Mike Stax has been publishing Ugly Things in San Diego - California for what looks like ever. Last August saw the celebration of 40 years of UT. It seemed to be the right time to discuss with Mike and he was kind enough to agree to answer my questions The 40th anniversary of Ugly Things is such an achievement, the magazine has overcome all the essential previous ones (Zigzag, Who puts the Bomp, Creem …). How can you explain it knowing that you were never in the mainstream line ?   It’s still hard for me to realize that’s it’s been 40 years. Never being remotely part of the mainstream is one of the main reasons for our longevity. We have our niche, which is a lot of music that doesn’t get covered in other magazines, so we have built up a loyal readership by giving them something they can’t find anywhere else. We’ve never had to stay up to date with the latest trends or ‘hot’ bands. We’ve lasted by being different, having great taste and doing solid research. I know that you are

G'day!! My name is Ben & I'm from Melbourne, Australia and like all of you I'm a fanatic!! I'm a rabid record collector, avid music zine & book reader & constant gig attender. I have also thumped drums in a stack of independent bands for nearly 30 years and have recorded & self released original tunes as well. All of this keeps me busy as it is, and now I'm going to attempt to translate all of this mish mash of random info in my head onto paper for the kick arse Monstres Sacrés blog. Anyway now that I have been given the opportunity at Monstres Sacrés , I look forward to hopefully introducing you to the wild, guitar abusing, pedal crushing, tub thumpin', totally rockin', at times unsavoury & the flat out weird sounds of punk/garage/indie/noise and more in the Australian scenes past & present. Oh yeah why did I spell Australia wrong for the name of my blog? It's actually named after the great Saints song Orstralia from the Eterna