From SLUG to Craft Lake City: How SLC’s Underground Built a Creative Community

Описание: Salt Lake City’s underground culture helped shape the city we know today. In this episode of Utah Stories, we sit down with SLUG Magazine publisher and Craft Lake City founder Angela Brown to talk about the rise of independent media, DIY culture, and what it means to build creative institutions in Utah.

Angela shares the origins of SLUG as a punk, skateboard, and music zine, growing up in a conservative LDS environment, and finding identity through alternative culture. The conversation becomes deeply personal as she discusses family experiences with serious mental illness, the long-term impact of treatment decisions, and why these issues are still rarely spoken about openly in Utah.

We also explore how Craft Lake City grew from a small DIY event into one of Utah’s leading arts nonprofits, why keeping creatives in Utah matters, and how supporting local businesses and artists helps preserve the character of our communities.

CHAPTERS
00:00 – Welcome & Utah’s shrinking media landscape
01:45 – The origins of SLUG and Salt Lake’s underground scene
05:00 – Punk, skate culture, and pre-internet DIY media
08:30 – Growing up LDS and finding alternative identity
12:00 – Creativity, independence, and early publishing influence
15:00 – Mental illness in families and its long-term effects
19:00 – Medication, side effects, and caregiving realities
24:00 – Why mental health is rarely discussed in Utah
27:30 – Belief systems, religion, and personal agency
31:30 – From magazine to movement: starting Craft Lake City
35:30 – Building a nonprofit for Utah’s creative community
39:30 – Keeping creatives in Utah and resisting consolidation
42:30 – Why buying local strengthens communities
45:00 – Closing thoughts on culture, creativity, and independence

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