Indianapolis. We love this city. It’s the city we were born in, the city we grew up in, and the city we live in. We have seen things come and go, a metropolis transformed through time.

Late Friday nights were spent under the cathode glow of Sammy Terry scaring the bejesus out of us while Saturdays were action packed with Kung Fu Theatre. During the week, Cowboy Bob taught us how to stop, drop, and roll.

The Indianapolis Art Museum gave us culture while Broad Ripple taught us to be ourselves. Punk and hardcore shows at the Broad Ripple Community Center and The Sitcom got our aggression out. The Outback Bar (now the Broad Ripple Steakhouse) gave us a place to tell our stories and be amongst friends.

Downtown gave us Mugwumps and unlimited caffeine at Cafe Angst. Bazbeaux’s had the food and was about the only thing going at the time on Mass. Ave. At times we’ve seen Indianapolis look like a ghost town after 5 p.m. (leaving the city streets ours to be shredded by some Powell & Peralta board), and at others seen it absolutely bustling. Same goes with the scene.

I cannot count the number of times we’ve heard it said that Indianapolis is the “fly over city.” In the early-to-mid ’90s, the tides of that notion were pushed back with numerous local bands and a record label called Flat Earth. Second Time Around was operated out of a Broad Ripple garage, where you could find rare Butthole Surfers or Cramps albums easily, and Missing Link became a staple on the strip.

From the highs to the los and back again, Indianapolis is in a constant state of motion. There are a lot of great people doing and making great things. Whether mainstream  or a little harder to find, there always has been an evolving local scene that is a part of us.

We felt the energy from this city when we created the fanzine Movements, and we feel it even more now with ZapTown. We not only want to provide you with the best in national music coverage, we want to showcase and highlight the best this city has to offer. Because Indianapolis is no longer a “NapTown.” Indianapolis is a “ZapTown.”

Andrew Duncan has been a writer and editor on-and-off for close to 15 years now. He has contributed for a variety of printed and online publications including Heckler, Addicted to Noise, Uno Mas, Chord, Readyset…Aesthetic, and more.

Yuri Duncan is a cartoonist, painter, and musician. Primarily a contributor to the small press world, his current project is writing and drawing not only a new comic called Armageddon A Go-Go, but the accompanying soundtrack as well.

We are currently looking for contributors: If you would like to write for us, please contact us with a sample of your work to info@zaptownmag.com.

If you are a label or musician or would like to keep us informed with what you have going on, please e-mail your request to aduncan@zaptownmag.com.

If you have a show coming up in the Indianapolis area, please e-mail us at info@zaptownmag.com. Then we can announce it on our “Not To Miss” feature.

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