Permission (magazine)

Permission was one of the largest gothic magazines of the 1990s. Begun in Chicago by Jayson Elliot in 1992, the first issue appeared as a newsprint 'zine, with bands such as Alien Sex Fiend and Young Gods appearing next to amateurish poetry, disturbing comics (such as a Scott Warren piece on serial killer Ed Gein), and fiction from local industrial musicians like Jim Marcus (Die Warzaw).

As the industrial and gothic scenes peaked in the US during the early and mid-nineties, Permission grew rapidly, putting out ten issues at the rate of about two or three per year. Prior to Permission, the pre-eminent goth magazine had been Propaganda; but its fan base began to stagnate just as Permission's began to grow. While Propaganda and its emulators (Ghastly, Carpe Noctem, Dark Angel, etc.) prescribed a serious, almost dogmatic approach to goth, Permission took a more jumbled, even humorous approach. Though it was prone to slip into self-importance from time to time as well, regular features like "Why'd You Get Kicked Out of Denny's?" or "Science Geek" kept things light. Every issue had comics in back, and readers were more likely to find a pin-up of professional wrestler The Undertaker than gothic makeup tips.

Publishing in the days before the Web, Permission was, along with related publication IndustrialNation, considered the best source for reviews of goth and industrial music not available elsewhere. The typical issue would contain between one and two hundred album reviews. The writing quality was, not surprisingly, varied; though the features themselves could be surprisingly insightful.

Permission's music coverage in the '90s reads like a guide to industrial/goth, from Skinny Puppy and KMFDM to Human Drama and Kommunity FK. One thing that could usually be counted on was for the magazine to have fun with their subjects. Legendary Pink Dots ended up wearing giant toy hats in a photo booth, Sheep on Drugs were given tiny birds and toy mushrooms, Thrill Kill Kult was splayed across the hood of a flaming '70s conversion van, and Pigface appeared as just an iron and a blender. The one compilation album released by Permission was no more reverent, as it gathered dozens of the darkest and loudest bands of the time to perform covers of television theme songs. Titled "TV Terror: Felching A Dead Horse", it had the honor of being the cause of the first utterance of the word "felch" on national television when Kurt Loder reported its release on MTV News.

As the creator of the magazine, Jayson Elliot was himself busy in the goth industrial scene, and often travelled to throw Permission parties or tour with bands. In 1994, he managed Procession, the "world gothic tour" featuring goth bands from four countries travelling around the United States. While turnout was heavy for the tour, a series of mishaps and conflicts left him soured on the scene. Moving the magazine to San Francisco in 1995, Permission continued to grow, though as its circulation increased, Jayson took the direction further and further from its punk/goth/industrial origins. By 1997, the magazine had reached its peak of popularity, with over forty thousand readers, but the strain of running the magazine and his own disaffection with the scene led Jayson to cease publication at the end of that year.

In 2004, Permission re-formed in New York City, again under Jayson Elliot's direction. The magazine re-launched with an entirely new direction and design, much like Details magazine in the 1980s did, without referencing the past. Now a fashion and lifestyle magazine, Permission bills itself as "life + style for emerging artists", and focuses on up-and-comers in all the creative fields, with a product that reads and looks closer to Nylon, Paper, or Black Book.