For the chance to cover a burgeoning scene? To buck the system? Because your friends are doing one? Free CDs and concert tickets?

I know why I started Life In A Bungalo (nee Marked For Life). I wanted to do something punk rock and I sure couldn't play guitar and I didn't have lenient enough parents to put on shows. But I had a crappy Packard Bell 386sx and a lot of free time. OK... I wanted free CDs.

Two of my friends had created a highly successful local 'zine called Marcia (named after the hottest Brady) and I was shocked at the amount of scene cred and free crap the two were getting. I figured, "Hell, I was a journalism major. How do I get in on the action."

Time To Get Warped
Another reason to start a fanzine... The Warped Tour. 1995 marked the first year of what is now the longest running package festival tour, and at the time it was a punk rockers dream. For $18 we got to see 16 of the coolest bands at the time (ranging from the now legendary Sublime to the newly conceived CIV). Armed with a disposable camera and a mob of friends, we took pictures of just about anything and I needed a place to put them.

Marked For Life
Why the name Marked For Life? At the time I would have said it was because I felt that the written word was something that could possibly last forever. In theory, fanzines were passed around to hundreds of punks and potential readers. After being read, those issues were usually passed on to friends. A fanzine's life cycle out lived a regular magazine by at least 10 years. Judging by the number of Marked For Lifes floating around today that was clearly a lie. More than likely, the name was created to further my hardline straightedge image that I was working diligently to establish. What? With a magazine called Marked For Life and an e-mail address like xhardlinex@somebbs.com I stood to rule the hardcore world. And look really lame while doing it.

The First Interview: Flatus Just Kinda Happened
I wanted to interview the recently sorta deciding to be reunited Misfits (they had an ad in the Aquarium), but calls made to Misfits HQ were not returned. At least not immediately. In the meantime I interviewed a bunch of hippie frat boys whose name I can't remember, and was desperate for someone way cooler. I reached out to a bunch of local bands but none took me seriously without a first issue under my belt. One morning I received a call from a person who I thought was Doyle, bass player for The Misfits. Never bothering to ask him his name, I just start rattling off pathetic question after question. Turns out it was actually the singer of Flatus (who I had off-handedly asked for an interview but forgot about). Turns our my questions were so generic that he never caught on to the fact the interview was not for his band.

And The Rest Was Lame
The rest of the premiere edition of Marked For Life was just a pathetic attempt at sucking up to labels and covering what I thought were hip topics. You know, like dorm room life (I never even went away to college), and how cool Alicia Silverstone was. Luckily the reviews were okay, and I completely sold out of all 75 photocopied at Staples issues in a little under a month. I was officially a publisher.