Ray Gun was an American alternative rock-and-roll magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

, first published in 1992 in Santa Monica, California

Santa Monica, California

Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...

. Led by founding art director David Carson

David Carson (graphic designer)

David Carson is an American graphic designer. He is best known for his innovative magazine design, and use of experimental typography. He was the art director for the magazine Ray Gun. Carson was perhaps the most influential graphic designer of the 1990s...

, Ray Gun explored experimental magazine typographic design. The result was a chaotic, abstract style, not always readable, but distinctive in appearance. That tradition for compelling visuals continued even after Carson left the magazine after three years; he was followed by a series of art directors, including Robert Hales, Chris Ashworth, Scott Denton-Cardew, and Jerome Curchod.

In terms of content, Ray Gun was also notable for its choices of subject matter. The cutting-edge advertising, musical artists and pop culture icons spotlighted were typically ahead of the curve, putting such artists as Radiohead, Bjork, Beck, Flaming Lips, PJ Harvey and Eminem on its cover long before its better-known competitors. Those choices were guided by Executive Editor Randy Bookasta and an editorial staff that included Dean Kuipers, Nina Malkin, Mark Blackwell, Joe Donnelly, Jeff Castelaz (who co-founded Dangerbird Records

Dangerbird Records

Dangerbird Records is an independent record label located in Los Angeles, California. Founded by Jeff Castelaz and Peter Walker in 2004, the label is home to artists across the globe, as well as part of the burgeoning Silver Lake music scene. Their small roster of artists has enjoyed international...

) Grant Alden, Mark Woodlief, & Eric Gladstone.

Ray Gun produced over 70 issues from 1992 through 2000. Owner-founder-publisher Marvin Scott Jarrett (one-time publisher of a late-1980s incarnation of Creem

Creem

Creem , "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," was a monthly rock 'n' roll publication first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. It suspended production in 1989 but received a short-lived renaissance in the early 1990s as a glossy tabloid...

) also created the magazines Bikini, Stick and huH

HuH

huH was a popular music magazine in the United States during the 1990s.It was published by Ray Gun Publishing, Inc. based in Santa Monica, California and owned by Time Warner. It was launched in 1994 as a new business venture concept in a mixed music sample marketing/publishing format...

. Jarret is currently editor-in-chief of Nylon

Nylon (magazine)

Nylon is an American magazine that focuses on pop culture and fashion. Its coverage includes art, beauty, music, design, celebrities, technology and travel...

, a New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

-based fashion

Fashion

Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...

 magazine.http://www.nylonmag.com/?section=masthead The most notable common thread among all of Jarrett's magazines (from his latter-day Creem through Nylon) has been an attraction to dynamic next-generation graphic design.

Partial list of issues

• Ray Gun #1, November 1992. Henry Rollins
  Henry Rollins
  Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #2, December 1992/January 1993. R.E.M. cover.
• Ray Gun #3, February 1993. Dinosaur Jr. cover.
• Ray Gun #4, March 1993. Frank Black
  Frank Black
  Black Francis is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name Frank Black...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #5, April 1993. Porno for Pyros
  Porno for Pyros
  Porno for Pyros was an American alternative rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1992, following the initial break-up of Jane's Addiction...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #6, May 1993. PJ Harvey
  PJ Harvey
  Polly Jean Harvey is an English musician, singer-songwriter, composer and occasional artist. Primarily known as a vocalist and guitarist, she is also proficient with a wide range of instruments including piano, organ, bass, saxophone, and most recently, the autoharp.Harvey began her career in...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #7, June/July 1993. Sonic Youth
  Sonic Youth
  Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #8, August 1993. Iggy Pop
  Iggy Pop
  Iggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #9, September 1993. Urge Overkill
  Urge Overkill
  Urge Overkill is an alternative rock band, formed in Chicago, United States, consisting of Nash Kato , and Eddie "King" Roeser . Their cover of Neil Diamond's song "Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon" appeared prominently in the movie Pulp Fiction, and became a hit in 1994...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #10, October 1993. Teenage Fanclub
  Teenage Fanclub
  Teenage Fanclub are an alternative rock band from Bellshill, Scotland. The band is composed of Norman Blake , Raymond McGinley , Gerard Love and Francis MacDonald , with songwriting duties shared equally among Blake, McGinley and Love...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #11, November 1993. Swervedriver
  Swervedriver
  Swervedriver are an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band went on hiatus in 1998 before reforming in 2008 for a world tour, which included a performance at the high-profile Coachella Festival...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #12, December 1993/January 1994 L7
  L7 (band)
  L7 was an American rock band from Los Angeles, that was active from 1985 to 2000. Due to their sound and image, they are often associated with the grunge movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s.-History:...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #13, February 1994. Ministry
  Ministry (band)
  Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #14, March 1994. Morrissey
  Morrissey
  Steven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #15, April 1994. Elvis Costello
  Elvis Costello
  Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #16, May 1994. Alice in Chains
  Alice in Chains
  Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #17, June/July 1994. Perry Farrell
  Perry Farrell
  Perry Farrell is the frontman for the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction. Farrell created the touring festival Lollapalooza as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction in 1991; it has since evolved into an annual destination festival. Farrell continues to produce Lollapalooza with partners William...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #18, August 1994. Lush
  Lush (band)
  Lush were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1987 and disbanded in 1998. They were one of the first bands to attract the "shoegazing" label...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #19, September 1994. Jesus and Mary Chain cover.
• Ray Gun #20, October 1994. Kim Deal
  Kim Deal
  Kimberley Ann Deal is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the bassist of the alternative rock band the Pixies and the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for The Breeders. Deal first joined the Pixies in January 1986 as the band's bassist, adopting the stage name Mrs...
  
   and J Mascis
  J Mascis
  J Mascis is an American musician, best known as the singer, guitarist and songwriter for Dinosaur Jr.. In 2011, he was ranked in Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.- Biography :...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #21, November 1994. Liz Phair
  Liz Phair
  Phair's entry into the music industry began when she met guitarist Chris Brokaw, a member of the band Come. Brokaw and Phair moved to San Francisco together, and Phair tried to become an artist there...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #22, December 1994/January 1995. Keith Richards
  Keith Richards
  Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #23, February 1995. Pavement
  Pavement (band)
  Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #24, March 1995. Mudhoney
  Mudhoney
  Mudhoney is an American alternative rock band. Formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1988 following the demise of Green River, Mudhoney's members are vocalist and rhythm guitarist Mark Arm, lead guitarist Steve Turner, bassist Guy Maddison, and drummer Dan Peters. Original bassist Matt Lukin left the...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #25, April 1995. Belly
  Belly (band)
  Belly was an alternative rock band formed in 1991 by former Throwing Muses members Tanya Donelly and Fred Abong. The band was based in Boston, Massachusetts, though all of the original members grew up in Newport, Rhode Island. The band consisted of Donelly on lead vocals and guitar, Abong on bass,...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #26, May 1995. Beastie Boys
  Beastie Boys
  Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #27, June/July 1995. Björk
  Björk
  Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #28, August 1995. Neil Young
  Neil Young
  Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #29, September 1995. Flaming Lips cover.
• Ray Gun #30, October 1995. David Bowie
  David Bowie
  David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
  
   cover. Last issue to be art directed by David Carson.
• Ray Gun #31, November 1995. My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult
  My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult
  My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult is an American electronic industrial rock band originally based out of Chicago, Illinois.-History:...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #32, December/January 1996. Sonic Youth
  Sonic Youth
  Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #33, February 1996. Smashing Pumpkins cover.
• Ray Gun #36, May 1996. Rage Against the Machine
  Rage Against the Machine
  Rage Against the Machine is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group's line-up consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello and drummer Brad Wilk...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #37, June/July 1996. Soundgarden
  Soundgarden
  Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #39, Beck
  Beck
  Beck Hansen is an American musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known by the stage name Beck...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #41, Mazzy Star
  Mazzy Star
  Mazzy Star is an American alternative rock band formed in Santa Monica, California, in 1989 from the group Opal, a collaboration of guitarist David Roback and bassist Kendra Smith...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #42, December 1996/January 1997. Smashing Pumpkins cover.
• Ray Gun #43, February 1997. Nine Inch Nails
  Nine Inch Nails
  Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #44, March 1997. David Bowie
  David Bowie
  David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #47, June/July 1997. Blur
  Blur (band)
  Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #48, August 1997. Wim Wenders
  Wim Wenders
  Ernst Wilhelm "Wim" Wenders is a German film director, playwright, author, photographer and producer.-Early life:Wenders was born in Düsseldorf. He graduated from high school in Oberhausen in the Ruhr area. He then studied medicine and philosophy in Freiburg and Düsseldorf...
  
   and Michael Stipe
  Michael Stipe
  John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #49, September 1997. Björk
  Björk
  Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #50, October 1997. Oasis
  Oasis (band)
  Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #52, Marilyn Manson
  Marilyn Manson
  Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #54, March 1998. Radiohead
  Radiohead
  Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #55, April 1998. Pulp
  Pulp (band)
  Pulp are an English alternative rock band formed in Sheffield in 1978. Their lineup consists of Jarvis Cocker , Russell Senior , Candida Doyle , Mark Webber , Steve Mackey and Nick Banks ....
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #56, May 1998. Pearl Jam
  Pearl Jam
  Pearl Jam is an American rock band that formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. Since its inception, the band's line-up has included Eddie Vedder , Jeff Ament , Stone Gossard , and Mike McCready...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #57, Garbage
  Garbage (band)
  Garbage are an alternative rock band formed in Madison, Wisconsin in 1994. The group consists of Scottish singer Shirley Manson and American musicians Duke Erikson , Steve Marker and Butch Vig . All four members are involved in songwriting and production...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #60, October 1998. Kiss
  KISS (band)
  Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #61, November 1998. Marilyn Manson
  Marilyn Manson
  Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #62, December 1998. R.E.M. cover.
• Ray Gun #63, January 1999. Beck cover.
• Ray Gun #65, March 1999. Underworld
  Underworld (band)
  Underworld are a British electronic group, and principal name under which duo Karl Hyde and Rick Smith have recorded together since 1980.- Early years: 1979–1986 :...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #66, April 1999. Shirley Manson
  Shirley Manson
  Shirley Anne Manson is a Scottish recording artist and actress, best known internationally as the lead singer of the alternative rock band Garbage. For much of her international career Manson commuted between her home city of Edinburgh to the United States to record with Garbage but now lives and...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #68, June 1999. Jamiroquai
  Jamiroquai
  Jamiroquai is a British jazz funk and acid jazz band formed in 1992. Jamiroquai were initially the most prominent component in the early-1990s London-based acid jazz movement, alongside groups such as Incognito, the James Taylor Quartet, and the Brand New Heavies. Other Acid Jazz artists such as...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #71, September 1999. Chris Cornell
  Chris Cornell
  Chris Cornell is an American rock musician best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for Soundgarden and as the former lead vocalist for Audioslave. He is also known for his numerous solo works and soundtrack contributions since 1998...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #72, October 1999. Missy Elliott
  Missy Elliott
  Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #73, November 1999. Jack Murphy
  Jack Murphy
  Jack Roland Murphy or Murf the Surf is a surfing champion, musician, author, artist and convicted murderer who was involved in the biggest jewel heist in American history at the American Museum of Natural History...
  
   cover.
• Ray Gun #73, November 1999. Joe Sharpe/Baby Dick cover.

Books

• Ray Gun: Out of Control by Dean Kuipers and Marvin Scott Jarrett, Simon & Schuster (1997), ISBN 0-684-83980-6.

design and art direction by Neil Fletcher and Chris Ashworth.

External links

• “Magical Mystery Tour,” by Neva Chonin, Ray Gun, May 1998.