“If you like DIY (Do-It-Yourself), if you like subculture, and if you like that kind of music that goes with it, like punk [and] hardcore, it’s nice to see something physical [to] reflect, create, [and] relate to your interests because I think [that] a lot of subculture nowadays is very online – all of the posters for bands and everything, it’s all on my phone,” comments Audrey, the inventor of Haus, a new zine. An MC student in her fourth semester, the creator continues that, “just seeing something, holding something, [and] putting something on [a] bookshelf, is a big aspect of why people like Haus.”

Zines like Haus are homebrewed and distributed hyperlocally. Flipping through the pages of a zine, readers can find a variety of matters including curations of regional artwork, subculture, and/or politics. Audrey outlines that Haus has a new issue releasing every few months and that, “our content is very musically directed – we talk about local shows, and college student-related things that interest us and our general demographic.”

The “we” refers to 20-year-old Audrey and her team, which includes University of Maryland College Park engineering majors living in a student house called Tuba Haus 19-year-old Peter and 20-year-old Jordan. The group named the zine eponymous with the abode.

Audrey, originally from Zurich, Switzerland, entered the local music scene during her high school years in Houston, Texas. When she relocated to Maryland for college, she promptly sought out a similar milieu via joining Facebook groups. “I think once you make an effort to meet people in the scene, it’s easy to just ask questions,” she reflects, and thus, after presenting her “DIY resume,” the online communities introduced her to DC’s Pie Shop among other venues. Other venues Audrey personally recommends: Boyds’ The Garage, Silver Spring’s Quarry House Tavern, and DC’s Potomac House.

Following zines in Houston transitioned into discovering Maryland’s Destroy Magazine. Audrey decided to budget the time she spent on her passions of art, design, literature, music, and writing into what she describes as “creating something for the community, [Haus].” The multifaceted student also makes graphic designs for Instagram and draws within the pages of Haus itself.

“At the end of the day, it’s just us curating just what we like, all DIY subculture,” Audrey expresses. As far as planning the content, the zine team begins by brainstorming all coverable topics, “but by the end of it,” says Audrey, “it always [becomes] completely different topics and themes because as our work goes on we learn about and find more interesting content.”

After the release of Haus’ first issue on December 1, 2023, the trio decided what theme they want, how to present it, and their target audience. The second Haus issue, coming out in mid-February, broadens the scope of content. Audrey announced this iteration contains art, how-tos on protesting, interviews with bands, and introductions to instruments, as more friends of the zine contribute to its upcoming edition.

Moreover, new experiences since Haus’ emergence have invigorated the zine’s ethos. For example, when DIY venue the Garage, a venue Audrey frequented since its salad days, moved locations in Boyds, Audrey helped set up the new spot.

Audrey reminisces, “I grew super close with [those] who run [the Garage]. When they moved locations to a larger space, it was them and some of our friends setting it up. Logistically, I think it gave me so much insight into the back end of DIY [when] we nailed signs to the walls [and] arranged the furniture – it was just a good feeling, like you’re really DIYing something, doing it yourself.” Haus expanded their platform onto Instagram, where Jordan posts weekly “Music Fridays” playlists, a curation of recently released DMV tracks. Audrey thinks the compilations boost the bands’ popularity, and found that the included bands listen to the entire playlist and furthermore find other bands. Her current music rotation includes the local artists Cherub Tree, Fetcher, Homemade Remedies, and Tripping Corpse.

Encouraging anyone intrigued by the scene to pick up a copy of Haus, Audrey upholds that, “we are all logged in [to the Instagram @hausdmv] so we respond to everything [and] I’m very open to going places [and] going to MC [Rockville] distributing it.” The Haus team has booths at local events and also hand delivers the zine. So far, the zine’s profits successfully funded a cat they bought named Ricsson5 after a Tuba Haus member’s Minecraft username. “And he’s chilling,” lauds Audrey.

Find Haus DMV:https://www.instagram.com/hausdmv/https://linktr.ee/hausdmv

The writer of this article, Alana McCarthy Light, contributed to Haus.