Becky
A zine for underground art and music
“This zine exists in the world thanks to the push that Make Happen gave me.”
Becky publishes Slowpoke, a zine sharing stories and artwork from underground artists and musicians whose work doesn't fit neatly into short-form online content.
Becky Laverty has published the first edition of Slowpoke, a zine focused on underground art and music.
The project came out of her MA endeavour and, after existing mostly as an idea for a long time, now finally exists in physical form.
“This zine exists in the world thanks to the push that Make Happen gave me,” she says. “To get on with it instead of just thinking about it endlessly.”
The zine shares stories and artwork from creators working outside mainstream media, particularly those whose work doesn’t always translate neatly into short-form online content. Becky sees it as the beginning of wider conversations around curation, publicity, storytelling, print culture, and live music.
And it’s already travelling further than she expected.
Through connections built over years of working with underground musicians, Slowpoke is now stocked in physical shops in New Orleans, New York City, and Rotterdam, as well as online through outlets in the USA, France, and Germany. Around 250 copies have already sold.
Letting It Go
Publishing the zine meant pushing through a lot of doubt.
For Becky, one of the hardest parts was telling people about it without immediately downplaying it. Once people knew it existed, she became much more aware of how the work might be perceived and had to stop herself endlessly tweaking it.
“I had to resist making endless ‘final edits’ and deem it good enough,” she says.
That moment of sending it to print became one of the biggest turning points so far.
Building Local Connections
Alongside Slowpoke, Becky is also working with a group of live music enthusiasts to help revitalise a venue in Glossop, where she lives in the Peak District.
She has already booked shows for later in the year, with announcements beginning soon, and hopes the venue, the zine, and the conversations growing around both projects will naturally feed into each other.
“To me all these threads are entwined,” she says.
Follow the Journey
You can follow Becky’s work and Slowpoke on Instagram:
📖 @beckylaverty
📖 @slowpokeonline
