In
1963 a Renegade was born…
Once
upon a time there was a little renegade kid in elementary school. He was always
getting into trouble for drawing hot rods, motorcycles, and big boobed cartoon
girls on his desks, or anywhere else he could get his grubby little fingers on.
No matter how much his teacher smacked his knuckles with her ruler, that kid
just wouldn’t stop. Then one day, the little renegade boy came to school to
find a sheet of drawing paper taped to the top of his desk. When the boy looked
up, astonished, his teacher was standing there in front of him. She just sighed
and said, "I give up," and handed the little boy a brand new box of pencils,
a box of crayons and an eraser. A renegade was born.
Starving
Artist…
If
you are new to Renegade and don’t know me, my name is Scharf. I’m an artist
with a life-long addiction to motorcycles, hot rods and beautiful women. That’s
who I am, and that’s what I do. There is no 12-step program that can cure my
disease.
For
as long as I can remember, I have had this worm in my head driving me to
create, and to live my life as an artist. For better or worse, I wouldn’t have
it any other way. It doesn’t really matter what tools, pencils, pens, brushes,
airbrushes, welders, wrenches, hammers, cameras, computers, etc., etc. Imagination
is my religion and tools are only limited by the imagination of the person
using them.
It’s
who I am…
Renegade
is an accumulation of all that I am. It’s the perfect outlet for all my
passions, my art, my addiction to motorcycles, hot rods, and beautiful women!
I
have been publishing Renegade as a one man show since 2005. Since the
beginning, I've been doing all the graphic design, website design and most of
the photography, all while also working a part time job and living in a
warehouse, AKA "Renegade Studios,” all so I could keep chasing the dream! Renegade
for life!
Hard
work pays off. …Well, sort of…
Just
over a year ago, I finally signed a deal to get Renegade on the national
newsstands all across the US and Canada. It was one of the best and worst years
of my life.
Yes,
it was exciting to finally see my magazine on the newsstand right there
along-side all the other greats, with every issue out selling the last, and an
average sell through of 50-60%! For those of you who don’t know, that is
excellent! The average magazine sell through is 30-40%.
Needless
to say my distributors were astonished, and assured me I had a real winner on
my hands. Great! Honestly though, I was not surprised. I always knew I could
build a kick ass magazine that people would love! I have no doubts in my talent
and abilities. I'm not bragging, I just want to let it be known getting on the
newsstands was the easy part. The hard part was staying there.
The cold,
hard truth…
Unfortunately
life is not all sweet pussy and rose petals! It was the most stressful year of
my life, with deadlines to meet and big bills to pay, and the constant pressure
to sell ads, just so I cover the cost of producing the next issue. I hated it!
It takes money to make money, and fuck me, I didn’t have any! I had already
maxed out all my credit cards and exhausted any and all other credit I had. I
was all on my own at this point.
Don’t
bitch, just do it…
All
I had and still have to this day is the sheer will, determination and mad
skills to create the most awesome magazine ever created!!! That’s what I believe I’ve done and will continue to do!
Reality,
it's not just a TV show…
Despite
really strong sales on the newsstand, the money earned from magazine sales is
not enough to cover the high cost of the printing and shipping.
It’s
all about ad sales, ad sales, ad sales! You have to sell a tone of ads just to
cover your expenses and break even, let alone make any money. Unfortunately for
me, that is just not one of the skills I possess. Every ad I did manage to sell,
I wound up making them such a great deal, I was practically giving it a way for
free, just to get them onboard.
I’m an artist, not a salesman, damn it! I
just want to do cool shit, meet cool people and make the best damn magazine I
can!
Really
bad timing…
To
make matters worse, I hit the market at the worst time in the history of
publishing. With the world economy in the shitter, and many of the top selling
magazines in the country going under or going digital, print magazines were
already well on the way of the dinosaur. I knew this going in, but I still
believed if I built it they would come! The readers did, but the ad sales
didn’t. Eventually they did, but by then it was just too little too late. Print
is dead!
A
brave new world…
It’s
time to fully embrace the brave, new, digital world! Right from the beginning I
had always planned on the transition to digital publishing and have had a
digital version of the magazine on our website almost from the beginning, but I
was not able to give it the full attention it deserved because I was being
consumed with just trying to survive and pay all the bills. So, it came to the
point where I had to decide to either just give up or go digital.
I
know going digital is an up-hill battle. It’s still a new medium and not
everyone is ready or willing to embrace it. On the other hand, though, I will
be on the ground floor of a new medium and on the front side of the wave, for
the first time in my life. The possibilities are endless. Plus it offers me the
opportunity to make Renegade the first iconic culture magazine of the digital
age!
Fear
not…
Like
so many of you, I still like the feel of a print magazine in my hands, and hate
to see it completely go away. So, for all of you old-schoolers out there who
simply can’t live without the printed magazine, or simply don’t know how to
operate a computer, don't fret! I will still be offering special limited
edition signed and numbered print on demand copies of each issue available on
the website for $19.95. It’s a 100-page high quality collectors' print on 80lb
gloss full color, cover to cover.
Going
where no magazine has gone before…
Renegade 2.0 is a whole new concept in
digital magazines! It is truly going to be a fully interactive experience! Six action-packed
issues of Renegade will be available on our website or on iTunes, Amazon,
Kindal Fire, Blackberry, Reader and other digital newsstands each year. Every issue
will be overflowing with hundreds of stunning photos and creative videos of
today’s wild custom culture scene, in all its glory! The rust, the grease, the
gears, the smoke, the tattoos, the beautiful babes, wild characters, music and
artists will all be brought right to you with stunning photography, video and
creative graphic design. It’s a Renegade
revolution!
Membership
has its privileges…
Join
the Renegade revolution and ride along with me as I travel the countryside
hitting up some of the hottest hot rod and biker events, tattoo conventions,
concerts, and dive bars. You get to be my plus one and get VIP access to some
of the coolest back street garages and back woods barns all across the US and
see where all the best hot rods, custom bikes and other mad creations are
tucked away. You never know, I may even
visit your garage!
Renegade
2.0 is more than just another digital magazine. It is one piece of a three-part
project. Other parts include the definitive documentary film, and a coffee
table photo book on the custom culture scene which I call “The Custom Culture
Circus!” …And you can be part of it!
As
a subscriber, you will get to follow the progress of the documentary and go
behind the scenes of the photo shoots with the wild woman and cool rides and
meet some of the coolest people who make up the custom culture. With bi-weekly
and monthly behind the scenes footage posted on our YouTube channel, some of
which will be part of the over-all documentary, while of course some of the
footage will be saved for the definitive film.
Renegade
Zombie Apocalypse Tour…
Now
I’m 49 years old, and to quote Steve Miller, “I’ve been telling all my friends
I was a genius since I was 17, yet they still don’t know what I mean.” That
worm in my head keeps screaming at me: “It’s Time Mother F#@Ker! Show the world
what you've got and create the best art of your life!"
I’ve
been working towards this forever, and I have lived the struggle of the
starving artist life, as cliché as it may sound. I am one of those fools that lives
his life for his art. I have sacrificed relationships, comfort and security to
feed my addiction to create! It’s who I am, and I know no other way.
So
ride along with me as I scour back lots, barns and garages across the country
as I hunt for wildest hot rods, rat rods, custom motorcycles and the wildest
women this country has to offer. Come with me to some of the coolest parties,
concerts, hot rod and motorcycle events & rallies, both large and small
from all across the U.S., a lowbrow tour of the U.S. if you will.
Meet
some of today's most interesting characters the custom culture has to offer,
plus go behind the scenes of my photo shoots with today's sexiest tattooed
pin-up dolls, burlesque dancers and of course the Renegade Angels.
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As
I write this editorial, it’s already been three weeks or more into my solo
journey across the US. I have shut down my studio, put what little crap I had
into storage, quit my job and packed up the Renegade Assault Vehicle. I hit the
road with less than $1,000 in my pocket! Right now, I’m sitting in the my
mobile command unit, broke as hell, and working my ass off to get this issue
done, and work on a few freelance jobs and do whatever else I can do to raise
funds for the journey. I’ve already done several photo shoots, met some really
cool people and found some way cool cars and bikes.
These
photos are from my first stop. I was in Myrtle Beach, SC to see my good friend
and partner in crime, Pain Erikson of Darkside Performance. Not only did he
give me a place to set up headquarters, but he also introduced me to many of
the cool locals for my first installment of the Renegade Zombie Apocalypse
Tour! My next stop will be the Horses Smoke out and then The Heavy Rebel
Weekender!
If
you hear I’m in your area and you have a cool ride or know someone who does,
give me a shout and maybe I’ll come hang out, have a few beers, shoot some pics
and shoot the shit about cars, bikes and babes!
Kick it!
