The Church Fanzine

An outline of the regular features that make up an issue of The Maven. However please feel free to submit anything for inclusion new ideas are welcome.

Publication Types

Maven Fanzines - Have been anything up to 116 A5 pages with 8-10 colour pages, the rest is black and white onto coloured paper. Sold at gigs, on ebay as back issue bundles or by subscription, due to the long gaps between buying issues individual issues by Pay Pal is encouraged, new issue availability can be emailed to you if you leave your details.

Mini-Maven's - A4 publications typically 5-7 double sides of news, previews and reviews in a looser format to the Fanzine. These are mailed out free to subscribers and anyone who wants them usually to spread the word of a new Church album if released between issues. Want to recieve them ? 

Newsletters - Pre-mini Maven the occasional 2 0r 3 page newsletter would carry the latest news updates and outline the typo's and errors from the previous fanzine (such as Steve quoted Rimbaud in the interview not Rambo - those 4 a.m. finishes were inviting errors). Evolved into the mini-Mavens really.

Album info sheets - The idea is to produce an album info sheet for every new, and then perhaps every old, album. They uniquely blend press release / biog information with a preview / review. Previous ones will be added to this site ASAP, find them here, to recieve mail outs such as these and Mini Mavens leave your details here

Flyers - The traditional tool to start a revolution (or get double figures to Hengelo), an A5 sheet typically a tour date flyer or Church album release. A labour of love that Virtually bankrupted the zine by flyering The Fanzine, The Church, the 1st AAE live acoustic album (and in colour too !) and Marty's solo releases at All About Eve gigs. The most expensive beer mats in history but to be fair it resulted in a number of new converts and friends. Seen at gigs, inside the fanzines and will also be sent out to the mailing list free of charge .

Special edition publications - There are plans afoot to issue several special editions, probabley spiral bound A4 with some colour pages included, such as 'The Interviews', 'Re-hash - the best of issue 1 - 4 / 6 - 9' as well as the long promised 'live' special.

Please contribute your reviews, photo's, articles and copies of press cuttings, flyers, posters etc for inclusion in the publications to:-

fazzy_uk@themavenfanzine.com

The Maven

c/o Michael Farrant

47 Elmdon Place

Haverhill

Suffolk

CB9 0AH

Fanzine Contents

Under The Milky Way - The editorial intro to the contents of the issue

News - In depth news updating events from since the previous publication, covering The Church, the solo projects, side projects etc. Link

Reviews - A substantial part of the fanzine reviewing as many of the current releases as possible including lesser known side projects as well as live reviews either individually or as a tour feature. Your submissions would be very welcome. These are followed by copies of recent media reviews.

The Church reviews

Solo / Side project reviews

Other related reviews

Live reviews

Market Place - Particularly in the early days this has been a key element helping each other to locate the rare releases or pointing the way to the official Merch trader. Ads are welcomed from specialist dealers / releases as are personal trade / wants lists.

Market Place is followed by Record Collecting features such as an individual solo artiste or project or maybe in future an era of The Church ie releases relating to the first album etc.

Church Vaults is a natural accompaniment to the Record Collecting feature looking at the more obscure areas such as unreleased material, video & TV footage, promo items etc. Link

Interviews over the years there have been interviews with Steve (3), Peter (3), Marty (1) as well as David Lane and Grant McLennan. They are typically epic in length and reveal some fascinating far reaching detail, I think the band enjoy the more in depth interest after sitting through dozens of press interviews with the same few questions asked every time. The bands support in this is much appreciated and has contributed hugely to the fanzines quality of content.

Features - Short or in depth, features can be on anything from 'Buried' Diamonds (a rant about great potential singles that weren't ever released) to a rant about the generally poor standard of Church compilation albums and to come shortly (following anger management - a theme was developing there) a historical rundown of the bands acoustic history and another on their instrumental output over the years. Feel free to contribute your own - The Church's history in your part of the world perhaps.

An Interlude is a breather between articles and a home for the less orthodox bits and pieces from a one sentence fact about the band to a 'Did You Know that...', to a more distantly related artiste who deserves a mention as part of the broader Church 'family' to a mini feature on one topic. Generally things that don't fit into other catagories.

Dream Set List - Church or solo, electric or acoustic, send us your ideal set, construct the whole gig if you like, the ideal venue, set, wardrobe even !

Scrap Book Offers a small sample of the multitude of press cuttings and adverts from the past and present presented in hap-hazard scrapbook style.

After Everything is the signing off, thank you's, credits, next time's and a regular update of the merits of Leicester City Football Club and Kit Kats.