60 Miles North began in 1983 as a one sheet concert flyer that was folded in half. It was cheaply Xeroxed in black and white had a few jokes and crude comics in it and was mainly meant as a promo piece for a show in Camarillo, CA. That show included headliners, The Alley Cats and the two opening acts, The Desotos and MIA. Mike Rogers, a singer in The Desotos, was the culprit who made this promo flyer/zine. After passing out several hundred to the concert attendees, his friends, and anybody else that would take one, he says he found the feedback to be great. "Ventura County and the Nardcore scene really needs something like this," was what all the "kids" were saying.

A few days after the concert, Rogers asked friend and Desotos' bassist, Jeff Hughart, if he would like to collaborate with him on a "2nd issue" of 60MN. Hughart agreed, but told Rogers "only if it is really a zine and not just a one sheet promo. It's got to be more than that". Rogers agreed and thus the zine that Rogers had titled 60 Miles North (because Ventura is approximately 60 miles north of Los Angeles) had been born.


Over the next two years Rogers and Hughart published their "rag" with the help of a great number of talented friends and band members in the area. There were interviews with Poison (before they got big), Mailman Mike from the original Pee Wee Herman show, The Blasters, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and almost all of the local Nardcore bands.


To be continued…



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