Sub Surface Issue 3: What to expect

I – and you – have a lot to thank Gaz Fareham for. Pre-issue 1 of Subsurface Journal, the angling media was in a rut. Premium content had been washed aside for supplied, product-driven drivel – better known as ‘advertorials’. Articles became shorter, imagery naffer (and smaller), and the anglers we all really wanted to read about disappeared from the print scene.

But then in 2013 along came SSJ1: a 400-plus-page brute which encapsulated everything that was then missing from the monthly print scene. There was more focus on photography. More focus on design. And more content from the anglers we all really wanted to read about. It certainly opened my eyes, and certainly made me rethink the path of CARPology.
Since then we’ve made some massive changes to CARPology and this has seen us go through a very strong period of rejuvenation. We’ve dropped those awful advertorials, and with those we lost some advertisers, but thankfully gained 22% more readers; we’ve increased the pagination to 180-pages; we’ve blown up images so big that they’re falling off the edges of the page; and we’ve even managed to get some of those writers who disappeared to come back – one being Gaz himself. And all of this is largely thanks to Subsurface and its take on what was possible.

And so, it’s with very excited bated breath that we now all get an insight into what we can expect from Issue 3. We obviously know it’ll be another beast of a publication which all die-hard print fans (myself included) can’t wait to smell, but what’s the format for this year’s journal? Is there a guest editor this time around? And are the rumours true that this could be the last ever Subsurface Journal? I caught up with SSJ ed., Gaz Fareham, to find out answers to all of the above – and more.

SSJ3, 2015: what can we expect, Gaz?
“Everything, and nothing! I always think expectations are a dangerous game, and we’ve been keen to shake off any perceived image of what people think we are about by pushing the boundaries with every issue, and each piece we publish.

“I think people had this idea when we launched that we were just going to be this cliquey, culty kind of publication, all centered around old UK carp and that trite ‘old school’ thing, but nothing could be further from the truth if you actually look at the material in there. We’ve published material from all over the UK, to as far afield as Belgium, Denmark, France and Sweden and from big name sponsored anglers, to completely unknown guys who have never written before. We’ve published pieces about lads that fish massive wild pits for uncaught ones, to pieces with lads who are completely immersed in circuit life on the pressured UK waters, to people that are breeding the new seeds for generations to come. There is no one singular way of thinking, diversity is king to us, and Issue 3 has the same spread of material from all over Europe as well as a solid core from the UK, and from anglers that have been around the scene for over 40 years, to those that have just a handful of years experience behind them.

“We don’t see any boundaries with SSJ, we just try to focus on finding the most interesting, exciting material and best photography that we can, wherever that is from, and the benchmark is always, ‘Would I want to read this myself?’ Essentially we have built a publication that we would want to read ourselves, with exactly the sort of material in we often felt was missing from elsewhere that no one else would publish.

“Format-wise, we’ve cut most of the bigger stories from this issue, and have more short pieces, photo-based pieces and even a few illustrated concept pieces which are a completely new idea for us; little windows into larger narratives where the images keep most of their secrets! Expect stacks of incredible imagery, and punchy, short, thought provoking pieces, hopefully offering something for any carp angler out there, whether you’ve been fishing for two years or 32.”

SSJ3: Mark Palmer: Through the Looking Glass

Is it another 400-plus-page behemoth?!
“It is yeah! 436 actually this one, so the biggest yet. Still with no adverts whatsoever. When I scripted things out originally it was based around being 250-300 pages, but as I started work on it all, I realised straight away there was so much incredible imagery and material out there that just deserved to be in print and so it grew, and grew. I hate seeing quality images run small, so you’ve probably noticed we give as much precedence to the images as the text and run everything as big as we can.

“Issue 3 is especially heavy on the images, so it is full of big, beautiful spreads that don’t even need any words. I always wanted SSJ to be a coffee table format, not necessarily something you would pick up and read start to finish like a normal book, in fact, I really wanted to actively avoid exactly that, I don’t think people have as much time for that these days, so I wanted readers to be able to pick it up and just flick through the pages and absorb the incredible images without necessarily having to invest hours in reading. I firmly believe you get very little from viewing images on a social media feed, sadly they’re forgotten about within minutes; SSJ is a place for images, stories, and thoughts to have a permanent home on your shelf, so you can absorb them at a different pace. I guess in some ways it is print, for a YouTube generation.”

SSJ3: Steve Metcalfe: Yorkshire Gold

Does issue 3 have a guest editor like 2? And is this something you’d like to see mainstream magazines do?
“This issue has four joint guest editors as it goes! Another goal I had for SSJ was for it to be a genuinely collaborative project, I think bringing ideas in from other people has been hugely valuable, aside from it helping me with the workload, it brings a whole new diversity to the table and opens up windows into scenes and anglers that I would never have known about myself.

“If you look at the likes of Rouler, or the Albion or Huck, or any of the high-end magazines and journals in other pursuits you get a predominantly new set of contributors and amazing diversity almost every issue, and I think it is unbelievable that some of the carp magazines are still running essentially the same old contributor list year after year and expecting readers not to get bored. Although there’s been a bit of a resurgence, I still think the carp media could do with a big influx of new writers and photographers to re-inject it with a bit of fresh energy and some different viewpoints.

“I think it would be amazing for a title like CARPology to run ‘guest curated’ issues, I’m sure the logistics would be tricky but I know other publications do manage it so it does work! I think the massive over-commercialisation that happened in the media in the last ten years had a really negative impact on the creativity of writing and photography as a whole within the carp world and that unfortunately a lot of genuine writers just didn’t want much to do with it for a while. That said, I think we’re out of the dark days in that respect now and I think CARPology has done an amazing job at sourcing loads of new, non-commercially, non-sponsor driven material and it’s great to see things looking so strong again.”

SSJ3: Scott Sweetman

What are your two or three standout pieces from this year’s journal?
“That’s a hard one, I think for me personally, one would have to Marcus Howarth’s major interview. He’s been such a good friend in recent years, has such an amazing, simple outlook on his fishing and has hardly ever done anything in the press, so on a personal level that is a big one, it is such an honest look at his angling and life that every single angler in the country should be able to relate to it. Alongside that, Mike Brown’s incredible pieces, one is a ‘photo essay’ with accompanying short stories about his travels that I defy anyone not be moved and inspired by, and also Mike’s interview with his long-time friend Derek Harrison, about his life fishing the granite hard vast canals of Belgium is just hilarious, and fascinating, and is accompanied by some of the best imagery I’ve seen in years.”

SSJ3: Aperture Collective

We’ve heard depressing rumours that Issue 3 is going to be the last one. Tell us this isn’t so?
“I wish I could, but it is true sadly! When I started work on SSJ four years ago I was teaching less and had a bit more time I could invest in it, but I’m teaching full-time in a big 11-18 Art and Photography department now, with bigger responsibilities and leading the sixth-form Photography course I just physically haven’t got the time any longer, the teaching in itself is a monumental amount of work.

“I think a lot of people thought SSJ was a job, that we work on it full-time and we are making stacks of money from this, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Despite it’s success, and incredible sales (Issue 1 has almost done the full 5,000 print run now!) it still actually owes me a considerable amount of money and the only reason I have been able to keep it going is I don’t need any income from it. The way we’ve printed it, the design, the quality of the paper and repro means it is a phenomenally expensive project, we’ve cut no corners whatsoever on any aspect, so financially it is only barely self-sufficient; it was an ‘Art’ project as much as anything for me, it certainly wasn’t a money-maker or a business.

“I’ve always been involved in the visual world, and now work with students every day on projects and ideas and encourage them to redefine their worlds and to continually push the boundaries of the norm and to question how things can be done, so Subsurface was just an opportunity for me to put something out there in exactly the way I wanted, with no compromises and to document carp angling as I saw it myself, stripped back to basics. I’d love to be able to continue it for another few years, but it has taken its toll!”

SSJ3: The Future Is Bright

Can you not pass the baton on to someone else?
“Possibly, part of me would love to think so. I’m not sure really, it isn’t something I have thought about properly but I have had a few tentative offers. Never say never, but for now, this is the end, or at least a hiatus.”

Do you believe you’ve achieved the goals you set out with when you started the Subsurface journey some four years ago?
“I didn’t really have any clearly defined goals if I’m honest, I just wanted to produce something I believed in, that supported and embraced some different ways of thinking and that wasn’t commercially driven. That I think we’ve definitely done. I suppose the only thing I haven’t managed was to keep the workload manageable enough to be able to sustain it for a few more issues! That bit is a shame as there are so many more interviews and pieces I would love to have published. The biggest achievement has undoubtedly been that is has inspired a few people, and the amount of heartening e-mails just to say ‘thank you’ has been incredible.”

SSJ3: Aperture Collective

What have you learnt from the experience of putting together these three journals?
“That publishing is hard work! Ha, ha! Seriously though, I have learnt so much, every single aspect of SSJ has been DIY, from the bottom up, so I’ve learnt everything from how to work as an editor, to the intricacies of design, to how to get a good interview from someone, to how to promote something and reach the right audience, to how to film and create video edits, and also what my physical limit of cups of coffee in one day is…! I’ve also learnt that friendships are the most import thing any of us have, it is a theme continually referred to throughout the journals by lots of the writers, and something that I couldn’t have managed the project without; the support from friends has been incredible.

“I’ve learnt a hell of a lot from the guys that make up the grass roots carp scene as well, and that is probably the most valuable thing I think. The project has given me the opportunity to spend time with some of the real characters of our modern scene, and to plug into their experience and their ability to see through all the bullshit and hype of the times has really made me reassess my own aims within angling as well. What you see in the mainstream media, and what the reality of big carp angling actually is, is a literal world apart.”

And finally, from a personal perspective, for a number of years you turned down mainstream magazine work, but thankfully we’ve managed to convince you to work with us again. 1: What were your reasons for originally stopping and 2: now for returning and penning the odd piece?

“In a nutshell, I stopped because it was having a negative impact on me, and my enjoyment of fishing. I love writing, and I love photography, and I’m fascinated by print, so I’ve always been interested in putting written material out there. I ended up with a few sponsors and some support which through university and during my teacher training when money was tight, was really helpful but I didn’t enjoy having to do things just to keep everyone happy. At times I felt like sponsors and editors weren’t really that interested in you as an angler with your own personal take on things, it just felt like it was all about product placement and being used as a coat hanger at times.

“I grew up listening to punk and I’ve always been interested in a more independent, niche take on things, be that from music, publishing, art, or angling, or anything else, even just brands in general – the bike I ride is from a little hand-built UK company, so the big sponsor thing just didn’t sit that well with me personally and in the end was just making me really uncomfortable, so I ducked out. Working with the likes of CC Moore, ESP and Thinking Anglers I have none of those pressures now, I am good friends with all of them and have a huge amount of respect for the way their companies are run and their values, they let me do my thing and we work on material when we can, that reflects the products genuinely, but it is a completely different, more relaxed scenario.

“As for starting writing again, I have always loved CARPology, from the day you guys kicked it off, part of that might be through feeling a bit like kindred spirits, because I know you started it as a bit of a response to feeling a bit misrepresented and uninspired by the publications of the time, and wanted to do something DIY that you really believed in. I also know you’ve worked really hard to drastically lower the product placement and amount of advertorials as well, which I know has been tough to do, but I respect that massively and think it is a hugely positive thing for the media, and readers. It is looking stronger than ever, and I’m proud to be able to support you guys and have my pieces published in here again. Long live print!”