In 1995 Christopher Howe founded ALARM Magazine, an independent bi-monthly magazine, whose motto is “music and art beyond comparison,” when he was still in high school.   He never dreamt that the magazine could turn into a full-time career and it wasn’t until he started to attend the Massachusetts College of Art in 1997 that he started to take the work seriously.  There was a dearth of magazines in Boston covering the same topics so ALARM became one of the main media outlets.  Howe said, “The internet wasn’t that popular yet and it was the pinnacle of the zines.”  What started out as a hobby has now grown into a nationwide magazine with a circulation of over 40,000 with an office in downtown Chicago’s historic Monadnock Building. 

While I still lived in Chicago, I had the opportunity to observe Howe at work as he muttered “f---ing amateur” whenever an advertiser would try to pull some antic, suggested design changes to the layout, assigned projects to various interns, and presided over weekly meetings with the staff to pitch ideas for upcoming issues.  What impressed me was the collaborative nature of the enterprise.  ALARM is the product of a small staff and many, many interns.  Howe, who goes by the name Chris Force in the industry, presided over the hubbub with his business acumen and creative vision.  He talked to me over the phone about his decade plus experience as an Asian American in the world of independent publishing.   

Having been on a lot of job interviews recently, I asked Howe where he saw himself in five years and he laughed.  “That is one thing I haven’t thought about,” he admitted.  “I was driven by a sense of urgency, what do I have to do today?  Why should I look for a job today when what I really want to do is something else?”   This cavalier attitude is belied by Howe’s strong work ethic, which he attributes to his upbringing.  “I think that things taught in the Asian American community are important.  It’s a culture of entrepreneurs that runs on networks and resourcefulness.”  Howe’s paternal grandparents were Chinese immigrants who opened a restaurant in Ontario.  His grandfather passed away when his father Bill Howe, the oldest of eight, was still in high school.  “My family is a line of restaurateurs.  My dad worked in a restaurant ever since he could walk.  All through high school he would switch off days with his brothers to go to school and to work (in order to keep the restaurant running).  I always worked, I always had a lot of good jobs.  Work ethic is something you learn from your family.”

With an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he doesn’t lack for fancy degrees but Howe is proof that a person gains more from working than schooling.  “I was on a business panel discussion at Berkeley and someone asked where I got my MBA.  I said that I got it through ALARM, through working.  I’ve read tons of business books but as far as taking a course or getting a degree, I’ve figured it out as I went along.”  There has certainly been no end to the benefits he’s gained through his experiences, especially in an industry where Asian Americans are still rarities.  Then again, Howe is accustomed to breaking the mold.  Going against the stereotype, he mentioned failing math in 3^rd grade in the editor’s letter for a past issue of ALARM.  When I inquired further, he said, “I was one of two Asian kids at my school and the other kid got a 1600 on the SAT.  I would stay in the art room.  It was hard for the other students to place me.   I never considered math or science.”

Straying from expectations has a cost of course and Howe’s ventures into independent publishing has not been challenge free.  To give you a scene from the magazine business, Punk Planet, which was a mainstay in the music world, folded in June of 2007.  When the news was announced, blogs and magazines alike bemoaned the loss and speculated whether the demise of independent publishers was nigh.  Meaning that independent magazines these days have a built in expiration date and fledglings struggle to get off the ground, much less stay aloft.  To blame the internet for everything would be a touch simplistic, but the web has been a contributing factor.  When I asked Howe about the key to ALARM’s longevity, he squirmed.  “’Staying power’ is a weird term because it implies financial security which ALARM has no more or less of than any other art magazine.  Punk Planet started a year before ALARM.  It’s hard – it’s a nonstop hustle.  It’s always a struggle balancing the business side with the creative side.  It’s hard not having one influence the others.   You can get so caught up in running the business that you get farther and farther from what you want to do with the business.”

I nudged Howe for specifics and he said the challenges have always been twofold, “First, discrimination because you’re young.  Second, being a minority.  Being a minority has been a problem when dealing with the business world, when you want to rent office space or when you go into a bank, but not with the art world.  I never had problems going to a show and talking to the band as a young Asian guy.  (With the business world) there are a lot of doors that don’t open.  Banks don’t want to deal with you.”  At the same time, he concedes that it’s difficult to pinpoint particular instances, “You take (your experiences) for granted because you’ve never known it any different.”

Howe had the following advice for any Asian Americans who may want to start a magazine, “If you want to start a magazine, don’t.  Don’t let anyone tell you not to do something.”  He paused and laughed.  “I understand that those things are somewhat contradictory.  Confidence and preparation are important.  If you really want to start a magazine, don’t rely on the traditional business model.  Plan out everything as specifically as possible from a business standpoint and have an honest assessment of yourself.  What do you want to do?  In art school the people who didn’t know what they wanted from their art created timid art.  People who knew what they wanted, things came together for them.  The most grotesque example of this are people who want to be famous.  They know what they want and will do everything they have to do to get it.”   

One of ALARM’s agendas is DIY.  The magazine doesn’t believe in store-bought, pre-packaged philosophy or art.  “I believe in DIY to a spiritual level,” Howe wrote in an email, “I think it's an important attitude and approach.”  No doubt the DIY emphasis is due to Howe’s experiences.  He has forged his way into the independent publishing industry by avoiding conventions rather than following them.  When confronted with difficulty, he has invented solutions.  “An example from my own life is when we just moved into the Monadnock Building we had a big offer to expand the magazine.  The circulation would increase from 15000 to 40000 and I needed a lot of money right away, I needed $100,000.  I walked into Chase bank with the intent to get that money and I did.  I wasn’t wearing a business suit and I didn’t have some spiral-bound business plan from Kinko’s.  I was really passionate about it and that rubs off on people.  If you have interesting ideas and something to offer, people will be interested.  I met with a guy at the bank and he made a call and when I left I had $100,000 in my bank account.  You need conviction.”