Queer Print: The Complete Amos Mac Interview

Queer Print: The Interviews

For my essay Queer Print I interviewed the publishers of three top zines: Christopher Schulz of Pinups Magazine, Darren Ankenbaur of Handbook, and Amos Mac of Original Plumbing. As much as I would have liked to, it was impossible for me to quote extensively from the interviews within the essay, so I'm publishing the complete interviews here on my website.

The final interview was with Amos Mac, editor-in-chief of Original Plumbing . I first blogged about Original Plumbing back in June of '09, and since then the zine has become one of my favorites. It offers a playful, sexy and eye-opening representation of trans-men with a mix of photo editorials, interviews, and personal essays.

Interviewing Mac was a total pleasure.

Johnny: Why print? Given that a website or blog would be easier to create and promote, why did you decide to create Original Plumbing as a print entity?

Amos: When I decided to make Original Plumbing I didn't do it to make some sort of profit. I just wanted to get the models stories out there, my photos out there, some trans visibility out there. Nothing existed in magazine form that represented a FTM trans male experience and I was sick of waiting around. I could see it in my head exactly how I wanted it to look, and I just took it from there and taught myself what to do next (choosing writers, editing, lay-out, finding a printer, etc). I think that's why Original Plumbing has thrived. I worked incredibly hard in a short amount of time to get the magazine out there without using a second of my energy to think about something like profit. When you don't have any money to start with and you have the incredible support of a community behind you and everyone is excited for the project to exist, you don't have anything to lose.

It also has to do my personal aesthetic. I'm a magazine junkie and an artist and I enjoy being able to hold things in my hands! I don't consider websites or blogs to be "magazines" so how could I make a magazine any other way than to make it a print magazine? The Assistant Editor of Original Plumbing, Rocco Kayiatos, likes to say that calling a website a magazine is like calling the internet "the library". Since this is a photo-based magazine, it's especially important for it to exist past the screen. I want it to take up space and for people to be able to rip out a page and hang it on their wall. I want it to be in a dusty box in the GLBT archives in 100 years. The internet houses information about Original Plumbing and promotes its existence and for that I am truly grateful, but having it be web-based only would never make me feel the way I do when I have a finished product in my hands or see it on a shelf.

Johnny: Is Original Plumbing your first attempt at a small-press print publication or have there been others?

Amos: Original Plumbing is my first attempt at small-press print. I've worked behind the scenes on one other magazine before back in 2002 doing photo and distribution stuff (it was called Muffy! A magazine for 'New girlie life', all about DIY punk feminist & queer girl culture). It was an independently published glossy magazine made by 3 girls from Sarasota, FL and it lasted a couple of issues. I helped out however I could and remembered being obsessed with being a part of that magazine, it was always something I loved. But this is the only project that I consider to be mine.

Johnny: Did you have any education or experience in print prior to taking on Original Plumbing?

Amos: No education in print, publishing or design. Video and photography were my main areas of interest in school. I never even considered myself a publisher until I started receiving interview questions similar to this one. (even though you didn't refer to me as a publisher, this question made me feel like one.)

Johnny: What do you think it says overall for print that major institutions are struggling right now while small press publications are finding an audience and proliferating?

Amos: I think it has to do with big institutions losing touch with their audience. I make a publication about a life I am submerged in, a publication that's filled with FTM trans guys -- we are people who seriously lack a voice in the media and whose stories and faces and bodies are hot and important and deserve to be heard. Because I'm aware of the various communities (queer and otherwise) out there who appreciate or identify with FTM transsexuals, I know how to reach out and get this magazine into the hands of the people who will find Original Plumbing worthy of the $8.

Johnny: I know that, before the interview you did with Tuck ran on the Butt blog, I probably wouldn't have realized that a zine like Original Plumbing would have appealed to me. It kind of shook up my assumptions. I'm glad that they have been shaken up, though. What has the reaction been like outside of the trans community to Original Plumbing? (I know that's probably as cringe-worthy word to you as 'gay community' is to me, but I'm using it for a lack of a better term.)

Amos: The reaction outside of the trans community has been very similar to what you told me your reaction was. For instance, lots of gay men commenting on how hot certain models are and how "surprised" they are to be attracted to them. It's awesome to introduce people to trans men, to get people to leave their bubble and see that sexual attraction goes far beyond what's in your pants. Guys don't have to be a cookie cutter image of what you were "taught" was male in order to be totally hot and your type.

Johnny: And the reaction within the trans community?

Amos: The trans community has been filled with love for this project. People from all over the world contacting us to say thank you for making this project exist, for giving trans men a voice and a face in the media, or for giving them a magazine that they can identify with. A few people have contacted me to say they've used Original Plumbing as a way to come out to friends and family. It's all so touching and intense, especially because of how I went into this project ... I was definitely not trying to make waves, but now I'm happy that it has made a positive mark on certain peoples lives.

Johnny: Have you been surprised by the overall reaction to Original Plumbing? If so, how?

Amos: I've been surprised by the media attention around Original Plumbing, the amount of journalists who have wanted to cover the story of the magazine being launched and the history of how we got it off the ground. I'm very grateful for it. It proves that there is an interest out there and that since this sort of magazine has never existed before, even people outside of GLBT community are interested.

Johnny: Now that you've been publishing Original Plumbing for some time, how has it performed compared to your expectations you had when you first started?

Amos: I had no expectations when getting into publishing. When I started making Original Plumbing I never thought of it as my foray into publishing. Honestly, I went into this project as a photographer with passion and an idea and I taught myself the ropes and what to do next by asking people.

Johnny: What has surprised you most about the experience of publishing Original Plumbing?

Amos: How intense my passion became for this project. The way everything fell into place not only with my partnership with Rocco Kayiatos as assistant editor, but with everything else in life. It literally felt like my life fell into place. As interest from so many surrounding communities grew my need to complete Original Plumbing, get it out in the world, and have it keep happening did too.

Johnny: Why do you think we're seeing an explosion of small press publications not only aimed at but created by young queer people at this moment in time?

Amos: I think we're seeing this explosion in media created by young queers because identities are breaking off into smaller and smaller subcultures, its getting harder to define who we are personally, and we all want something that we can identify with or look at and say, "hey, that's like me!"

Johnny: Why do you think that so many of the current breed of gay zines are so candidly sexual while not necessarily crossing into the realm of pornographic?

Amos: Honestly I don't know. Sex is fun and it sells. Bodies are beautiful and exciting to photograph and write about. When you push boundaries, you're creating new, exciting culture that makes people think, whether it gets them excited or angry. Pushing boundaries with self expression is the whole point of art.

Johnny: Why do you think that the past is playing such an important role in the aesthetics and contents of the current crop of gay zines?

Amos: A vintage aesthetic is beautiful! Plus in this time of electronic everything, all print matter seems to have a vintage feel these days now doesn't it?

Find out more about Original Plumbing: Original Plumbing

See Amos Mac's photography work: AMOSMAC PHOTOGRAPHY

The original essay: Queer Print: Keeping the Counterculture Coming

Return to: johnnymurdoc.com