Next Wave lands on doormats once a month: a limited edition cassette of 12 emerging artists from around the world, posted with a small printed magazine that introduces them. Chalkpit Cassette Club has run it since 2022, and the first order for the magazine reached us that July, when Silas described it as a “brand new zine”. These photographs, taken by the Chalkpit team, gather its third year in one place: Volumes 25 to 36, November 2024 to October 2025, twelve covers that line up like a wall of gig posters.
When the final volume of that year went to press, Silas sent us this:
Kinda mental we have been doing it for 3 Whole Years already!!! Thanks for the wicked print each month.
Silas, Chalkpit Cassette Club
A monthly title succeeds on repeatable decisions, made once and then trusted. Here are the ones that shaped Next Wave, and what each could do for a zine of your own.
A6 rather than A5
In July 2022 Silas was torn between the two sizes and asked about test prints of each. Our answer was simple: A6 is the more pocketable of the pair, while A5 gives you room for more content. He chose A6 and skipped the test copies, going straight to a full order. At 148 x 105mm the magazine sits comfortably beside a cassette in a subscription parcel and slips into a jacket or bag.
A fixed size pays off later too. When Chalkpit started designing packaging for box set editions in January 2026, the first thing Silas needed was the trimmed size and how accurate it is: 148 x 105mm, within 1mm once trimmed and bound. Settle your format early and boxes, mailers and shelves can be built around it with confidence. If you are still choosing, A6, A5 and A4 zines side by side sets out what each size holds.
A lighter cover that lies down
Silas had admired the set up of So Young Magazine and suggested a heavy 200gsm uncoated cover. Mike agreed it was a winner and shared a preference that shaped the title, because at small sizes a slightly lighter cover behaves better: “at smaller sizes like A6 in particular it's less rigid so it actually falls back onto the inside pages rather than jutting out once it's been opened.” For the regular monthly volumes the cover settled at 170gsm uncoated, with no lamination.
That choice shows in the photographs. Full bleed portraits of musicians print with a soft, inky depth on the matt sheet, and nothing reflects the light when a reader tilts the cover. If your zine is pocket sized and meant to be opened one handed, test a cover weight that folds back flat rather than springing shut.
Uncoated inside, for words and faces
The twelve inside pages are uncoated too, on a light text paper, so cover and contents share one finish and one feel. Uncoated paper keeps text easy to read without glare and gives photographs a warm, slightly grainy edge that suits a publication about new music. It also keeps the magazine slim and light, which helps when it travels by post every month. Our article on silk versus uncoated stock for zines sets out the trade offs.
Sixteen pages, two staples, multiples of four
Every volume is 16 pages in total: a 4 page cover around 12 inside pages, wire stitched through the spine fold. A stapled booklet is a nest of folded sheets, so the page count must split evenly into fours. Twice in Year 3 a file arrived one page short, and our file check spotted it ahead of printing. For Volume 35 the note read: “We're only at 15 pages but we need a multiple of four to make it work as a booklet.” A corrected file came back inside an hour. Volume 36 needed the same fix, and Volume 35 also went back once for 3mm of bleed.
Plan your own zine in fours from your first thumbnail sketches: 8, 12, 16 or 20 pages. If you are one short, a credits page, a playlist or a full page photograph will round it off far better than a blank. This explainer on how stapled zines are put together shows why the maths matters.
One masthead, a new colour each month
The cover system is the cleverest decision of all. Each volume uses the same heavy condensed NEXT WAVE masthead, the same red volume number beside the Chalkpit Cassette Club badge, and the same FEATURING list of artists set in bold serif capitals across the foot. Only two things change: the photograph and the masthead colour. Year 3 runs from violet, lime, orange and red through blush pink and four in white to yellow, steel blue and, for Volume 36, a deep green. Laid out together they form a set that collectors want to complete.
Borrow the idea for your own series. Fix the type, the grid and the badge, then let a single variable change every issue. Readers learn the format in a month, and the series becomes a collection.
A monthly rhythm with checks built in
The routine rarely changes. Silas sends the file, our team checks it and returns a proof, he approves it and the magazines travel by courier for next day delivery. Volume 34 went from order to dispatch on the same August day, prompting Mike to reply: “welcome to Ex Why Zed in August, epicly fast.” Proof notes still matter at that pace. On Volume 32 we pointed out items sitting very close to the head and foot trims of the back cover before it went to print. Reprints of earlier volumes slot in alongside new ones when Chalkpit needs them.
Running a monthly or quarterly title of your own? Our stapled and perfect bound zine printing page has the formats and finishes, and we will happily look over your first file before you lock in a publishing schedule.
PaperbacksA5, 44 pages, perfect bound£246for 100
Product cataloguesA5, 28 pages, stapled£166for 100
