I’m always amazed that I didn’t know Holly Berchielli until Chris Wynne from In Effect connected us for my 914 Day event last year. For the past 25 years, Holly has been at the helm of Outsider Magazine, showcasing hardcore, punk, and metal in the Hudson Valley. Along with honoring this quarter-century milestone I wanted to dig into the many moving parts of this extensive publication, as opposed to zines that are just one person writing about stuff they like and not adhering to a traditional format or schedule. I’m in awe of Holly’s ability to organize all of this while also booking monthly shows and starting a new radio show, Bring the Noise, with the aforementioned Chris of In Effect. Read on to learn about the origins of Outsider, how issues and show lineups are assembled, and how Holly and the crew are celebrating their quarter century crisis.
Outsider Magazine is primarily distributed in the Hudson Valley and Long Island, but its habitat in the Downstate Jungle is expanding. Check out this new page that lists where you can currently pick up a copy in the 914.
Quarter Century Crisis group photos by Dave “Face” Boccio, and early Outsider photos are courtesy of Holly Berchielli.
It’s amazing that the 25th anniversary of Outsider Magazine is this year and that you have already published 38 issues! Can you give us a short summary of its history, and how you are celebrating this milestone?
I went to a very large high school, Newburgh Free Academy in Newburgh, NY, where only the Seniors were fully featured in the yearbook due to how many pages it would take to include all of the underclassmen. I would take a lot of photos with my disposable cameras throughout the year anyway, so I took it upon myself to collage and piece together a yearbook each year for my friends. I would put it all together, photo copy it, staple it and sell it for a buck or two. Around that time, I began going to shows and finding zines and thought, I can do this, I’m sort of doing this already. I got my friends involved and we put together a very silly first issue. There was never an intention for it to be very serious, but over time it just developed into a magazine with a real purpose. It kind of became the glue that connected the different parts of the Hudson Valley music and art scenes. Fast forward through all of its eras, Outsider is the strongest and best it’s ever been. Issue 38 just dropped on June 27, 2025, and we celebrated with an all-day event at Rushing Duck Brewery in Chester, NY on July 19th. We had eight punk and hardcore bands from the HV, NYC and NJ, vendors, a tattoo artist offering Outsider themed tattoos, our own Outsider Beer and Outcider, raffles to benefit the OCNY Veteran Center and our favorite DJ, Kazooie Louie, spinning records all day. It was a party. And we were able to raise a total of $1,900 for the Orange County NY Veteran Center.
What inspired you to bring back Outsider Magazine after a five year hiatus a few years ago?
I have been making Outsider for most of my life, so not having it active for long periods just feels empty. However, that’s not to say that I don’t need time to just kick back. In 2018 I realized I needed a break from the music scene. I had been publishing very regularly and booking shows as often as possible and the scene was just not in a good place at that point and neither was I. It felt like pushing against a wall. I decided to just take a year off and have some time to myself. In the late fall of 2019 I started working on what would have been Issue 34 and getting a team together with the intention of releasing the issue in the Spring of 2020, but we all know what happened instead. With the whole world shut down, bringing back a print magazine that relied on in-person networking and live shows just wasn’t going to work. By 2022, I had been away from Outsider too long and I missed it. Local shows started happening again and people would ask when the zine was coming back. I sent a bunch of emails, got the Instagram account going again, made some phone calls and started putting Issue 34 together, for real. It was just the right time. A lot of new bands had formed or gotten back together. People were ready to be a part of something again.
Has the format stayed the same over the years? I saw you can download some back issues from nyoutsiderzine.com – have you considered making even more old ones available?
The first ever issue was printed in 2000 off of my home inkjet printer and stapled in my living room. After that, I got a job at a local newspaper, called The Sentinel, and they allowed me print the zine on a press in more of an actual magazine format. That lasted until 2012. I no longer worked at the paper, but they were great to me. When I told them the date I was planning on bringing Issue 23 to them for printing, I was told they were going to switch me to newspaper format. My print runs could be bigger, the format was larger and be more cost effective. I wasn’t thrilled about it at first, but it was the right move and I have stuck with it ever since. The back issues that are available on the website are what I have in PDF format. Everything before issue 27 needs to be scanned from the original printed zines. I do intend to make more issues available for download in the future.
What were some of your favorite zines at the time you started Outsider Magazine – and now?
I have always loved magazines and comic books. In junior high, I started my monthly ritual of tracking down all my favorites. YM and Circus were my constants. I would buy Hit Parader, Flipside, Rolling Stone, Spin and Seventeen. An older friend gifted me her copies of Seventeen and I started collaging with them. Those teen girl centered magazines were just as influential on me as the music magazines were. I always had a magazine with me to read, wherever I went. When I started going to shows and finding independent record stores to shop in, there would be zines available for free or $1 and I would pick them up. There was a photocopied zine called Skank & Destroy that I got from Trash American Style in CT. That was the catalyst, I think. It looked just like those yearbooks I was making and I decided to just go ahead and continue in that vein. Today, I pick up Decibel, New Noise, Revolver … those are the only large scale music magazines that are still going that I have been reading for years. I’ve had a subscription to Bust magazine for probably 15 years. I subscribe to Razorcake. I love your zine, I Question Not Me, it’s got such a cool approach to it. There is a new zine called Through Our Eyes Zine that I think is really great, made by a girl who is probably around the same age I was when I started Outsider. She sent me a personalized drawing when I ordered her issue, which was really cool. Frozen Screams Imprint puts out a very cool metal zine with an awesome retro aesthetic now and then in different formats. Today Forever has a lot of great photography in it. In Effect Hardcore, though technically a website today, still has us all beat as far as music content goes. This topic could be its own feature. So many zines that stick in my memory that I’ve collected over the years, Rumpshaker, Vista Fanzine, I could just keep going, but we can pause here for now, ha.
How do you organize all the features, photos, ads, etc, and wrangle all your contributors so that everything fits together cohesively (and at the right number of pages?)
Each issue starts to float around in my head as soon as the current one is off the press. A lot of the content that isn’t band/music interviews is born from conversations. Spitballing ideas or seeing something cool a friend is working on or diving deeper into a movie or pop culture topic I have always liked. Coming up with content is a combined effort, for sure. I have several regular contributors who come to me with ideas each issue and we decide what is a good fit. I myself have an ever growing list of topics or interview subjects and if I feel I am not the best person to write the piece, I pitch it to whomever I feel would be the best suited. The Zine Scene and larger band or artist features are decided on by me with contributions by Chris at In Effect Hardcore. I do some of the interviews, Chris contributes what he’s interested in and I assign the rest to my writers. Johnny No-Keys from Trouble Bound, John McGrath from General Grievance and Ethan from Grave Heist also contribute regularly. I also am very happy to have been approached by a few really great freelance writers who pitch ideas to me on subjects or bands they are very excited about. I am lucky to be able to reach out to some of the best photographers in punk and hardcore for shots. Dave “Face” Boccio is the official Outsider Photographer and Steven J. Messina, Rich Zoeller, Danielle Dombrowski all contribute pretty regularly. I sell all of the ads and do all of the layout. My best friend, Ashley, does the collage work that is featured in the zine and on the covers and some of our show flyers under her moniker Shear Destruction. I think it all just comes together in my mind as a concept and then I make categories and lists in my notebook and then just check things off as I receive them and then lay them in. A lot of stuff gets jammed into each issue and it’s really just all the years of experience that makes that work as well as it does. There are definitely times when I wonder how I am going to get everything laid into place, but it always works out. I think, at this point, I just know what each issue needs.
How do you decide who you want to highlight in upcoming issues? Do you try for a mix of genres or is that dictated by the bands that you and the contributors are most excited about at the time?
I definitely aim for a mix of genres, but that seems to happen naturally anyway. I pull from the bands I book on our shows, bands who fill out the Zine Scene form on our website and just whomever catches my interest. Chris always has great for suggestions and points me to bands from Long Island and NYC that have caught his ear. Shaun Matarrese has brought some really good writing and interviews to the zine recently. Sometimes interviews take a while to come together or get scheduled, so planning which issue it will be in can get tricky, but things always work out.
Out of all the different roles that you take on to make Outsider Magazine happen, which are your most and least favorite?
Editorial work is my favorite! I really enjoy putting an issue together and working with everyone on my team. I’ve never fully enjoyed doing interviews unless the questions come naturally, but that’s something I have been leaning into more over the years. I think I just prefer to gather my knowledge of something I am interested in organically, not through typical research. My least favorite role would be selling ads, but I try to look at it as part of the bigger picture. There is something satisfying in having the ads in each issue reflect the community, especially when they are well designed and help the pages look interesting. Zines are time capsules, documenting whichever scene they support and the ads are very much part of that. Who hasn’t read a magazine from ten, twenty years ago and not marveled at the albums, shows or clubs that were new or current at the time of printing? Same with old show flyers.
What are some of the ways that a band or zine can be part of a future issue, such as submitting something for review or buying ad space?
Both of those are good ways to get featured. There is also a form on the Outsider website where bands or artists can apply for a spot in Zine Scene. The best way to get my attention is to come to our shows or come say hi when I (or anyone in our crew) is at a show. I am far more likely to give a band a chance if I know they are participating in their scene. Jenn Small and Lindsay Gara help with all the Outsider Shows and do a lot behind the scenes for the zine and are both active in the music scene. Both of them have turned me on to bands and been excellent representatives of Outsider at events and shows I wasn’t able to attend personally. If you want to be a part of what we are doing, say hi and talk to us when you see us. For bands or anyone outside of the HV, sending me a friendly email or a letter goes a long way.
Where can someone pick up a copy of Outsider Magazine?
Copies are available at shows, on merch tables all over the place in the HV, Long Island and parts of NYC and NJ. We leave copies at tattoo shops, bars, restaurants, record stores, random places that have other free publications available, libraries and community centers. Nature’s Pantry (locations in New Windsor and Fishkill, NY) always have copies available. Readers and businesses can request copies to give out and ask to have us deliver or mail them. We do our best to accommodate. There is always the option to make a $5 donation to have an issue and sticker pack mailed to you (US addresses). I’m hoping to keep that rate going for as long as possible. To everyone who donates extra, know that you help me mail out more than I could otherwise, and that is appreciated.
Outsider at The Green Growler, Croton-on-Hudson, NY. See above for the new Serve ‘em section listing Westchester distribution!
How do you put together the lineups for your shows, and the advantages of booking at the OCNY Veteran Center?
I have a lot of friends who make really great music! I generally start with a band or bands I want to see and build around them. The best shows tend to be made up of bands who know each other and have history. It creates such a good atmosphere. I try my best to accommodate touring bands when they contact me, as well as working with other promoters like DCxPC. One thing I do try to stick to is booking mixed bills as often as possible. I enjoy shows most when the bands all have a different sound, but are still complementary to each other.
The OCNY Veteran Center is so incredibly welcoming and supportive. The space is easy to set up for a show, capacity is just the right size and they have a bar and kitchen that is separate from the show room, so it’s ideal for all ages shows.
What makes the Hudson Valley scene unique and how has it evolved over the past few decades?
There are so many different smaller scenes that make up the HV scene. There’s the HVHC crew, the punk bands, ska punk bands, we have great surf bands. There is a serious metal scene, as well as bands on the more melodic side of things. We have bands that can fit in on both heavier bills and more lighthearted shows and I feel that crossover at shows is important. The bands that come here to play from out of their area leave their mark and hopefully take some of what we do back with them. There is a lot of history here, especially through punk and hardcore and that is certainly a strength. People here tend to have deeply varied tastes, even if they don’t think it’s cool to broadcast that fact.
On top of the magazine and booking shows, you and In Effect have a radio show on WXAX … how did you get that started and what can listeners expect from the show?
Jim Arndt, the original owner of WXAX, approached me at one of my shows about having Outsider do a punk and hardcore show on his station. WXAX is predominantly a metal station and he said he wanted to bring some more variety to the lineup. I asked Chris if he would like to do the show with me and it was a natural fit. It took us a while to come up with a name, but Bring The Noise first aired on November 6th, 2024. We play a mix of new and classic punk and hardcore from Ramones to Restraining Order with a heavy focus on bands from the Hudson Valley, Long Island and NYC and bands we are featuring in the zine and on the In Effect website. The show airs on WXAX (anywhere you get internet radio) on Wednesdays from 10am-Noon EST and again from 10pm-Midnight every week.
Editor’s note: find the “Played on Bring the Noise” playlist here to identify your favorites from the show or catch up on anything you may have missed.
Outsider also always has great merch! How did you come up with the iconic logo and continue to pick interesting colorways?
Thanks! I have a lot of fun designing our merch. I have worked in graphic design and the garment industry on the retail side for a very long time. I was a professional screen printer for several years as well. The logo came about because I wanted to pay tribute to the Ramones, being that the zine is partially named after one of their songs. My friend Shawn and I first created it about twenty years ago when we used to screen print all of the Outsider merch by hand in my room. It was only used on t-shirts for years. Eventually, I had the design made digital and began using it as the official logo for the magazine. It’s changed a bit over the years and I think the version we have now is going to stick.
What’s your favorite compilation, and/or band that you discovered from a comp?
A comp that I picked up when it came out that I still listen to now and then is the Five Years On The Streets comp from Vagrant Records (1998). That’s where I discovered Face To Face.
Name one band you don’t want to be forgotten – and is there a band who was once covered in Outsider that helped them continue to be remembered?
Well, that’s a loaded question. There are a lot of bands that I have covered that don’t play anymore or are on a “hiatus” that were so good. Some have music available to stream or buy and others don’t have much of a trace left except old interviews and that’s a tough road to go down just to choose one, but a band I covered and booked that I still play on Bring The Noise and pester about a reunion show, on and off is Entropy.
Anything else you want to shout out or discuss? Thank you for doing this!
I feel like our scene here in the Hudson Valley and the punk and hardcore scene as a whole is so strong right now. For the most part, we are more connected and supportive of each other than ever from what I can tell, which is how it should be. I have met more like-minded people in the last few years than I can count. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you and I am honored to be a part of what you’re doing as well as having you contribute to Outsider. In particular, I am seeing and working with far more women in the scene than in the past and that makes me very happy.
