Maria Schurr

Maria Schurr is currently in her second year as an MFA creative writing--non-fiction--student at New School University in New York City. Despite the nature of the program, she remains a non-pretentious and fairly mediocre writer. Prior to her move, she spent the first two decades of her life listening to and reading about as much music as she could access in an area of Pennsylvania so small that studies have proven it can not be seen by the naked eye. Overanalyzing lyrics and objectifying the musicians she listened to, even the ugly ones, were the only things that saved her from an early death by ennui.

Maria hopes her future sees her remaining employed by the art and design library where she currently works, and devising ways to inflict her writing on a larger audience. This is her first step.

Zilla Rocca

Zilla Rocca is an MC/Producer from Philadelphia. He was a member of the experimental hip hop group Crooked Soul . He is currently one-half of the incredible rap duo Clean Guns and the President of Beat Garden Entertainment

Zilla Rocca was one of three winners in Spine Magazine.com's Nas Remix Contest for his version of "Hope" off of HIP HOP IS DEAD. He has participated in the iStandard Producer Showcase in Philadelphia, an industry event highlighting the best up-and-coming hip hop producers throughout the country.

And now he's convinced himself to finish his first solo album Fall Back Friday, dropping summertime '08, with the lead-off mixtape "Bring Me the Head of Zilla Rocca!" coming out spring '08. Fans of Camp Lo, Black Sheep, The Beatnuts, Kanye West's "The College Dropout" and obscure movie references will surely be in delight with both releases.

Zilla Rocca makes music, writes for The Passion of the Weiss and hates Brett Favre and Roger Clemens.

Rich Hillen Jr.

Johnny Hollywood

When not tucked safely away deep within the womb of his underground lair eating babies or saving the city from evil doers clad only in a terry cloth cape which he fashioned himself from old bath towels, Johnny Hollywood can be found serving PBR’s and shots of Jameson to patrons of The Barbary. He also enjoys spending 40 hours a week chained to a cube inside a Fortune 500 company’s Call Center, resetting passwords for mindless corporate automatons with the memory of goldfish. But Johnny is probably best known as the bass player in the band Son of a Gun. Just for fun, he enjoys sitting with Zen monks for hours on end contemplating the mysteries of the universe (i.e. belly button lint). He is also a Reiki Master who studies ancient healing arts with Mayan Shaman in the hopes of “giving all this up” and moving into an adobe hut along on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

email Johnny: Johnnyhollywood@magnaphonemagazine.com

Marcus Shepherd

Marcus Shepherd's credits read like a who's who of Rock and Roll. As a journalist for Out-On-The-Town Magazine, he interviewed such legends as Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Patti Smith, Ray Manzerak, The Dandy Warhols, Jorma Kaukonen, and Chris Whitley, among others. His vast musical knowledge and commanding prose compelled Editor Mike Vagnoni to proclaim him the most valuable writer on his staff and grant him the most prestigious assignments. Marcus impersonated Mick Jagger in the Rolling Stones Tribute Band, Hot Rocks. Considered "The premiere Rolling Stones show in the world", they were the only band invited by The Rolling Stones themselves to kick
off both their "No Security" and "Bigger Bang" WorldTours. They have scored decades of rave reviews in both television and print and have shared the bill with many National and International Acts. Marcus renders portraits of Rock and Roll Icons that
have been featured in Art Galleries throughout thePhiladelphia area and numerous musical publications.

Ben Trout

Ben Trout is the founder of Scientology. He has described his philosophies in more than 5,000 writings, including dozens of books, and three thousand tape recorded lectures. Those who regularly employ his teachings to improve themselves and help their fellows come from all walks of life. The universal acclaim for the man — including thousands of awards and recognitions from individuals and groups and the unprecedented popularity of his works among all people — is but one indicator of the effectiveness of his technologies. More importantly, there are millions of people around the world who consider they have no greater friend.

Since his brother Greg decided he would be obsessive about music, Ben chose to be obsessive about film. Read more of Ben's work at CinemaBen:Five Years of Pushy Opinions and Sparse Proofreading

Maxwell Fig

Maxwell Fig is one of Philadelphia's premier starving artistes. Not only has he conquered the pen and the brush, he is also an accomplished underground filmmaker and musician/composer. Click here to check out his work with his startling band, the Convexities. Keep your eye on this site for more from the good Senor Fig.

S. Badiyah Austin

In February of 2003, Badiyah created a column, “Inner Visions”, in the local community newsletter Spoken Hands. She quickly carved a name for herself, known for showering her loyal readers with weekly positive affirmations and simple to read "urban psalms." She arrived at CCP to be given the position of Managing Editor at the same periodical, where she embarked on helping to mold the paper into a forum of Black culture, history, news and politics. She finally got her break a self-proclaimed playwright in April, 2004, when she received public recognition for her monologue "Lucille", featured in The Sugar Shack's, The Revolution Will Not Be Plagiarized, a dinner theater directed and run by Power 99 FM's Tiffany Bacon and Boombastic Inc. From there Badiyah has conquered many venues, such as collaborating with/writing for Focused Digizine and MoreThanMusic.