Ordinary Thoughts: A Community Zine
Have you ever had a holy sh*t moment when you realize how cool your friends really are? Often, we’re quite proud of our surroundings and that seems to be one of the many perks to being a creative person- other creative people. Nashville is a small city, packed with all sorts of talent and Ordinary Thoughts, a zine by Grady Wenrich, aims to exemplify just that. Through poetry, doodles, paintings, collages and everything in between, the collection brings together art from a diverse array of artists, and will be printed quarterly along with an accompanying release party. Although the idea stems from showcasing his Nashville community, Grady plans to include artists from all over the world in future issues.
Grady is no stranger to POND. He and his band The Lonely Biscuits took us for a spin around Asbury Park this summer and we caught the whole damn thing. So consider this a check-in.
POND: Hello again Grady! What is up? How was your day?
Grady: My day is swell. I’ve been organizing things for the zine announcement and tending to my sprained ankle.
POND: Did you sprain your ankle while shredding your skateboard?
Grady: Yeah, sometimes you shred your skateboard, and sometimes your skateboard shreds you.
POND: Zine this, zine that. Zines are becoming #mainstream, huh? What are some plans you have to break the mold and expand Ordinary Thoughts to be different than some other papers.
Grady: There are a lot of zines out there and I’ve always been really inspired by them in general, but I wanted to make something that showcases the community around me. I’m not really basing it off of anything else that I’ve seen. I’m just taking work from all of my favorites minds and mixing it all together on paper. This time in my life feels really special because everyone I know is pushing themselves and each other, and I just want to make sure someone documents it all and shows it to the world before we forget about it.
POND: Being a musician, writing songs is a creative outlet for you. Do you feel that despite the creative freedom that music gives you, it’s still nice to have another outlet?
Grady: Yeah, I feel that it’s really important to have more than one outlet and to express yourself in whatever way you want to. I put a lot into my band, but at the same time there are so many other things I want to say that I can’t through The Lonely Biscuits. It’s really nice getting to experiment with doodles and photographs and poems because I get to portray how I feel or how I see things through a fresh perspective. A lot of the time I end up expressing myself in a way that I didn’t even know I wanted to.
POND: So what’s up with this zine release party? Can we expect more? Do you feel like there is an important correlation between both bringing people together on paper and IRL?
Grady: The release parties are half of the reason I’m starting Ordinary Thoughts. I recently started going to more of my friend’s shows and events, and I forgot how good it feels to be inspired by the people around you and to connect with new artists. The party is going to be an art show, and there will be performances from some of the bands involved in the zine, but the main reason I’m throwing it is so kids can come meet other inspiring people and then go off and create something cooler than what I’m doing. I plan to throw one party per zine release, and hopefully I will be bringing them to New York soon.
The first issue of Ordinary Thoughts includes work from Grady, Cyle and Cain Barnes of The Weeks, Aaron Martin and Kole Sharp of Okey Dokey, Mackenzie Howe of The Wild Reeds, Grant Gustafson of Blank Range, Liza Anne, Andrew Combs, Liz Cooper, and Wrenne Evans.
Preorder Ordinary Thoughts here and keep up with the zine on Instagram.