I was feeling a bit sorry for myself at the time, so it does come across as somewhat self absorbed. Anyway, here goes...

"Welcome to Convulsion, prepare to enter a new state of mind and body. Convulsion is more than just a collection of interviews, more than mere words and pictures, Convulsion is a way of life..

I guess by the time y'all read this it will have been about three months since you read the last one. I hope y'all out there in consumerland like this issue of Convulsion. The last went down pretty well. However, many said "How can you call yourselves a fanzine, you look too good". My reaction to issue four personally was that it was a year and a half after issue three, and face it the only thing that has changed since issue one is the technology.

Confessions time. As you might have noticed, Convulsion is a Scottish Fanzine. However, as anybody who knows me will tell you, I am currently living in London. However, the core of the Convulsion staff are still in Edinburgh and most of the magazine was written in Scotland, that is where my heart is, so I don't want any complaints or smart arse remarks OK?

I must also confess, having spent a few months in London, it is a bit of a headfuck of a city. Once you discover the fact that it is actually not one city but dozens of little towns spread out over a seemingly infinite playing area (The Sprawl anyone?) and realise that getting from A to B is all fine and well during the day, but when the lights go out and you have to navigate Night Buses pissed out of your face, you start to discover just how badly London sucks. What is worse is that when you are working in (in whatever fashion) the music industry you discover that in fact London is like the TARDIS in reverse, huge on the outside but actually pretty damned tiny. In fact, part of the reason I left Edinburgh was because it was too small and too bitchy - christ! The London music scene is infinitely worse. The only real difference is that there are more names to remember and more people to try to be "nice" to... Sad. (see guide to schmoozing)

This issue of Convulsion marks yet more significant changes in the organisational structure of the zine. First name check goes to Chris Yule my flatmate in Edinburgh who has been co-ordinating the activities of the Northern crew a damned sight better than I ever did. Also welcome the editorial talents of Keiron Mellotte and Dorian Moore - both of whom where involved and contributed to issue 4 but have taken a much greater role in the production of this issue.

Special thanks goes to Nicola Carberry who designed the icons in the reviews section in the last issue of the zine. As you might have noticed, her art is now throughout. I hope to convince her to do all the art and assist in the design of the next issue (grovel).

I hope that the overall presentation and readability of the zine has improved, it is the first time Convulsion has ever been designed to be output directly to film. I remember the days of Convulsion spasm 1 when the entire Quark file for the magazine fit on one density floppy disk. This issue is easily two hundred megabytes.

The quote at the start of this rant is essentially the intro paragraph of Convulsion 1. It may have only been four issues ago but it was also three years ago. We were trying to make a difference in the music industry by doing a "smart" looking fanzine. Three years on and about a hundred and fifty or so interviews later what has changed? In real terms - sadly - sweet fuck all. The weekly press still exist and control what music is deemed popular. Majors still fuck people over. The tories are still in power. On the other hand there have been some significant minor steps in the right direction. People did take our lead and start DTP'ing their zines with virtually no resources - the power was back in the hands of the people. And of course then the Internet came along and are kind of making fanzines obsolete but the spirit flourish.

OK, cut to the chase. Convulsion is a team effort. it may not appear so but it is and as such I have decided to leave the fate of the zine in the hands of a team of individuals in Edinburgh. I am relinquishing editorial control. This can really only be seen as a good thing and an extremely positive step forward for the zine. In order for Convulsion to evolve it requires a significant change in direction, a change which can only happen with new input and ideas. Hopefully these organisational changes will be the first step. If any one reading this wants to get involved then please get in touch with me as we are always looking for more contributors.

I am now, for the last time going to list a group of people without whom Convulsion wouldn't exist. Firstly James Bryce who suggested the idea in the first place. The original crew: Golly, Dave Motion, Chris Peck and especially Stuart Barr my partner in crime.

Name check for the zines which have impressed me: The Idler, Volume, The Lizard, Dregs, Answer Me!, Girl Frenzy & CIA, Thora-Zine, The Organ, Spiral Scratch (r.i.p), The Empty Quarter and anyone else I have forgotten. Yes, they are all established - more power to them.

There is one final person who I want to thank and that is the one person who stood with me the whole time as I weirded and stressed out as a result of the magazine and that is Jane Wilcock. She asks me about once a year: "What do you want out of life?" I still don't have a good answer but I know this

"Convulsion is more than just a collection of mere words and pictures, it is a way of life"

the contagion has spread...

Jon Bains

Editor: Convulsion Magazine 1991-1995

p.s. It is now five months later and I am still doing the Convulsive thang. Oh well. Maybe someday I will get out...but not yet.