Hi. We’ve met before. Maybe? If we haven’t, let me hip all of you to my presence. I’m Jacqueline. And I am the Managing Editor over here. The road to this position has been a tenuous, lovely, beer soaked one. I walked into Chief HQ about two years ago. A friend of mine, and I’m sure yours, Jah Jah, had just told me he had been profiled in his friends’ ‘zine and that they’re “always looking for writers” (ed note: that was translated from Sparks-ese). At which point I promptly dusted off my, still unframed, degree from the New School, which reaffirmed that I had, in fact, majored in Writing. I just finished a stint at Gawker when it was run by Alex Balk and my fellow New Schooler/friend Emily Gould (not laaaaame 22 year-old NYU grads). And was ready for a change, I mean, how invested can one really be in America’s Next Top Model recaps? And Tracie Egan snorting blow off cocks? Well… I’m still interested in the latter.
Back to Chief HQ. I met, my soon-to-be my bosses, A.P. Smith and Ed Zipco. And if first impressions are the most important, I should have ran out of there as fast as I walked in. Andy was frantically alternating hits off a cigarette and an asthma inhaler and Ed was just… smiling (read: high as fuck. all damn day). Whatever. A new project! So, I started writing blog posts. I think I may have even put together Pen Pals! Once! And, oh, the proofreading! WOOF! Finally, I approached Ed and Andy and said, “make me blog editor”. So, I was that for a hot second, until, around Issue 11 when Ed called me up and asked me to be Managing Editor. Done. And if I may get corny for a second, it’s been pretty much the sweetest gig ever. I get to talk to my friends about their art and music (OMG Michelle, Scotty Hug of K48 Magazine, Zebrakatz, Cristy Road, Kate Clark, man, the list goes on). And now, I run this shit with Ed… who is still high as fuck, in case you were wondering.
So, that’s my story. Now, onto the real news… Welcome to Issue 17! Our long, long anticipated Issue 17 (we’ve been busy: breaking up with people, going on vacations, getting surgeries, doing work that actually pays us, you know how it is!) Anyfuckingway, we hope you enjoy what we’ve got for you in the Music Issue. We gathered together musicians and performers who just understand the anatomy of a “good fucking jam”. Seriously, just go to any of these folks’ shows and you’ll know what we mean. From Girl Talk to Cerebral Ballzy, from John Dwyer to MKNG FRNDZ, just wonderful, varied, right on artists. MIXTAPE GOLD.
And now even BIGGER news! We’re leaving! It’s not you. It’s us. You didn’t do anything wrong. We just need a break. We have some stuff we need to do to better ourselves. Figure things out. Think of it as a retreat for bad boyfriends who neglect their girlfriends and fuck other chicks and forget to give them shit on their birthdays (I think this was turned into a social experiment/documentary called, “The Tool Academy”, you should totally check it out while we’re taking time off).
On the real, we’re taking a break and coming back, bigger, better and harder than EVER. I don’t want to spoil anything, suffice to say, God-willing, in a little bit Chief will be online with a new look and a new website. Fuck, the day we launch will feel like the day Barack Obama became president all over again. Hugging strangers. High fives on the subway platform. Unicorns cumming cotton candy tasting rainbows all over our faces! Also, leading up to the epic relaunch… we’re running this town. Want to know about it, join the family and help out? Get at myself or Ed!
In addition, to tide you over, we’ll be feeding new, exciting blog content everyday, all day. We’ve got a team of bright, young interns and bloggers tapping away. Expect mini-interviews, video content, the bastardization of daily news stories, us being our insensitive/emotionless selves… you know, the usual. Blogroll us and fuck your job!
You pumped? We sure as hell are.
Catch you on the flipside homies,
Jacqueline Lewis
Managing Editor
Chief Magazine
Summer 2009
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