Each week we receive zines in the mail, so finding a zine in our mailbox — while always a joy — is not a surprising event. However yesterday we received something curious: a large, heavy box that was painted and covered in duct tape, lined paper and a little foam crab. The contents of this box was 13 zines and a DVD!
After rifling through the box like it was Xmas day, we looked into the origins of the mysterious gift. The person responsible for this package (and our excitement) is William Brown. Brown is the man behind Ohme Made Books, a zine creator and distributor based on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Navigating through the press’s website, it appears they are at least somewhat based out of a yurt.
The press’ manifesto states that Brown started printing zines (or, as he prefers to call them, books) when he became frustrated with societal “bullshit” and wanted to explore freedom through creation. The Ohme Made philosophy is “home made… that is, it begins in your home…with your mind, body and spirit. What makes you tick? What makes you talk? What makes you do the things you do? The emotions that control you? It begins with what’s inside of you, what’s inside your home.”
Some of the titles in the box include The Cult of Wiliam Brown Poems which includes personal poetry paired with drawings of people in various sexual positions; Bottle of Whine, a zine of unconventional book reviews; and a post apocalyptic novel entitled Phoenix Om. See future issues of Broken Pencil for reviews of some of these titles.
On Ohme Made’s website, Brown offers you the opportunity to communicate with him via ESP (he provides his picture if that helps you to give it a shot) but he’s also available via snail mail at PO Box 265, Chemainus BC, V0R 1K0. Some titles are available via Paypal here. Phoenix Om is currently only available via ESP, though. Give it a good stare and see what happens.