MK Magazine Editorials

NEW MK ON THE WAY

The new issue is being prepared for shipping as I type this for you all to read. I am including my Hear Me Hear Me editorial that you will read in the printed version of the mag in the next few weeks.

This is the end result of the work Kevin Malone and I had conceived.

Months of hard work were completely scrapped and overhauled in the creation of the new MK issue. Suzan Abud and I began working in Late November and a few bitter cold days in December. The cold drove her out of Chicago and we were left with a 1/2 finished magazine. More interviews were done and reviews were piling up and lo and behold our web guy Kevin Malone came into the picture. He has done wonders wit the site. We had a move across town before we could begin, advertisers were backing out, the economy was in shambles and we had to switch servers due to a ridiculous amount of money being spent on our former server. I was beginning to see the light that our popularity was being taken advantage of. But it took a long time before I realized the people I had trusted for years had their paws in the honey pot. And believe me, their ain't ever been much nectar in that jar.

Two concepts of a Jesse Jane cover we had scrapped in favor of an exxxclusive image Digital Playround sent to us. Photos by Joone. Layout by Kevin Malone, concept by Zander.

Jeremiah Chiu was the best intern we ever hired since Moe and his time with us ran out early. But the kid did great work. All of the other interns completely flaked on us. So it was a hard winter. Brigette did some work on the new MK as far as some layout and proofing, but has since resigned.

Our new venture into adult will hopefully be followed by a massive publicity campaign on their end. And the advertising will hopefully triple, quadruple or more. We're banking on it. It has to work or I'll have to call it a day. Next February will mark the 10 year anniversary of my venture into publishing MK ULTRA and merging it into MK Magazine. We have a series of DVD's coming out on Underground Inc and some great new t-shirts for sale. And we boast more viXXXens than ever before with more on the way.

So without further adieu the following is a sneak peek into the new MK Hear Me Hear Me letter from the editor

The old cover Suzan Abud had created in December that we scrapped when we decided to re-do the entire layout of the latest MK. Suzans work is great but our new venture into Adult made sense to go with a well known figure. We figure it will result in our best sales to date.

And a sneak peek at the opening page of our CHEMLAB interview. Layout by Kevin Malone, photo by Betty Cobb and concept by Zander.

I am sure that when many of you familiar with MK Magazine first saw this issue you wondered, "what is Jesse Jane doing on the cover of the Darkest Rock n Roll Publication In The World? Is this a bad dream? Is this still the same MK Magazine, that rose from the ashes of our beloved, dark MK Ultra?" To answer your question, yes, it's still the same MK, we're still dark we still write about many of the same bands, movies, books, and music you’ve come to associate with MK. But we are also expanding our boundaries, moving in new directions.

For years MK Ultra was considered a gothic-industrial zine and magazine. We do love many artists labeled as goth, but we’ve also written a great deal on punk, rock, metal and glam bands. It's funny how our society is so intent on labeling everything. Tommy Victor's band Prong has been dubbed industrial, yet called goth when he’s filling in on guitar for Danzig. I've always thought older Danzig had more in common with Elvis and Jim Morrison, than Bauhaus or Christian Death... From our inception and seminal debut in '94/'95 we were never interested in labels. It's another form of segregation. As Paul Stanley once said, "There's no reason you can't like steak and cheesecake." And just because my favorite bands are The Doors and Type O Negative does not mean I'm not into crooners like Pat Benatar or Neil Diamond. It's all about entertainment, and I am lucky enough to work in that business (in all its glorious forms)!

With this issue, I am certain we will finally shed any previous, restrictive labels. In addition to featuring a bevy of musical and other “marginal” artists, we promise more features on the adult entertainment industry--the products, the films, the stars, and the movers and shakers behind the scenes. This is not our first time flirting with adult entertainment. In our second issue of MK Ultra, I wrote about Christina Angel. In 1997, we featured Ron Jeremy and Hyapatia Lee. Two years later we sat down with beautiful Seka to discuss her career in our legendary Safe Sex issue. It was at that time I also decided to address sex on a regular basis, featuring a regular column that has seen a handful of talented, licensed sex advisors. Showcasing more sex is a natural progression, and it’s very rock 'n' roll--not to mention a glamorous decadence we really like. And let's not forget the MK ViXXXens, who are an integral part of our website, covers, and centerfolds!

I have been covering multiple forms and genres of entertainment since I was a youngster--from my sixth grade Sci-Fi zine, my early days as a freelancer writer, to my years as a radio and club DJ. When we put Type O and Pigface on the cover of the first MK Ultra in 1994, we were immediately labeled goth/industrial. And even though we've featured lighter, radio-popular acts like Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, Garbage, and The Donnas, as well as non-musical talents such as comic book legend Stan Lee, Disney’s Stuart Gordon, and comedian/magician Penn Jilette, we are still get snubbed from time to time by execs, publicists, reps, and artists for being "too goth" for their tastes and only being about music. Five years ago I sat at a bar in Chicago next to a really cool beer drinker I later found out was Kid Rock. We carried on about rock music, canoeing, and David Allan Coe. Yet, on his most recent tour, his record label refused to set me up for an interview or concert review, considering "MK a gothic magazine". What the fuck? If I was so goth why would I want to see Kid Rock and why do I play his new CD so much? Just because I enjoy a backstage moment with Daniel Ash or enjoy Ministry from the front row doesn’t mean I can’t also dig Kid Rock. I went to the show anyway with a friend after purchasing two last-minute tickets, and not having the vantage point of media seating to properly review the performance.

So, over most of the last decade we have been written off by many in the entertainment industry because we write so much about Nine Inch Nails, Filter, The Hellfire Club, Pigface, The Misfits, Type O Negative, and other similar notable musicians. Never one to accept limitations imposed by others and always one to network and explore new avenues, I sent an e-mail to the new leaders of the adult entertainment industry, AVN (Adult Video News) Magazine. The cold-shoulder and narrow-minded attitude I so often got from the music industry was about to fade... AVN quickly telephoned me with much refreshing enthusiasm.

AVN President Tim Connelly and I chatted. Fifteen minutes later their music columnist, Frank Majors, phoned me. Within a week I was interviewed for AVN Online about the emerging rock and porn connection. Six weeks later I was on a plane with Greg Miner, on our way to Las Vegas as special guests and reporters of the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo and Awards Show (an event many people consider the "Greatest Show On Earth"). We kept day one of our itinerary open so we could take some time to learn the massive show's floor layout housed in The Venetian Hotel. We introduced ourselves to many of the publicists that I’d come to know in the six weeks prior. That evening we attended one of the many VIP invite-only parties for which the Expo is known to host. On day two we were booked solid with interviews, the first of which was our cover girl Jesse Jane. Day three was spent doing more interview and photos to document our venture. Since then, I've been featured as part of an AVN cover story, they've run my photo (alongside Larry Flynt's, I might add), and they’ve favorably reviewed our on-line home www.mk-magazine.com.

We are now making this official. MK Magazine not only exposes the most intense music, films, and artists on the planet, but we’re also striving to be your premier rock 'n' porn publication, highlighting the best in adult entertainment. However, we are executing the task in a unique style you won’t see in other publications that "dance on the edge". We will not show nudity in the magazine and the ViXXXens website gallery will never display full frontal nudity. Our new adult film review column, "Fast Forward", will not use profanity or purposely vulgar words and phrases to describe or critique the flicks. We want to avoid obscenity and indecency (as deemed by us, and the law). Many times the film titles alone are enough to do that, so we don't need to! We hope that you'll enjoy our latest expansion, taking note that we are not turning our backs on the MK original mission established nine years ago.

And honestly, the majority of the MK "demographic" plays a significant role in indulging in the many adult products that rake in billions of dollars each year. The idea of the occasional trench-coated pervert sneaking into a peep show "quarter arcade" or a dingy adult bookstore is simply a conservative manufactured fiction meant to divert us all from identifying with and acknowledging the mass consumption of adult entertainment. The AVN AEE was proof in that. Men and women, business professionals and everyday joes, public officials and Hollywood entertainers, as well as me, you, and your next door neighbors were all present at the Expo. Just say the names Ron Jeremy, John Holmes, or Jenna Jameson, and most any ordinary person will know whom you are talking about--even if they do scoff, snicker or grin sheepishly at the mere mention of pornography. Take a look at your television programming. Ron Jeremy recently bunked in a posh home with Tammy Faye in a highly rated reality show. This is further proof of the acceptance and integration of pornography into the mainstream world. Whether you are an avid fan, an "in the closet" consumer, or an openly critical antagonist of adult entertainment, you are nonetheless familiar with the art form. If an honest, unbiased poll of all adults was take, I guarantee we’d find there are far more zealots and supporters than there is opposition. Adult entertainment in its many varieties and incarnations is here to stay. And MK is here to bring all of the naughty, sleazy, glitzy, and glamorous adult lifestyle to you in a darkly humorous, respectful, unique way we hope you enjoy.

Rock and sex were actually married long ago. The two genres mingled when Elvis's gyrating pelvis was deemed too explicit for television, when Gene Simmons's sexually charged tongue lashings tantalized his squirming female fans, and when the term rock 'n' roll was coined for that matter! So welcome to our growing family, welcome to a new MK frontier, and take delight in this latest merging of extreme, and sometimes controversial, art forms in addition to our usual menu of musicians, writers, artists, books, films, and other media we are so fond of sharing with you...

SINcerely,
Alex Zander