Ryan Leach is a gentleman whom you may be familiar with from his excellent label Spacecase Records; from the many interviews he’s published online with people whom I actually want to read about; and for being a super plugged-in guy with particular interests in 70s Memphis, 70s-80s Los Angeles and the current contours of the sub-underground. Our kind of fella, in other words. His recent interview with Eric Friedl on the Goner podcast might have been a bit of a downer, shall we say, regarding the fragile state of independent record production and distribution, but it was highly engaging nonetheless, and I came away even more impressed with Leach and his tenacity in the face of disinterest from the great unwashed hordes.
So I suppose that this second issue of his Bored Out fanzine from right now in 2025 is meant to be the sequel to his book of interviews, which presumably is now meant to be thought of as Bored Out #1 (right?). And like that one, most if not all of the material here started out online, where publishing is free, and is now available in print in a numbered edition of 100 (mine’s 22/100), which obviously has a sunk cost to be recouped. I’m here to tell you that you’ll be glad to have helped in these efforts.
The real standouts, comprising well over half of the issue, are the interviews with In The Red Records’ Larry Hardy and with Corporate Rock Sucks: The Rise and Fall of SST Records author Jim Ruland. Leach is an excellent asker of questions and knows his shit. He’ll insert his thoughts & views into the narrative when it makes sense, and god love him for his willingness to transcribe a two-hour interview. One reason I probably default to email interviews for my own fanzine is a regrettable lack of internal fortitude for the long, slow pain of transcription. Looking at his banter with Larry and Jim, it reminds me how much better a live chat is and why those interviews I’ve done in this manner are so, so much more interesting & readable than taking the lazy man’s pathetic path.
Larry Hardy, whom I’ve known personally for years, has a fantastic history of run-ins, releases and stories from all manner of interesting musicians, from Tav Falco to The Gories to the Cheater Slicks and beyond. Leach gets the most out of him, even given Hardy’s admirable lack of ego. Same with Ruland – man, I was a little suspicious of his SST book given that it was by “the guy who wrote the Bad Religion bio”, but I loved it; absolutely told the story as it needed to be told, with the best part being “the fall” of SST in the 90s/00s by far (Jambang, anyone?). Again, Leach, who knows a ton about SST and the world surrounding it, asks excellent questions, just shooting the shit with a fellow music freak. I have made a note to learn from his methods.
The remainder of Bored Out #2 is reviews of films and records, some of which you might have already seen on the man’s Tumblr – I know you’re all still on Tumblr, of course. East German films; Hardware; The Axemen; Robert Rental – you know. Power hitters. Get your copy here, and ignore the incorrect copy below the image; that’s Bored Out #1 that’s being deservedly touted.
Fanzine Hemorrhage 