For your goth summer, Gillian Leigh Bowling and Devon Clapp released their debut issue of SURPRISE Magazine on cue with the summer solstice. With connections to Boston, NYC and beyond, the first issue of S+M is a hype man for issues to come. We can expect S+M to release four issues a year and the quarterly serial “will catalogue culture – documentation of problematic people, the left hand path – the bestial, the occult/magick in Art, film, music – painting en plein air in infrared.”

I…CAN…NOT…WAIT.

In this issue, S+M interviews Drew McDowall and Vela Oma which are bridged by “The Beat Goes On” by C. Peirce. Cover art titled Alchemy by Josef  Váchal, c. 1910 sets the tone. The issue is well curated and the segments tie so well together you would think they were all talking in the same room discussing rhythm, religion, community, and language.

Plus that name…SURPRISE. Is it a nod to the entertainer’s objective? To surprise. The Robert Mapplethorpe series? S&M. Regardless, it is a better word than it’s popular synonym, “mind-blown.” But that’s how we feel, right? when we see that painting, listen to that album, read that prose – the offerings of artists can surprise.

To find this limited edition issue and future issues visit: SurpriseMagazine.com + follow on Instagram: @surprise_zine and Twitter: @SurpriseZine.