Urban Lounge

In 2008, after nearly a decade of working at Urban Lounge doing sound, Chris Wright became majority owner of one of Salt Lake’s most prominent 21+ venues. “I put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears into the place over the years.

It was a ‘home away from home’ and I just couldn’t imagine Salt Lake without The Urban Lounge,” says Wright. “When I heard it was in jeopardy of going out of business, I put a team together and we were able to [purchase Urban].” Although his appearances on the soundboards at Urban are more sporadic since becoming majority owner, he still makes occasional cameos, recently doing sound for School of Seven Bells and Dead Prez.

SLUG: Tell us about your first experience with SLUG Magazine.
Wright: My first SLUG experience… Damn, not sure if I can even remember that far back.  I’m a transplant to Utah—moved from Cincy to Salt Lake in ‘93, so it must have been sometime after that.  Though it wasn’t my first, the one that stands out is the issue that had Gentry Densley on the cover.

I’ve been a huge fan of his since I got one of his cassette tapes on a snowboarding trip that brought me to Utah.  It had music from his band Brainstorm on it. Of course, then I followed all his stuff, especially with Iceburn. Another experience that stands out to me was mixing audio for SLUG Localized at Spanky’s… That was over a decade ago!  That’s when I became a huge fan of the SLUG, once I met the staff and realized how ‘down to Earth’ and dedicated to the local scene they were.

SLUG: How have you seen the magazine change since then?
Wright: What’s dope is that, besides the obvious upgrades in the media, the magazine hasn’t changed that much.  SLUG continues to be the voice of the local music scene as well as the pulse of the snowboarding/skateboarding culture here in Utah.

Not to mention the fact that the magazine has the balls to say what it wants.  I’ve enjoyed so many laughs reading articles by your writers, most definitely Mike Brown.  In fact, I think one of my favorite articles by him was his interview with the fictitious skater named Zack Hammers.  Hearing the story behind that one got me laughing for sure.

SLUG: What is your favorite SLUG cover?
Wright: By far, my favorite SLUG cover is the one with Snuggles crooked grinding the top ledge of the parking garage located across the street from Urban Lounge. That is one of the most rough, rugged and raw things I’ve seen in print.  One false move and you’re gone!  Mad respect!

SLUG: How has SLUG affected your life?
Wright: My stomach is stronger because I have laughed reading so many of Mike Brown’s articles and my ears are deafer because I mixed so many SLUG Localized shows.  On the real though, I feel SLUG has always given me the ‘411’ on what’s REALLY going on in the SLC underground.

I’ve enjoyed a unique relationship with SLUG Mag doing sound at Urban Lounge for so many years. That, coupled with the coverage in the magazine, has exposed me to a serious amount of local music, local skateboarding and local snowboarding that I might have otherwise slept on.