Soundviews Magazine Issue #49, published in late 1996 or early 1997
Ear Fetish was originally created for Sound Views Magazine in New York City. “Sound Views: Subterranean Music and Culture” was a beloved rag known for being willing to review ANYTHING that came in the mail: your scuffed-up demo tape, lyrics scribbled on a banana peel, whatever. It was the baby of music journalist Mark Keating, a tireless devotee of all things underground.
Everyone on the scene picked up Sound Views and read it, not only to find out whether your band’s latest self-published release had been reviewed, but because it rocked.
I met Mark when he came to The Fort in the East Village to check out the Anti-Folk acts. He had given our group favorable marks in his write-up, and was looking for some cartoons to spice up the pages of the mag. When he saw Zombie Punk, he wanted to run it, but I was worried that the drybrush technique would not translate and it would look contrasty and crappy on the newsprint pages. So I promised Mark to do one better– I’d create a comic just for him, featuring typical New York characters who are all in bands. And that’s how Ear Fetish was born.
The Rubber Dahls, a. k. a. Clockwork Robin, circa 1991... Guess how many of us are on Xanax.
My concept was to create a comic in which every person living in a squat in New York dreams about Pee Wee Herman on the same night. The first issue would introduce all the characters via their subconscious fantasies. As I continued to work on the drawings, the pages became increasingly erotic. Pretty soon I was hiding my artwork from my teenage son.
All in all I produced seven pages and a cover for Ear Fetish between 1997 and 1998, each of which appeared in Sound Views–nipples and all. I’d been planning on looking for an advance to finish the book, but by the time I’d accrued enough material, I’d concluded that I couldn’t afford to finish the piece even with an advance– I was just too slow and perfectionistic.
So I set Ear Fetish aside… until January 2009, when Last Gasp publisher Ron Turner saw the pages in my portfolio, and asked me if I’d submit something for their upcoming volume of “Best Erotic Comics of 2010”. I shortly got to work again on the story, and ended up pushing out another nine pages in six weeks. I missed the February 28th deadline for the 2010 anthology, but I’m coloring the pages anyhow for publication on the web.
The last time I saw Mark Keating he was working alone in his office, late at night, struggling to keep Sound Views alive. The magazine folded around 2000. Mark now works in a payroll company for the film industry, where his bio reads, and I quote, “He loves music more than money and his long experience as a music journalist is proof.”
I heard that, Mark.
This one’s for you.
-Rebecca Migdal, June 3 2009
