TEENAGE SYMPHONY TO GOD | Zine

SMiLE, the never finished, never released album by The Beach Boys to rival The Beatles's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was touted by front man Brian Wilson as his "teenage symphony to God." Within the group's history, it's often cited as the catalyst for their societal departure from progressively minded music of the time, with Wilson diving head first into substance abuse and countless mental health crises in the collapse of SMiLE. The trail of unreleased albums and demos in the years before his 24/7 psychological counseling reveal that there is more beyond this end, whether or not he acknowledged it-- it's okay, a lonely teenager will listen to the tapes anyway.

TEENAGE SYMPHONY TO GOD is my personal essay centered around that narrative, transformed into a zine. My connection to the music of The Beach Boys and Wilson act as a parallel to the history of the band, serving as the way I came to understand and document their history, and as a tribute to the comfort they have given me for so many years.

The zine measures to about 5in x 7.5in, with small deviations due to being hand made. Each copy comes signed.

Interested in reading the zine, but don't want to own the physical version? Check out my gumroad page (https://astraoasis.gumroad.com/l/teenagesymphony) to download. It's pay what you can, and you'll get access to both an .epub and .pdf version of it.