20 things you didn’t know about Alternative Press

It was 32 years ago today that Mike Shea laid out the first issue of Alternative Press on his parents’ kitchen table in Aurora, Ohio. Fueled by the rage that the Smiths were not playing Cleveland, he vowed he would start his own music magazine that covered the music he liked and not the stuff that accountants and consultants were programming on radio and MTV. The pages of AP reflected the listening habits of miscreants of all stripes, from angry hardcore dudes to sullen goths, Anglophiles with symmetrical haircuts, hair follicle-challenged metalheads and all the tribes in between.

Despite our best efforts, a lot of people out there still think that we’ve only been at this for five years, maybe 10. That’s okay, because when Nirvana was on our cover, we were trolled by dullards who sneeringly asked if we “prayed to God for giving you Kurt Cobain so you could have jobs.” (Bitch, please: We’d already been doing this for six years before the Seattle legends graced our cover for the first time in 1992.)

So come one, come all to this magic affair: Here are some brief points of history about AP, from the way we survived to the stories behind (under?) the covers. It’s been a crazy wild ride, and we’d like to thank you, your older siblings, possibly your parents, for all the love, support, hate and interest. When the time comes for magazines to be reduced to microchips that get updated via data streaming through a jack in your head, we promise you we’ll be on the rack.

THE LOGO
AP logos
[Our original scrapped logo and our very first logo.]
The very first prototype of our logo was actually an outline of the soon-to-be Cleveland city skyline. In 1985, they were building the BP Building, the city’s newest skyscraper. Our original logo read ALTERNATIVE PRESS and had the outline of the Cleveland skyline. But Shea thought the logo looked too much like a suburban real estate trademark, so it got scrapped. He instructed art school student Marty Ackley to make something “more punk rock” and he came up with the original AltPress logo, which you can see above.

IT WASN’T REALLY A MAGAZINE FOR A WHILE
AP #1
[Our first issue.]
The first issue of AP that Shea glued together like a high school newspaper (replete with business card-sized ads from local florists) started out as a four-page fanzine. The legendary front page editorial about the Smiths not playing Cleveland, and coverage of a protest for “No Business As Usual Day,” gave you an idea of both Shea’s mindset and the cultural zeitgeist at the time. “In the end, all we can hope for is that we will succeed in adding to the support the local scene needs and DESERVES,” Shea wrote in his first issue. “We may last a few months or we may last five years, we don’t know. Yet, we won’t give up. Alternative Press hopes to become the voice of the local alternative music scene in newsprint. In upcoming months we hope to expand the size of our paper, adding more pages, more stories and more photographs. We hope to expand our circulation and cover the entire North-Eastern Ohio area. We’re going to try our best and even if we fail, we still have something to show for it. At least we TRIED.” The mag went through several formats before arriving at a standard magazine size around AP 15, starring LA art-metal mavericks Jane’s Addiction.

WAY BEFORE THE AP TOUR—AND THE AWARD SHOWS…
Alternative Productions Suicidal Tendencies
[Above is a ticket from an Alternative Productions show featuring Suicidal Tendencies as the headliner.]
To pay the print bill, Shea started booking punk-rock shows at the Variety, a dilapidated vaudeville theater on Cleveland’s West Side. Long before the Alternative Press Music Awards and the AP Tour, the magazine promoted gigs under the moniker Alternative Productions that featured headliners such as DRI, the Meatmen, Circle Jerks and Suicidal Tendencies and more than a few local bands. Drawing in about 1,000 to 2,000 local fans per show, the magazine was able to receive the funding it needed. That is, until the established local promoters were incredulous that some kid from the ’burbs was making money on shows and they started outbidding Shea for bands.

WE USED TO BE SQUATTERS
Instead of having office space, the early years of AP were run out of the East Side apartment of then-editor in chief Dave Earle. In return, AP covered half of his rent. Staff meetings of editors, writers and people sympathetic to the cause were held at an Arabica coffee shop in Cleveland’s Coventry neighborhood. Where the Arabica once stood is now the site of the Grog Shop, one of the city’s finest rock clubs. (Next time you’re there, say hi to Kathy and look for the plaque at the front door.)

WE’VE BEEN LYING ABOUT OUR AGE
Despite getting some marginal interest from cool indie retailers and other scene hangouts, Shea completely ran out of cash and by 1987, for all intents and purposes, AP was dead. A planned cover starring cool AF industrial act Einstürzende Neubauten never materialized. It wasn’t until former contributor Carl Bujorian (who had a sweet gig at the time) gave Shea a wad of cash to put out a proper farewell issue. (AP 8, featuring cover stars Love & Rockets). The response was big enough to make Shea quit his department store job (Higbee’s, the store featured in the legendary holiday film A Christmas Story) and give publishing another try.

HOW TO MAKE EMPLOYEES AND IRRITATE PEOPLE

[Above are the review that led to Jason Pettigrew's hire and a photo of Pettigrew and Shea at a staff Christmas party.]
On one of his many trips to Cleveland to see bands that didn’t get booked in his Western Pennsylvania locale, Jason Pettigrew chanced upon a stack of issues (AP 4) in front of the now-defunct Peabody’s Down Under. He was impressed by the scope of what the mag covered, but took umbrage over a negative review Shea had written about Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy covering legendary Cle art-punks Pere Ubu. Shea was silly enough to leave his phone number in the masthead. The arrogant Pettigrew showed respect but questioned Shea’s mental acuity regarding the review. Shea asked, somewhat irked, “Do you think you can do better?” Pettigrew’s been with the company ever since. (DISCLAIMER: Do not use this method to find a job in 2017.)

THE TIME WE REACHED NIRVANA
AP #44
While AP dedicated covers to a fine selection of “college rock” acts for most of the ’80s (ask your parents about Jane’s Addiction, Ministry, the Cure, Violent Femmes, Pixies, Cocteau Twins, Robyn Hitchcock, even Guns ’N’ Roses, to name a scant few), we beat everyone to the stands with our Nirvana cover (AP 44). Music industry players were taking note of the mag’s accomplishments. It sounds quaint and awesome now, but back then we were hustling so hard, we didn’t really understand the gravity of being on the zeitgeist at the time.

THE TIME SMASHING PUMPKINS SMASHED BACK
Correspondent Eric Gladstone changed the course of Smashing Pumpkins' career with an epic 8,000-word story that revealed who did what—or didn't—in the band. He drove 10 hours from Washington, DC to Cleveland to finish the piece in the AP offices because of a tight deadline. After the piece had streeted, Gladstone was set upon by bassist D’Arcy Wretzky during a soundcheck at a DC gig for his supposed transgressions, allegedly becoming banned from Pumpkins gigs for life. Band leader Billy Corgan explained it in great detail in our 20th anniversary issue (AP 204), but you already have that.

NO SENSE PLEASE, WE’RE BRITISH.
As their success was ascending, British-born correspondent Dave Thompson returned to the U.K. to interview ’90s Britpop sensations Blur for an extensive feature. Sitting with the band in the London office of their record label, Thommo was subjected to abuse from bassist Alex James, who berated Thommo for being an American, thereby completely unable to understand the band's humor and mission. After practically berating him for several minutes, frontman/cooler head Damon Albarn turned to him and said, “Alex, listen to his accent. He's English.” The bassist’s response: “Oh. Then how come the magazine's in the U.S.?”

WE THOUGHT WE WERE COOLER THAN NIRVANA—FOR A MINUTE
AP 63
We were offered the first cover centered around In Utero, Nirvana’s follow-up to the game-changing Nevermind album. And the staff were split down the middle as to whether we should do it. Cooler heads prevailed (more like Shea saying “Make it happen.”) and Seattle-based Dave Thompson was dispatched. When the band arrived at a Seattle restaurant for the interview, they ordered their meals and suddenly Kurt Cobain leaped up and said he'd be back in a few minutes. He returned two hours later to say he had to visit his chiropractor.

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BIKE FOR YOUR RIGHT… TO FRACTURE
AP 147
It was going to be a massive event: The Beastie Boys and Rage Against The Machine (with special opening act At The Drive-In) were going to tour stadiums and arenas in late summer of 2000. And those bands were going to be on the cover of AP 147. After the cover shoot ended, Mike D rode his bicycle back home and had an accident, breaking his clavicle. Suffice to say, the tour was cancelled, and Papa Roach, then blowing up the charts, ended up on the cover that month.

WHOOPS…
AP 132
Hey, nobody’s perfect, and we’re no exception. Former editorial director Aaron Burgess recalls his low point as a copy editor was letting “ANNIVESARY” get onto the cover of our 14th-anniversary issue. Although illiteracy was in vogue that year and we already had “KILLECTAZ” on the cover (our public attempt at Juggalo-speak), so maybe no one noticed. Then there was the time we botched Aaron Gillespie’s name on our Noise On The Side issue. (Ever the awesome dude, he autographed a copy of the issue for our then-copy editor, spelling her name incorrectly on purpose.) And please, don’t remind us about Say Anthing…

IMITATION IS THE HIGHEST FORM OF FLATULENCE
AP #167

When pop-punk titans Green Day and Blink-182 united for their massive Pop Disastour campaign across America, we had the idea of covering them in pizza and ice cream similar to the cover of the debut album from mighty British punks the Damned. There was some pushback on the idea from Blink’s handlers, but when Billie Joe Armstrong was positively amped to do it, a classic AP cover (AP 167) was born. SPIN did the exact same thing with Sum 41 several months later, thereby generating begrudging props for us from longtime AP haters.

WE ALMOST PACKED IT IN. SORRY, HATERS.
AP #168

At the turn of the century, morale was bad. The cultural climate had changed, close associates we worked with frequently became divas, competition got heated and then the events of Sept. 11, 2001, weighed heavily on Shea. He had been in New York City a week before the attacks and did some serious soul-searching. Chris Carrabba, aka Dashboard Confessional, was making waves in the underground by playing emotionally charged songs—powered by nothing more than a commanding voice and an acoustic guitar—in front of hardcore audiences. On paper it sounded insane, but also incredibly resonant in a climate that wanted sincerity in a world slathered in nü-metal artifice. Dashboard Confessional graced what was to be the last issue of AP (AP 168). The response to it was enormous, turning the tide for the next chapter in our evolution. Coupled with the sense of community fostered by Kevin Lyman’s Warped Tour, AP no longer had to deal with doing things like assuaging Fred Durst’s then-ego or fighting with SPIN over who would get the first Interpol cover. Pettigrew told Carrabba that at the 2016 APMAs, but we’ll say it again right here: Thanks, Chris.

SCREENS? WE’VE BEEN ON THEM.


[Skip to 1:45, and you'll see AP make an appearance.]

In the film adaptation of Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, John Cusack, Jack Black and Todd Louiso are behind the counter at the Championship Vinyl record store, where three issues of AP are prominently displayed. Promotional sniping posters of various issues have appeared on the sets of Men In Black, Spider Man 3 and 2012. And who could forget the storyline in that One Tree Hill episode where Ellie Harp (actor Sheryl Lee) fakes being a writer for AP in order to get close to club owner Peyton Sawyer (played by Hilarie Burton)? Not us, that’s for sure! You can see a brief glimpse of the AP offices in My Chemical Romance’s Life On The Murder Scene documentary, as well.

HIDDEN ROCK AGENDAS AND WAGERING
Music editor Jonah Bayer and editorial director Aaron Burgess had a side bet going to see which of them could get their favorite bands into the magazine the most times in one year. Thanks to them, the Dillinger Escape Plan and Thursday didn't need to hire publicists from 2003 to 2004.

FORGET AN ASSIGNMENT? HAVE A BAND STARTED.
Back when Aaron Burgess edited the AP Recommends section, there was one month where he forgot to book a band for one of the slots. In a panic, he called his friend Steve Moore, who'd been making weird noise recordings in his college dorm room, and managed to pass him off as an established new artist, even though he'd never released a demo. He eventually signed to Relapse Records and formed the band Zombi, so it worked out in the end.

KATY PERRY’S NO PUNK, YOU PUNK
AP #241
On our 2008 Warped Tour cover (AP 241), we prominently featured Tom DeLonge (Blink-182, Angels And Airwaves), Travie McCoy (Gym Class Heroes), Max Bemis (Say Anything), Stephen Christian (Anberlin), Corey Brandan (Norma Jean), Fred Mascherino (the Color Fred), Matt Thiessen (Relient K) and Patricia Day, the rockabilly chanteuse from Horrorpops. We mention Day last for emphasis. Why? Because Katy Perry was on the tour that year and many people were lobbying for her to be on the cover, back when she only had one “hit” (“Ur So Gay”). Apparently one editor-type repeatedly stamped his cloven-hoofed foot down on the idea of Perry on the cover instead of Day because La Perry “wasn’t punk.” Well, he showed her what was right, didn’t he? [makes L-shape with thumb and index finger]

WE’VE BEEN TOO FAR AHEAD OF OURSELVES, SOMETIMES FOR OUR OWN GOOD.
AP #153

In AP 142, we did a multi-page spread on Kelis, three years before “Milkshake” was the biggest song in the world. OutKast graced the cover (AP 153) in 2000, four years before every car stereo in America seemingly had “Hey Ya!” on an eternal loop. We did a singer/songwriter special (AP 166) that was anchored by Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba, and featured a bunch of unknowns: Whatever happened to John Mayer and Avril Lavigne, anyway? A brief perusal of issues from the first decade of the 21st century will reveal profiles of actors as Kristen Stewart, Zach Galifianakis, Dax Shepard, Kristen Schaal and a whole bunch more. And when adored vocalist Sonny Moore left From First To Last to start his own thing, we enlisted him to play on the 2008 AP Tour. Then he dumped the band, handcuffed himself to a laptop and you know the rest of the story. (He rejoined the band. —ironic sin of omission ed.)

DOGS WORK HERE
alternative press pets
[We have Cali sitting in on an important meeting, Ogre in the upper right and Paulo with Frank Iero in the bottom right.]
In the early days, we used to have a mascot, an orange and white cat called Ogre (named after the awesome frontman of pioneering electronic band Skinny Puppy. You know him as one of the Ghost Riders in Teen Wolf). When he passed away, we decided not to replace him. So we’ve had employees bring their dogs to work ever since. Shea’s familiar Paulo has charged (here he is with Frank Iero) and knocked over his fair share of visiting band members and Cali has sat in on more high-pressure meetings than most humans. And this is how things get done here.