Masoud Golsorkhi, Tank
We’re starting the working week off with Masoud Golsorkhi, founder and editor-in-chief of one of London’s longest-standing independent magazines, Tank. We chat with Masoud ahead of the release of Tank’s bubble-themed Spring issue.
Where are you today?
At work in central London and the sun is shining.
What can you see from the window?
I don’t have a window in my office but don’t get the idea I work in a dungeon! It's a nice, big open-planned office that used to be a car showroom with lots of light.
Are you a morning or evening person?
Morning.
Which magazine do you first remember?
Copies of Burda, a German pattern book/fashion magazine that my mum used to have about the house.
What’s your favourite magazine this morning?
FMR (a Milan-based bi-monthly art magazine that ceased publication in 2009).
What city around the world do you think is most interesting in terms of fashion at the moment?
I think London is having a moment, as is Copenhagen and Tehran.
Tank is a long-standing British indie, it's been around since 1998 (first issue, above). What changes in independent publishing have you noticed since you first begun - has it become harder or easier to self publish? And how many original team members are still involved?
It is now considerably easier to start publications because of developments in technology and the existence of a self-publishing niche that wasn’t there in '98. Of course, self-publishing was hugely more interesting and infinitely more pointless than back then.
I am the only survivor at Tank from the ’98 generation but only just... others like Caroline Issa and Liz Lee have also been around 10-12 years.
Tell us about your last issue and the decision to make it travel-themed.
We were inspired and guided by the kind of travel writing that Bruce Chatwin wrote and I am not aware of any publications that continued or picked up on that tradition but I'm sure I would love it if it existed. All I see around me when I look at travel magazines are blag rags just trying to get smart kids free, luxury travel.
What interests you about the juxtaposition of glossy fashion spreads and academically rigorous writing?
I am not sure if we are academically rigorous. We don’t aim to be academic, we mean to approach fashion as a serious topic in and amongst other serious and interesting ideas. I guess the form of address implies a reader of a certain discernment, education and intellectual aspiration.
What are you most looking forward to this week?
It’s going to be great to see the audience’s reaction to the new issue (above) as it makes its way out... I will be full of hope and trepidation, it’s like watching a child on stage at a school play.
What are you least looking forward to this week?
The child falling off the stage on top of the drummer in the back row and knocking out his two front teeth.