Guide to the Casa de Chaos Zine Collection MC 60

Nick Parker and James C. Scott
Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room
Copyright 2018
Sacramento Public Library. All Rights Reserved
828 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 264-2795
Email: sacroom@saclibrary.org


Language of Material: English
Contributing Institution: Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento Room
Title: Casa de Chaos Zine Collection
Identifier/Call Number: MC 60
Physical Description: 1.5 Linear Feet 3 Archival Boxes
Date (inclusive): 1973-2013
Abstract: Compiled by local musician Jason Priest (aka Mickie Rat), the collection is made up of 2 linear feet of published and unpublished print materials that capture the essence of the Sacramento and Northern California Punk Rock scene, 1973-2013. For several years, the fonds had occupied the legendary Sacramento punk rock venue, Casa de Chaos, which is slated for closure in 2018. Zines make up the bulk of the collection, along with comics, booklets, pamphlets and programs.

Biographical / Historical

Located at 1616 21st Street, Casa De Chaos originally opened in October 1992 as P-Haus. Prior to that, it, and the two other properties on the block, had operated as fraternity houses. Rat, girlfriend Julie Bruce and 3 other local punks (including local historian and activist William Burg), were allowed to move in without any fraternal affiliation. The basement was quickly turned in to a music practice space, and then a venue. Bands such as The Phlegmings and The Secretions would practice there and, in March of 1995, Spitboy, Fifteen, and Blackfork would also play shows there.
Due to a lack of funds after a long Phlegmings tour, Rat and Bruce were forced to move out in August 1995. Over the course of the rest of the year, others left as well. On August 3, 1996, Uberkunst performed there, but it's unknown what happened with the house from the end of 1996 to 2003, although it's believed that squatters moved in and out during much of that stretch.
In October 2003, the property was again rented after Rat gathered enough roommates – some not punks – to cover payment. The first show of the new era took place on May 5, 2004, courtesy of Jason Webley, The Haints, Nevada Backwards, and The Secretions. In the wake of the shows, Rat decided to name the house Casa De Chaos and over 150 more shows followed.
In August 2016, Rat was informed that a request for historic assessment on Casa De Chaos was pending. It was then explained to him that property owners only pursued historic assessments when they intended to remove property that may have historic value. Rat contacted Burg who called together a meeting of Preservation Sacramento, a historical society dedicated to celebrating and protecting the architectural heritage of the city. The assessment declared the property to have no historical value. In rebuttal, Burg wrote up his own unofficial assessment, claiming that because the house existed with two of its original neighboring houses (all built in circa 1910), it created a historical aesthetic. The group gathered several members of the punk community to head to a City Hall meeting of the Sacramento Preservation Committee. It was there that Burg detailed his assessment and asked the audience to stand up in agreement. Approximately 30 punks and others stood up in unison. The presentation impressed the committee enough to secure unofficial protection with the possibility of official protection. Preservation Sacramento has stood at the forefront of monitoring/ensuring the structure's survival.
It is at Casa de Chaos that this collection of "Do It Yourself" (DIY) publications was accumulated by Rat, both through his many travels and by way of the venue's numerous shows.

Scope and Contents

With coverage from 1973 to 2013, the collection is a reflection of punk rock culture, primarily in Sacramento, but more secondarily in various other states, regions and countries, as expressed through a series of original paper formats. Items are broken into series by format (zines, comics, booklets, pamphlets and programs) and then listed at item level with those formats arranged by title in alpha order. City of publication and date are also listed.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Casa de Chaos Zine Collection, MC 60, Sacramento Room, Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento, California.

 

Zines Series I

 

Box 1

Material Specific Details: 1/1: 100 PUNKS! #31, North Hollywood, CA, date: 2001; 100 PUNKS! #32, North Hollywood, CA, date: 2001; 100 PUNKS! #33, North Hollywood, CA, date: 2001; 100 PUNKS! #37; North Hollywood, CA, date: 2001; Alein #1; Alein #2, Sacramento, CA; Alphabet Threat #2, Sacramento, date: 1992; Alphabet Threat #3, Sacramento, CA, date: 1993; Alphabet Threat #5, Sacramento, CA, date: 1994; Alphabet Threat #7, Sacramento, CA, date: 1994; Alphabet Threat #8, Sacramento, CA, date: 1995; Alphabet Threat #9, Sacramento, CA, date: 1995. 1/2: AMERICA for Sale #3, Olympia, WA, date: 1994; Amish Ninja, Penn Valley, CA, date: 1996; anecdotage #1, Welland, Ontario, date: 2008; anfang, unknown location, date: unknown; Big City Orchestre, San Francisco, CA, date: 1996, BRIKABRAK #5, Santa Cruz, CA, date: 1994; Bunk #1, unknown location, date: 1996; Butt Rock #1, Sacramento, CA, date: 1994; BUTT ROCK #3, Eureka, CA, date: 1996; BUTT ROCK Zine #2, Eureka, CA, date: 1996; Capitol City Crapola #2, Sacramento, CA, date: 1995; Capitol City Crapola #3, Sacramento, CA, date: 1995; Capitol City Crapola #4, Sacramento, CA, date: 1995; CASEBOOK, unknown location, date: unknown. 1/3: Comatoast, San Francisco, CA, date: 1993; Creepy Doll #1, Truro, Nova Scotia, date: 2009; CUNT, Sacramento, CA, date: 2004; D.I.Y. Guide II Crimethinc, unknown location, date: circa 2000; "- d.", unknown location, date: circa 2000; Dan's Morning Schedule #3, Princeton Jnct., NJ, date: circa 1993; Dan's Morning Schedule #4, Princeton Jnct., NJ, date: circa 1993; Daydream Nation, unknown location, date: unknown. 1/4: Death & Tortillas #8, Sacramento, CA, date: 1997; Death & Tortillas #3, Sacramento, CA, date: 1996; Death & Tortillas #1, Fairview Village, PA, date: 1995; Drop Out/FHS #2, Sacramento, CA/Manchester, CT, date: 1995; Dying On The Vine, Sacramento, CA, date: 2001; Dying On The Vine #3, Sacramento, CA, date: 2001; Exquisite Corpse Field Guide #1, Sacramento, CA, date: 1996; Fake Interviews with Famous Men, unknown location, date: unknown; Fluke #9, Tempe, AZ, date: 2011. 1/5: FOUND magazine #1, Chicago, IL, date: 2001; FOUND magazine #2, Chicago, IL, date: 2002; Frankie Comics, Los Angeles, date: 2013; FUCKER #1, Sacramento, CA, date: 1995; FUCKER #2, Sacramento, CA, date: 1995; Give It A Way, unknown location, date: unknown; The Great American Novel # 1, El Dorado, CA, date: 1996; Ham on Rye #1, Sacramento/Elk Grove, CA, date: 1994.
 

Box 2

Material Specific Details: 2/1: HER@ETiX, Sacramento, CA, date: 2001; heuristic squelch, vol. 12, #5, Berkeley, CA, date: 2003; HICKEYS & BANANAS #4, Woodland, CA, date: 1996; Hope in Death #1, Sacramento, CA, date: 1995; Hot Summer Nights, Sacramento, CA, date: circa 2000; Howl Café, Sacramento, CA, date: unknown; HSS Reader #6, Chicago, IL, date: 2007; iI'MpossiBLe Schizoid Girl: MowTL₵, Portland, OR, date: circ 1995; Infohazard, Stockton, CA, date: unknown; Iron Burners #1, Cincinnati, OH, date: 1997; Javalounge, Sacramento, CA, date: unknown; Jerk! #3, Sacramento, CA, date: 1993; Jerk! #4, San Francisco, CA, date: 1994; Know Your Rights Comix, Colorado, date: 1999; Lets Trash This Place #1, Sacramento, CA, date: 1999; Loser #0, Sacramento, CA: date: 1998; Mind Controll #1, Sacramento, CA, date: 1998; MOC #3, Vancouver, BC, date: unknown; M.S.W. #2, Sacramento, CA, date: 1998; Murder Can Be Fun, San Francisco, CA, date: 1988; Murder Can Be Fun #12, San Francisco, CA, date: 1990; Murder Can Be Fun: 1995 Datebook, San Francisco, CA, date: 1994. 2/2: My Letter to the World #5, Berkeley, CA, date: 1993; My Letter to the World #7, Berkeley, CA, date: 1993; My World #1.5, Sunnyvale, CA, date: 1995; My World #2, Cupertino, CA, date: 1995; My World #3, Cupertino, CA, date: 1995; News From Nowhere #4, Eugene, OR, date: 2003; Notes from the Lighthouse #8, Santa Rosa, CA, date: 1994; P is For Pretty #5, Santa Cruz, CA, date: unknown; Pax Sax Sarax, Sacramento, CA, date: unknown; Petra 6, unknown location, date: 1999. 2/3: Pigs Will Pay #3, Elverta, CA, date: circa 1995; Pinwheel, Santa Cruz, CA, date: circa 2007; Poet's Espresso, Farmington, CA, date: 2007; Rad Dad 13, unknown location, date: unknown; Reality Control # 10, Carpentaria, CA, date: unknown; REGIONAL TRANSIT #4, Sacramento, CA, date: 1998; "rehab is overrated…," unknown location, date: unknown; Sacto B.S. # 1, Sacramento, CA, date: 1993; Sacto B.S. #2, Sacramento, CA, date: 1993; Sacto B.S. #3, Sacramento, CA, date: 1994; Sacto B.S. #4, Sacramento, CA, date: 1995; Sacto B.S. #5, Sacramento, CA, date: 1996. 2/4: Sacto B.S. #6, Sacramento, CA, date: 1996; Screaming Out Loud, Palo Alto, CA, date: 1998; Short Bus, Sacramento, CA, date: 2002; Short Bus Magazine #2, Sacramento, CA, date: 2001; Short Bus Magazine #5, Sacramento, CA, date: 2002; Short Bus Magazine #8, Sacramento, CA, date: 2002; Side Stream #18, New Zealand, date: 2009; Side Stream #19, New Zealand, date: 2009; Sirena Gram, San Francisco, CA, date: 2016; SisterHoodPosse, Sacramento, CA, date: 1994.
 

Box 3

Material Specific Details: 3/1: Slingshot # 105, Berkeley, CA, date: 2011; Slingshot #79, Berkeley, CA, date: 2003; Slug and Lettuce #77, Richmond, VA, date: 2003; Small Case #2, San Gabriel, CA, date: unknown; Snatch Happy #1, Sacramento, CA, date: 1995-97; Spank! MR Kitten #4, Sacramento/Carmichael, CA, date: 2002. 3/2: Spectro Vision Zine, unknown location, date: unknown; Standard Issue #12, Ottawa, Canada, date: 2010; Stardumb, Netherlands, date: 2002; Sty Zine #16, Bloomington, IN, date: 1994; System Failure, unknown location, date: 2006; take a day #1, San Francisco, CA, date: 1993; Telegram Ma'am #16, Lindsay, Ontario, date: 2008; the thing about ray.., Sacramento, CA, date: 1994; THIRDword, unknown location, date: unknown; This Was Before You Were Born Zine, Philadelphia, PA, date: unknown. 3/3: Under Da Black Flag, unknown location, date: unknown; UNSIGHTLY #2, Salem, OR, date: 1999; We Are the New Wave Zine # Z(orro), Sacramento, CA, date: 1995; Western Lore #3, Sacramento, CA, date: 1991; WHIMPY #0, San Francisco, CA, date: 1995; WHITEBREAD Zine #9, New Brunswick, NJ, date: 1991; Words and Letters #1, Midwest, date: 2009; Xploited Zine, unknown location, date: unknown; YOU'RE REVOLTING #2, Davis, CA, date: 2001; Zipgun Magazine #7, West Coast, date: unknown.
 

Pamphlets Series II

 

Box 3

Material Specific Details: 3/4: ABC of Anarchism, Homewood, IL, date: unknown; Anarchism: What It Is & What It Isn't, Tucson, AZ, date: 2003; Bash the Fash: Anti-Fascist Recollections, 1984-1993, Berkeley, CA, date: 2001; Complaints and Disorders: The Sexual Politics of Sickness, Brooklyn, New York, date: 1973; Solidarity with Hugh & Tiga, Bloomington, IN, date: unknown; Vegan Basics, Davis, CA, date: unknown; Youth Need a Liberation Front, Modesto, CA, date: unknown.
 

Programs, Booklets, Comics and Guides Series III

 

Box 3

Material Specific Details: 3/5: Bomb the Suburbs, Chicago, IL, date: 1993, Book Your Own Fucking Life #5, unknown location, date: 1996; Book Your Own Fucking Life #10, unknown location, date: 2002; Cinema Insomnia, Sacramento, CA, date: 2002; Different Strokes, unknown location, date: unknown; Kill Yourself Comics, Sacramento, CA, date: 1994; Major Labels, unknown location, date: 1994; Norcal Noisefest 2001, Sacramento, CA, date: 2001; Thru Being Cool, Sacramento, CA, 2001; Ulysses, Seattle, WA, date: 1994;