SLUG Magazine

SLUG Magazine

SLUG's Annual Bike Issue cover (2015).
Editor	Alexander Ortega
Categories	local music, art, action sports
Frequency	Monthly
Circulation	32,000 (monthly)
Publisher	Eighteen Percent Gray
First issue	December, 1988
Country	United States
Based in	Salt Lake City, Utah
Language	English
Website	www.slugmag.com

SLUG - an acronym for SaltLakeUnderGround, is a free monthly magazine based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. SLUG Magazine features music, lifestyle, arts and events with interviews, reviews, and articles.

Established in 1989, SLUG Magazine has remained in print for over 25 years, making it one of Utah’s longest-running independent magazines. They distribute over 32,000 issues monthly across Utah and Idaho, including every University campus in Utah except for BYU. Angela H. Brown took ownership of SLUG Magazine in 2000, and is the current owner of the publication. Under her ownership, SLUG launched SLUGMag.com, which publishes online exclusive content not found in the print issues.

The magazine’s current tagline is “Causing A Scene Since 1989,” a reference to the magazine’s important role in documenting and promoting Salt Lake City’s local music scene since its inception.

SLUG Magazine was founded in 1989 by JR Ruppel in Salt Lake City, Utah. Created in the back room of Salt Lake City Weekly (then The Private Eye) with the help of John Saltas, the first issue of SLUG was only four pages long, had a print run of less than 100 issues, and was printed using a photocopier. Early issues of SLUG were distributed in Salt Lake City and surrounding areas. In 1994, Ruppel sold the magazine to Gianni Ellefsen, who distributed SLUG nationally, as well as locally.

On November 9, 1999, Rick Ziegler, then owner of Salt City Records, received a cease and desist letter from Anne M. Wall, Brand Protection Manager for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002, regarding ads that ran in the magazine. The magazine printed the letter in its December issue and adopted a phrase from it, “Neither Humorous Nor Appropriate,” as its slogan. In 2000, SLUG managing editor Angela H. Brown, an employee of SLUG since 1997, purchased the magazine from Ellefsen. Brown, a freelance writer and photographer from Utah, took the magazine back to its local roots, while also continuing the magazine’s coverage of national music acts.

In 2014, SLUG received 9 awards from the Utah Headliners Chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists. SLUG is now printed in color on newsprint. Since 2000, SLUG’s circulation has increased from 15,000 to 32,000 copies throughout Utah. In July 2011, SLUG launched its weekly podcast, SLUG Soundwaves, an interview format program that serves as an audio extension of the magazine’s coverage. SLUG’s monthly Localized showcase highlights the local alternative music culture of Salt Lake City.

SLUG Magazine’s core focus is the Salt Lake community. However, SLUG is also known for its interview-based features with well-known personalities of underground music culture, like Henry Rollins, Michael Gira of Swans, and Dale Crover of Melvins—as well as local Utah bands such as The Stench, SubRosa, Cult Leader, and many others. SLUG has also maintained their monthly “Localized” feature, which spotlights two local Utah bands/acts and provides pre-coverage for a correlating show for the bands written about in the feature. It began in the May 2001 issue and has been a consistent feature ever since.