reaching an audience.  a large part of that is due to the talented writers & artists that have contributed to Outburn & the other part is that both rodent & I work extremely hard & are always learning how to improve each issue.

QRD – what's your chemical influence of choice?

Octavia – chocolate.

rodent EK – any salty, sweet, or fatty food while I'm watching professional wrestling.  I should probably take prozac though.

QRD – if you were candy, what kind would you be?

Octavia – Dark Chocolate Milky way.

rodent EK – something hard & sour.

QRD – what do you think of extraterrestrial biological entities?

Octavia – I think they exist.  I just hope I don't get beamed up into one of their ships to get probed or mutilated.  I like to think that there are nice aliens out there, but who knows?

rodent EK – I have one inside me.

QRD – which of the Star Trek series is your favorite?

Octavia – the Next Generation & Deep Space 9 are my favorites now.  Voyager has gotten better recently, so I'm happy about that.  the original was great for its time & will always be a classic, but Kirk is so overrated.  Picard is more my style.

rodent EK – the one that has Counselor Troi, Jadzia Dax, & Seven of Nine.