Meet: HEADMASTER Magazine

Meet the headmaster.

Headmaster is an assignment-based queer print publication based out of Providence, Rhode Island. Smart and sexually provocative, Headmaster appeals to a discerning audience of man-lovers.

The inaugural issue was released in December of 2010, and Issue no. 2 was released in mid-July 2011. Headmaster is 7″x10″, 88 full color pages and perfect bound. Headmaster is released bianually in a limited edition of 1000. I have one.

Last week I met Matthew and Jason, the mastermind behind Headmaster and talked about the magazine, their jobs and South African Food. Just don’t make the mistake I did – Headmaster comes from Providence, Rhode Island, not from Provincetown.

Hi guys, how are you doing?

Good!  We just watched the last episode of this season of Torchwood, finally, which wasn’t very good.  But it’s a really nice fall day so we are happy.

What is Headmaster?

Headmaster is an art magazine for man-lovers.  We find artists and writers that we like and we give them homework assignments, and then we publish the results of nine or ten projects in each issue of the magazine.

How often do you plan on bringing out an issue?

We’re doing it twice a year.  The second one was released in July and we’re hoping to have the third one out by the end of the year.

I have to admit I expected something much kinkier than what I found in issue 1 after I saw your kickstarter video back then. How does an issue come to live? How do you select artists and collaborators?

That’s funny, because a lot of people have said the opposite thing, that we’re a lot dirtier than they expected from the video.  I guess the video left things open to interpretation… A couple of contributors are people we know personally, a few are people we know of through the internet, and some are friends of friends that were recommended to us.  We discovered Sholem Krishtalka, the painter in Issue no. 1, because Matthew had written an article about the bookstore he managed.  We found Issue no. 2 photographer Thomas Weidenhaupt while flipping through European Photography magazine.  And Krys Fox, another photographer in the second issue, actually approached us first.

What artists do we find in issue 2?

In addition to Krys Fox and Thomas Weidenhaupt, we have the photography of Jesse Burke, a rugby uniform designed by Joseph Segal, paintings by Steve Locke, drawings by Heyd Fontenot and Stéphane Barbier, a video project and essay by M Kitchell, a dirty story by Johhny Murdoc, and a fiber project by Steven Frost.

What music do you listen to while you work? 5 fav tracks right now?

Right now we’re listening to Erykah Badu.  We’re a little all over the place, though.  We listen to Scott Walker a lot, and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.  Our printing rep gave us three volumes of fabulous disco that we listen to in the car anytime we have to travel anywhere.  We also recently instituted Falco Fridays at the studio. As far as newer music goes, the current issue was completed while we were listening to Lloyd’s “Dedication To My Ex” on repeat a lot.

Describe the Headmaster reader.

The Headmaster reader is either an art lover and a man lover, or possibly both.  We’ve sent orders to thirty-one US states and twelve countries so far, including Brazil, China, Australia, and South Africa, so we’re pretty excited about that.

Do you have day jobs?

Yeah, Jason has his own graphic design firm during the day.  Matthew does a lot of odd jobs, and is anxiously awaiting the day when Headmaster can actually be his day job.

Is it a condition to have a beard to work for headmaster?

No, not at all.  That’s just a coincidence.  We’re hiring interns for the fall right now, and there’s nothing about beards in the job description. (And technically, Jason just has a moustache.)

How do you take care of your facial hair?

I (Matthew) was in a friend’s wedding last weekend, and so I did the lazy thing and had a barber named Jeremy trim it for me. Since then I’ve just been shaving around where Jeremy trimmed.

I (Jason) am pretty lazy with my moustache grooming in general. I do own a really nice moustache wax, but mostly just use the little comb that came with it.

What was Bear Week in P-Town this year in 5 words?

South African food: so good!

You’re both in a relationship. How do you keep it alive? Most gay couples I know don’t last for very long.

We’ve been together for a little over six years now.  We’re not really sure we have an answer about how we keep it alive, but it seems to be working so far. Publishing a magazine together seems to help… most days.

Where are you going after this interview?

We’re at an outdoor Italian cafe drinking lemonade right now, but all the food smells so good that we’re going to go home and Jason’s going to make us pasta.