Paper Rags to Riches with Blue Jay Walker
And why Its still worth making physical things in 2025
A video came across my feed a few months back of a local artist creating a physical zine and sending it out to subscribers. The themes. Varied. The graphic design. Cool. But what grabbed me was Blue Jay Walker’s quest to travel to all of Vancouver’s skate shops, thrift shops, and used book stores in search of those who would stock his zines. A process called rejection day. This do-it-yourself project, combined with the sheer dedication, had me hooked.
Understandably, it’s ironic that an interview about why physical media is important is coming to you digitally in your email inbox. To balance that out a bit, the interview was conducted via letter. As an aside, go write your friends a letter; it’s good for everyone involved.
In our chat, we talk about creating physical media, and Blue Jay even turns the sheet one of my questions is written on into a zine… try to do that virtually.
If you’d like a copy of Paper Rag, check out the Patreon, or go visit:
Cross and Crows
Sparticus Books
Luckys Comics
Zulu Records
Tanglewood Books
Book Warehouse (Main Street)
So there it is. Go make something!