Xyzed
In early 1995, XYZed Magazine from Ontario, Canada, distributed by Slash Distro. made its debut.
At first the reception was luke warm, but by issue 2 XYZed established itself in the zine scene. XYZed’s appeal was its unique articles, its incessant nit-picking of even the most minute or obscure details, and its old-school charm (it was originally processed solely on a manual typewriter). Unfortunately, Issue#3 of XYZed received some rather harsh reviews, causing the flow of mail to suddenly trickle off. By issue#5 though, the magazine was back on track. Each passing year, XYZed was well represented at the annual Canzine Festival.
In 1998 XYZed- The Audio Zine made its debut. It featured sound bites, live interviews (conducted at Canzine), stories, and music. For XYZed there seemed to be no end in sight. For issue #12 the publication became part of the newly formed, Anxiety Press. This issue also marked the beginning of a more high-tech computer processing for the magazine. But even with this new technology, Jay still thought the magazine needed a more personal touch. Issue#13, in 2001, displayed a new look, a new address and a new attitude to great effect. The magazine still dove into the outer reaches of pop culture and obscure entertainment, but there was a more personal touch.
Later that year Jay hooked up with an old friend after seven years. Jeremy Gull had been the drummer for Anxiety but lost touch with Jay in the years that followed his departure. When the two reunited, Jay asked Jeremy to write an article for XYZed. Jeremy’s very powerful and opinionated piece entitled, Is This Where You Thought You’d Be At This Point In Your Life? made its debut for issue#14. The piece was well-received and was a wonderful diversion from the core articles and reviews. In 2002 XYZed, by way of Anxiety Press finally made the jump to the Internet with a web page and e-mail address. In late-2004 it was announced that a new publication, Eighteen; a spin-off of the highly acclaimed XYZed #18. Eighteen's focus is horror films and fandom, featuring exclusive interviews with cast and crew from various horror franchises. 2006 marked the end of XYZed as a publication, but it's still alive and well on-line by way of the website.
