Check out the latest in music, arts and action sports by visiting SLUGMag.com!

SLUG Magazine, an acronym for Salt Lake UnderGround, is one of Utah’s longest running and most experienced independent magazines that continues to publish regularly. Founded in 1989 by JR Ruppel, the publication started as a short music zine, printed and photo-copied using equipment from Salt Lake City Weekly (then the Private Eye, with the help of founder John Saltas). The front page of the first issue asking the community at large for help in writing content and putting together future issues.

SLUG was published as a way to document the local music scene and the national underground scene touring through town. Two decades and three ownership changes later, SLUG has grown from a six-page, black-and-white, photo-copied rag to a 72-page, full-color, electro-brite magazine that covers music, action sports, art and subculture, with a mostly-volunteer staff of freelancers. The magazine has branched out online with exclusive content, festival coverage, photo galleries, a podcast and complete archives of all their issues. SLUG has also taken part in many community events, both as a sponsor and a founding member.

Since taking over the magazine in 2000, Owner/Publisher Angela H. Brown has doubled the distribution from 15,000 to 30,000 issues. SLUG’s distribution has also branched out across the state of Utah, covering 25 counties from Logan to St. George and Tooele to Moab, including most major universities, ski resorts in Big & Little Cottonwood Canyons and Park City, and national parks such as Zion. Since these changes were implemented, SLUG has tripled its advertising, which is comprised almost entirely of local businesses and organizations.