No, this isn’t a catalogue of miraculous remedies and cures – well, not exactly. Back in its heyday, from the Forties right through to the Seventies, Schwab’s was the place to be – part drugstore, part diner, all go. They dispensed everything from prescriptions to shakes, sodas, make-up and even generous credit.
Movie stars would rub shoulders with composers, photographers, wannabees and ain’t-ever-gonna-bees. They even had a phone that would ring when opportunity came calling from nearby studies and agents.
The New York Times has described the store as one of Hollywood's most enduring legends, while Billy Wilder and Ed Ruscha have immortalised Schwab’s in their work. At the core, this hub managed to encapsulate what is and what could be. It was an institution. This is the spirit that Drugstore Culture hopes to evoke.
Published by businessman Charles Finch, this inaugural paperback-like publication is the precursor to a digital platform that will run alongside it from September. There will also book talks, discussions and other live events as well as holistic healthcare products (of course). But let’s stick with print for now.
The editor is Matthew D’Ancona (New Statesman, Sunday Telegraph), with Peter Hoskin as his deputy. At Libreria both were in conversation with Hadley Freeman and doing their best to excite us with the grand vision. The message? Get ready. The magazine certainly feels good in the hand. At 18cm x 11cm and weighing in at 160 pages, perfect bound, Drugstore Culture is a cute little reader. It's made to be carried and kept. Slip it into your blazer pocket, your purse, your tote (if you must).
In terms of influences – Hoskin prefers to say magazines they admire – you wouldn’t normally mention golden era Rolling Stone and Gal-Dem in the same breath. However, both have managed to reflect and shape the times by publishing stories from strong voices that dissect important issues. So why not learn from them?
Matthew D’Ancona interviews his old chum David Miliband, the man so often touted as a future PM and saviour of the Centre Left. Miliband’s take on the madness of the past few years? “Populism is popular until it gets elected – because it doesn’t deal in answers.” Let's see if he does anything about it.
Finch publishing director Clementine Crawford meets composer Michael Nyman, whose score for The Piano captivated designer Alexander McQueen from the first note. Nyman is very forthcoming and open, this from the composer for whom “emotion is just a consequence.” . Looking back on the development of the soundtrack and finding the music that Holly Hunter’s character Ada would play, he became a musicologist of sorts. “I had to reinvent myself with music that I never imagined I would write, and subsequently became well known as being a composer who has great insight into women’s self-expression. I became Mr Sensitive."
Olive Pometsey trails the queue from Studio 54 to the glittered and face paint-adorned revelry of events such as Secret Garden Party and Magic Door. It seems we still can’t ignore the call to hedonism. And that’s not such a bad thing. We need to lose ourselves now more than ever, she argues. Pometsey is a young journalist working her way up at Elle and we are told that Drugstore Culture will provide a space for others like her. Marvellous. I have asked for a few tips for those that wish to pitch. More as I have it.
Adam Frankel, once a speechwriter for Barack Obama, interviews former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who is author of Fascism: A Warning. She speaks with a measured and cautious tone. It's a short but thought-provoking interview. Albright believes in the resiliency of democracy but fears for its fragility. Aye.
And there's more, including favourite film lists from the likes of John Cleese and Afua Hirsch.
Not bad for an “issue 0” and easily devoured in one sitting (take your time though). It’s all laid out in a patient, considered manner with just the right amount of colour and craft. The use of a highlighted rainbow palette reminds me of the groundbreaking in-house design team at Swiss pharmaceutical and chemical company Geigy. Hint hint: drugstore.
The tone is confident and welcoming, a collective urge to understand what is going around us. D’Ancona describes it as “fun”. Many of these titles – the ones that place political comment beside art critique and pop culture – just aren’t relatable beyond a particular elite. They can go off one on about an obscure French director or publish an out-of-touch profile about the rapper as cultural icon, but are they being meaningful in the now?
We want discoveries. They bring satisfaction and reasoned focus in the face of information overload and post-truths. Epiphanies and ah-ha moments are what we really need. This is a promising debut from Drugstore Culture. How far they move the needle in cultural discourse remains to be seen. Their goal is to start a “movement”, remember.
The real acid test will be the launch of the website – their “real-time bulletin board of cultural experience” – and fostering a community where everyone can play their part … where everyone lives to play their part. That’s culture.
Pick up your copy here. And follow either Matthew or Peter for more information on what comes next.