We were lucky to catch up with Katie McCann recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Katie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Coin-Operated Press is a queer-led is a queer-led social enterprise run by myself and Chloe Henderson. We are based in Scotland (Dundee and Edinburgh, respectively) where we host workshops, run zine-fairs, and produce, publish, and distribute monthly collaborative zines.
Zines are DIY magazines, booklets, or pamphlets, that are pieces of artwork in themselves. They are often sold for the cost of printing, swapped between creators, or even given away for free. Zines enable adaptive learning. They are an incredibly accessible artform, and they provide a creative outlet for anyone, regardless of experience or skill-level.
As a company, we welcome people of all genders, sexualities, ages, ethnicities, abilities and backgrounds to get involved with Coin-Operated Press.
We launched our company one month before the first lockdown, right at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. So for the first year and a half, we existed purely online – growing our community on social media, and hosting online Craft Clubs via Discord. We also started producing our collaborative zines during this time, and I am very proud of the fact that we could provide a creative outlet for our community during a difficult time. Our first zine, “Quaranzine” gave people a place to make art, vent their frustrations, and find commonality with folks all around the world, at a time when we were isolating. From there, we have only built this feeling of belonging.
A project that I have found the most meaningful (aside from setting up the company in general) is our “Chronically Iconic “zine. This was a project that was very close to my heart. One of the main motivations for starting Coin-Operated Press was because I was diagnosed with a chronic-illness and could no longer work a regular job. The “Chronically Iconic” zine was a space for us to connect with our audience and give them a space to share their stories of living with chronic illness and disabilities. I was really blown-away by how much people really opened up and shared such intimate parts of themselves.
We have provided a safe space for minority communities to gather and share ideas – and the fact that this has happened so organically is something magical to me.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Coin-Operated Press is a queer-led social enterprise run by Katie McCann and Chloe Henderson. We are based in Scotland, where we host workshops, run zine fairs, create online educational content, and produce, publish, and distribute collaborative zines.
We value intersectional feminist culture and we’re especially interested in working with the LGBTQ + community, and those with chronic illnesses and disabilities.
We welcome people of all genders, sexualities, ages, races, abilities, and backgrounds to get involved in Coin-Operated Press.
As a company, we strive to be as sustainable and environmentally friendly as possible.
People often ask us, just what exactly is a zine? Ultimately it can be whatever you want it to be! A zine is a booklet-style artwork that you make yourself, and give away, swap, or sell for the cost of printing. The possibilities of what that looks like, the content, and the themes within, are endless! Zines enable adaptable learning and provide a creative outlet that can be accessed by anyone regardless of experience or skill level.
We believe everybody is an artist, and all you need are the right tools and a little encouragement to have your voice heard in your own handmade publication.
I have been involved in all areas of the creative industries for many years. I gained my Masters in Arts, Festival and Cultural Management from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, in 2018 and I also have a BA (Hons) in English Literature with Creative Writing from Aberystwyth, University of Wales. I have previously worked as a manager at Leith Theatre and I established my own production company, ‘Aberlesquewyth’, in 2008. ‘Aberlesquewyth’ was a project that I worked on during my Undergrad degree, when I was 18-21 years old. I produced music-hall/vaudeville shows, doing everything from artist and venue hire, box-office, marketing and promotions…this really gave me a head-start when in years to come I would find my way back into events management with our Coin-Operated Press workshops and zine fairs.
Chloe Henderson is a co-owner of Coin-Operated Press. She is the Art Director, while I focus more on Business Management. Chloe is a graduate of the Birmingham School of Jewellery with a Master of Arts Degree with Distinction in Jewellery and Related Products. She previously trained as a jeweller at The Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee, and graduated with a Bachelors of Design Honours in 2014.
Her work has evolved from etched-metalsmithing inspired by stories, to filmed mockumentaries with goopy blue costumes piped in silicone, to highly patterned illustrations, and zine-making inspired by her experiences with anxiety, feminism, and cats! She is greatly inspired by nerd culture, the human condition, mythological creatures, and anything a little bit fantastical. She has exhibited her work internationally, and frequently tables her art at various markets, festivals, and comic cons.
Between myself and Chloe’s past experiences and expertise, we manage Coin-Operated Press between ourselves quite successfully, with myself being more involved with the business side of the company, and Chloe focussing on the art (though there is always some cross-over).
We both met each other over 10 years ago now. Our friendship started online: we were both huge fans of The Dresden Dolls and found each other in the band forum, The Shadowbox. When I moved to Edinburgh for my Masters, I realised after about 6 months that Chloe lived just up the road from me. We quickly developed a friendship where we shared a love for art, creativity, and music, and we often talked about starting a creative company together. When I got ill and could no longer work a regular job, it felt like the right moment to take the plunge. Chloe had been interesting in zine-making for quite some time when she approached me with the idea for launching our company, recognising that between us, we each had the talents and knowledge to make it work. When we were naming the organisation, we felt it was important to name it after the thing that bought us together, and so Coin-Operated Press was born! We are named after a Dresden Dolls song – Coin-Operated Boy. We have since paid further tribute to this by producing 2 fanzines to in homage to The Dresden Dolls.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
My career has pivoted many times throughout my life. When I left high-school at 16, I thought that I was going to go and study Child Development at college, with a view to working in childcare. This very quickly changed and I realised I wanted to pursue a career in the creative industries. I had always been quite creative growing up – influenced by mum mum, who is an actor, and my step-dad who is a musician. I was often huddled up in the studio as his band recorded, and as a family, we went together to promote them during the Edinburgh Festival. I went on to study Film, Media, and English Literature at college, and then English Literature with Creative Writing as my undergrad.
Following my Bachelor’s degree I found myself living back with my parents, struggling for a year to find work in the creative industries. So I quickly attained my CELTA qualification and went to work overseas as an English teacher. I spent about 4 years travelling and teaching all over the world. When I came home, I was once again at a loss of what to do, never really feeling that teaching was the right path for me. This was when I finally moved out of my parents’ house for good, and came up to Scotland to study my Masters in Art, Festival, and Cultural Management. I always thought that I would work in the music industry with touring musicians, but upon graduation, I found myself duty-managing Leith Theatre.
One summer while working at the theatre, I also held 2 jobs at the Edinburgh Fringe with touring theatre productions. That was when it all caught up with me, and I developed my chronic-illness. Something had to change.
During that summer, I also met my wife and made the move from Edinburgh to Dundee. The combination of managing my illness and moving cities, led me to eventually beginning Coin-Operated Press with Chloe Henderson.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of owning and operating Coin-Operated Press is the community that we have built. We primarily work with the LGBTQ+ community and those with chronic-illnesses and disabilities. This has been something that has evolved and grown quite organically over the lifetime of our company, and it’s been wonderful to see.
I love that we can provide a safe space and a creative outlet to people who may be struggling. We have had many people tell us that we provided such joy and focus for them during lockdown. We have worked on some very special commission projects which really highlight the power of our community – we produced a zine for a grieving family who lost someone to dementia during lockdown. That was very special to me, as I had lost my own grandmother the same way, right around the same time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://coinoperatedpress.com/about/
- Instagram: @CoinOpPress
- Facebook: @CoinOpPress
- Twitter: @CoinOpPress
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOhmdDIm9QigeYdnjklBiCg
- Other: Big Cartel: https://coinoperatedpress.bigcartel.com/
Image Credits
Coin-Operated Press