The Sick Muse is a (sort of) monthly zine by and for DIY (“do it yourself”) artists and musicians in Chicago. The Sick Muse makes accessible the lyrics that are often lost to overworked PAs and noisy crowds, and gets inside the minds of Chicago’s creators.
The Sick Muse is a community organizing project, a forum for intentional communication and reflection. Based on submissions, The Sick Muse prints lyrics, essays, interviews, poems, photography, collages, etc. about music, art, Chicago, DIY, community, and whatever else people have to speak on. We are always accepting submissions, questions, and thoughts at sickmuse.chi@gmail.com. The next issue of The Sick Muse will be released on August 6 at Hostel Earphoria. Their manifesto is as follows:
FOR ALL TO CHURN THE SHIT OF REALITY INTO BUTTER! TO FEED INTO THE MINDS! A SICK MUSE WITHIN, WITHOUT. WE HAVE EXPERIENCED THE AWESOME CREATIVITY OF CHI DIY MUSIC, BUT WHAT ABOUT ITS WORDS, THEORIES, AND POETRY; ITS POLITICS, ART, AND EROS; ITS MIDNIGHT LAMP; ITS MUSE? THESE ARE THAT WHICH WE WISH TO ADDRESS, “NOT WITHOUT LAUGHTER.”
Below, find pages from Issue 2 of The Sick Muse, featuring lyrics from local music collective Kid Made Modern and an excerpt of an essay called “Sexual Violence Everywhere, or what i learned the day after david bowie died” by South Side rapper and educator + (pronounced “plus sign”).
