Another Hardcore Xmas: A TxYxS Story

So... Merry Xmas everyone. Even if you see the whole Xmas thing as pure consumerist business, you too probably appreciate having time off work/school etc and kicking it with nice food and your favorite music, fighting with your family etc. And as this year is drawing to a close, I'll throw a quick recap of the year 2011 for our zine.

2011 has been very productive for Take Your Shot. Not only did we release our 4th issue, but the blog was also updated a lot more often compared to all previous years. The action picked up a lot, with constant communication with music fans, independent bands and labels from all around the world. We'd like to dedicate 2011 to them. I personally got introduced to a lot of good and heavy music through those people, and I am really grateful for that. There's no need to make a top-10 or anything like that... it's so hard to choose with all the good stuff hat came out during this last year.

During the last part of 2011, I feel as TxYxS has really found the purpose of its existence. And this purpose is very simple indeed, but also crucial: to merge ourselves with the worldwide DIY network, and become a mouthpiece for it. Since the areas we cover are often really diverse and whatnot (musically - artistically etc), you could say this was the missing link: the DIY/independent factor, which runs through every Metal, HC, whatever release we cover.

I see Take Your Shot as a journey through all things interesting, extreme, thought provoking, entertaining, even life changing. True story. Our path (metal, hc, punk, veganism, straight edge, anarchy, you name it) has the power to do that. Please don't hold it against us for not being strictly a "hardcore fanzine" any more. We cover what we like. As for me I, feel awesome and really blessed to have reached this point with this zine, and to have access to so much good and inspiring stuff. It's a blast!

Needless to say we will continue at full strength during 2012.

All the best, Fotis TYS

p.s. The Elvis song is a joke, by the way. How many punk covers of classic Xmas songs can we take anyway?