15/05/2025
Coucou,
Echobox is releasing their first zine, UNBOX, & we’ve contributed a text titled “Who Decides What Withstands?”—a reflection on the ethics of curation & the responsibility that comes with shaping other people’s stories.
As (hopefully) many of you know by now, curation & the question of credit are cornerstones of what we try to hold with care & intent in Dee Dee’s Picks. From reissuing forgotten tapes from the ‘80s to championing contemporary underground artists, to crediting not just the voice but also the ear, the eye, the hand behind a moment—none of this exists in isolation. Everyone surrounding the artist—the videographer, the producer, the label, the friend who lent their camera, the stranger who documented a show—each contributes to the end result of what you hear, what you see, what you remember. The aura that forms around an artist isn’t authored by them alone. It is composite, textured, collective. It deserves to be named.
Of course, this is also our passive-aggressive way of addressing some folks—locally & beyond—whose crediting practices could use a little polish. That’s a joke. But also not. The irony is not lost on us. It’s okay—we’re all learning. A first oversight is a lesson. A second is a choice. Names aren’t needed here, because this isn’t about calling anyone out. It’s about doing better together.
The piece touches on interviews, radio, DJing, archiving—all as modes of carrying someone else’s truth. And how crucial it is to tell someone’s story the way they tell it, not the way we interpret it or fit it into our own frameworks. It’s a call to listen more than we editorialise, to represent rather than reframe. And to be mindful of the subtle shifts that happen when we place someone’s voice inside our own structure.
Come tomorrow & pick up UNBOX and bask in its glory.
We hope you’ll spend time with the stories inside, and think about your own role in how histories are told. Especially in scenes like ours, where memory is fragile & erasure is easy.
Thanks to Echobox for putting this out, and to everyone who keeps the pulse alive—not by owning it, but by holding it with reverence.
Wishing you a lovely day,
—Dee Dee
