HIRED GUNS

HETHER FORTUNE, WRITER

A Michigan-raised writer, deranged Twitter user, and semiretired musician who fronted the band Wax Idols for a decade. She has published two collections of poetry, Waiting in Various Lines (2013-2017) and Ceramic Flowers, and has been allegedly working on her first book for longer than she cares to admit here. Sometimes, when the mood swing is juuust right, she paints stuff. When not hard at work doing (or not doing) the aforementioned, Hether can most likely be found at home watching (and rewatching) The Sopranos with her two cats, Carmella and Furio.

See: Breakfast With Nickelback, page 64

CARL CHISOLM, PHOTOGRAPHER

Carl grew up in Harlem in the ’80s and has vivid memories of abandoned buildings, summertime block parties, music blasting through boomboxes on 125th Street, open fire hydrants, freezing-cold sledding in St. Nicholas Park, New Amsterdam Boys Choir rehearsals in East Harlem, rooftop basketball at Boys Harbor, and stopping by Pan Pan’s for breakfast after church. He experienced New York through those lenses and many more, finding the city—and Harlem especially—to be a place of great history and inspiration in his photography.

See: CREEM Dreem, page 16

KATE SWEENEY, PHOTOGRAPHER

A director, photographer, and horse enthusiast who has been hanging around DIY shows in New Jersey and New York City for 20 years. Works for major networks to fund her passion (making music videos on budgets of nothing). Also works with public access TV and the alt-comedy world. Despite going to shows for more than half her life, she can’t play any instruments and has performed only once, when she fronted a No Doubt cover band in 2012. Is currently learning to DJ in her 30s and has gone to the ER with show injuries more than once.

See: Seaplanes, Slednecks, and Screaming Females, page 78

MICHAEL BERDAN, WRITER

Michael Berdan grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where he tried drugs a few times and barely graduated from high school. He has lived in Brooklyn for the past 20 years or so and has somehow managed to continually fail upward. An insecure prick, Michael occasionally utilizes five-dollar words and posits himself as a connoisseur of extreme music, film, and literature in the hope that you will think he’s smarter than he really is. He has played in a bunch of bands, has written for a bunch of publications, and drinks roughly a case of seltzer every single day.

See: True Crime, page 30

DANIELLE OTRAKJI, ILLUSTRATOR

Danielle is a fine artist, illustrator, and musician based out of Brooklyn. Working predominantly in pen and ink, she has published countless works through Image Comics and AWA Studios as well as being the in-house artist for Pure Noise Records. Additionally, her arsenal of skills extends into conceptual art, storyboarding, and animation, as well as a long list of musical projects and collaborations. She lives for snacks, the sun, and her cat Vincent, and was recently spotted at the wrestling event detailed on page 24 having way too good a time.

See: Beard Science, page 52

JOE CASEY, COLUMNIST

Joe Casey is the vocalist in Protomartyr. The Detroit band’s sixth record, Formal Growth in the Desert, came out June 2 of this year on Domino. Joe is currently working on an uncompromising novel about depressing people living squalid lives. If that doesn’t float your boat, he is also writing a series of teen sci-fi and fantasy novels that can be perfected across several entertainment platforms. He thinks “that hot Irish actor” would be perfect in the inevitable adaptation. Perhaps they will become best friends? Besides that, he loves money and dislikes fake people.

See: Greetings From Detroit, page 20