Cheslow stated, "My main goal was to write about music from a female perspective, and that included writing about the fact that female musicians weren't taken seriously." Her first fanzine was "If This Goes On", co-published with Colin Sears from 1982–83, before joining Sears' band Bloody Mannequin Orchestra (BMO). BMO combined hardcore punk with noise rock, no wave, and improvisation, and their recordings came out on WGNS. "If This Goes On" featured an early Minor Threat interview. It also featured an interview with The Raincoats. Along with doing bands and zines, Cheslow had a radio show on freeform station WMUC-FM.