SLUG Contributor Limelight
January 5, 2017
Contributor Limelight: Nic Smith
Nic Smith – Copy Editor, Fact Checker, Senior Staff Writer
In the fall of 2014, Nic Smith entered the SLUG Magazine ranks as a music writer. With each assignment, Smith has grown into the feature writer that he is today, as he deftly covers the vibrant music, art and culture that makes its home in Salt Lake City or passes through. His favorite assignments include interview features with 90s Television (Localized), Kurt Vile and Charles Moothart, and he values SLUG’s coverage of local music. With his ear to the ground via his lifestyle and work with promoters S&S, Smith was an easy choice to become a fact checker and copy editor in the spring of 2015. This month, Smith flexes his writing muscles in his interview feature with Elaine Sayer and Chloe Monson about their creative company, Good Phats, on page 16. Smith procures consistent, stellar results, and we beam with pride because of all he does!
Articles by contributor
Review: WISH – Self-Titled
WISH = Sonic Youth + Foxygen + Broken Social Scene
… read more
Review: Wand – Golem
Wand = Ty Segall + Tame Impala … read more
Review: Wand – 1000 Days
Wand = White Fence + of Montreal + Tame Impala … read more
Review: Weird Owl – Interstellar Skeletal
Weird Owl = Quest for Fire + Mondo Drag … read more
Review: Weyes Blood – Front Row Seat to Earth
Weyes Blood = Angel Olsen + Charlie Hilton + Enya … read more
Review: Ty Segall – Ty Rex
Ty Segall = Marc Bolan + Fuzz … read more
Review: Ty Segall – Emotional Mugger
It’s risky, it’s messy and it’s unsettling, but Emotional Mugger is doing something new enough to earn pause—even if only to silently mouth the phrase, “What the fuck?” … read more
Review: The Wytches – Annabel Dream Reader
The Wytches = The Smashing Pumpkins + The Black Angels + Silversun Pickups … read more
Review: Thee Oh Sees – Mutilator Defeated At Last
Thee Oh Sees = Ty Segall + The Go + Black Lips … read more
Review: The Black Watch – Sugarplum Fairy, Sugarplum Fairy
The Black Watch = Billy Bragg + Built to Spill + Tears for Fears
… read more
Review: Tall Tall Trees – The Seasonal EP
Tall Tall Trees = (GIVERS + Kishi Bashi + Animal Collective) x banjos … read more
Review: The Black Heart Rebellion – People, when you see...
The Black Heart Rebellion = Amenra + Swans … read more
Review: Spacin’ – Total Freedom
Spacin’ = Sonny & The Sunsets + The Brian Jonestown Massacre + Foxygen
… read more
Review: Steve Gunn – Eyes On The Lines
Steve Gunn = The Allman Brothers + The War On Drugs
… read more
Review: Sacri Monti – Self-Titled
Sacri Monti = Deep Purple + Thin Lizzy + Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats … read more
Review: Parquet Courts – Human Performance
Parquet Courts = Pavement + Lou Reed + Sonic Youth
… read more
Review: Moon Duo – Shadow of the Sun
Moon Duo = Psychic Ills + Night Beats … read more
Review: Mike Krol – Turkey
Mike Krol = Wavves + The Gooch Palms … read more
Review: Marion Walker – Serious Picnic
Marion Walker = The Black Angels + Moon Duo … read more
Review: Kurt Vile – b’lieve i’m goin down…
Kurt Vile = Deerhunter + Tom Petty + Lotus Plaza … read more
Review: John Wesley Coleman III – Greatest Hits
John Wesley Coleman III = Chad VanGaalen + Scott Walker
… read more
Review: Heaters – Holy Water Pool
Heaters = Max Pain & The Groovies + The Growlers … read more
Review: Hinds – Leave Me Alone
Hinds = Alvvays + Chastity Belt + The Parrots … read more
Local Review: The Boys Ranch – Self-Titled
This beachy EP from SLC natives The Boys Ranch is a collection of four tracks that hearken back to the clean, surf pop sounds of yesteryear (complete with the standard boom-tat-tat-boom-tat drum lines). Unlike the recent trend of beach-goth artists, The Boys Ranch use more classic, lighthearted guitar tones. … read more
Local Review: Spirit Tribe – Samsara EP
Spirit Tribe = Pearl Jam + mid-career Pink Floyd … read more
Local Review: PTO – Jealousy Song/Wants To Be Wanted 7”
PTO = Weezer + OK Go + Built to Spill … read more
Local Review: Mortigi Tempo – Dead Water EP
Mortigi Tempo = Albino Father + Black Rebel Motorcycle Club … read more
Local Review: Artificial Flower Company – Creamium
Artificial Flower Company Creamium Self-Released Street: 03.16 The Artificial Flower Company = 90s Television + Delicate Steve TAFC are an experimental project out of Provo who give old and new pop influences unexpected flavors within a low-budget recording style. For me, most lo-fi music sounds endear- ing. However, TAFC have a certain cabaret panache in this
Local Review: 90s Television – Bad 4 the Tooth
90s Television Bad 4 the Tooth Self-Released Street: 12.12.14 90s Television = Animal Collective + Devendra Banhart + The Strokes Bad 4 the Tooth is a seven-track collection of burned-out, sleepy tunes that sway nicely across bizarre landscapes. With a name like 90s Television, I’ll admit that I had nostalgically charged expectations. However, their style
Review: GIVERS – New Kingdom
GIVERS = Reptar + Grouplove + Dirty Projectors … read more
Review: FUZZ – II
FUZZ = Black Sabbath + WAND + Ty Segall’s green thumb
… read more
Review: Foxygen – Hang
Foxygen = Electric Light Orchestra + Ariel Pink + Destroyer … read more
Review: Father John Misty – Pure Comedy
Father John Misty = Neil Diamond + Destroyer + Roger Water … read more
Review: Destroyer – Poison Season
Destroyer = Father John Misty + David Bowie + Kenny G
… read more
Review: Damaged Bug – Bunker Funk
Damaged Bug = Ty Segall + Animal Collective + Gøggs … read more
Review: Crystal Castles – Amnesty (I)
Crystal Castles = Purity Ring + The Soft Moon + Pinkshinyultrablast … read more
Review: CFM – Still Life of Citrus and Slime
CFM = WAND + King Tuff + Sleepy Sun
… read more
Review: Cate Le Bon – Rock Pool
Cate Le Bon = Nico + Mothers + Hospitality … read more
Review: Birdie Num Num and the Spirit Squad – Subject...
Birdie Num Num and the Spirit Squad = Ty Segall + Pepper Rabbit + The Black Angels … read more
Review: Baio – The Names
Baio = Tanlines + Discovery + The Cure … read more
Review: Alex Calder – Mysteries
Alex Calder = Deerhunter + Beach Fossils + Mac DeMarco … read more
Grid Zine Fest 2017
The people behind Grid Zine Fest have been working hard to support local zine makers and those keeping the print medium alive in the public sphere. Grid Zine Fest is free and open to the public, taking place at 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, April 8, at the Salt Lake Arts Academy. … read more
Write or Cry: Good Phats
With two sold-out release parties at Kilby Court and a few hundred distributed copies behind them, Elaine Sayer and Chloe Monson are announcing the birth of their experimental zine company, Good Phats, and the reveal of their newest project, Write or Cry. … read more
Kurt Vile: Believe He’s Coming Up
Listening to Kurt Vile for the first time, or even returning to him after a long while, can feel strangely disarming. This past year has given him his largest amount of exposure to date, including live television performances, two radio singles, a Rolling Stone interview with J. Mascis, animation appearances and more. … read more
Bianca Velasquez: LocalMotive on the Move
For too many people, the blueprints to starting one’s creative DIY project tend to fade into the ethereal realm of When I Have More Time Land. However, Salt Lake’s own Bianca Velasquez, at just 22, has been involved with ventures across several disciplines. To name a few, she’s the author of Happybutton Cartoons, designer for
The New Nest: Albatross Recordings & Ephemera
In only a few short years, Hatziathanasiou has earned a local reputation (such as “Best Eccentric Nostalgia” by City Weekly) for his assemblage of offbeat recordings and strange but alluring pieces of art. … read more
Take the Brown Acid: An Interview with Daniel Hall &...
Barresi and Hall are both Los Angeles–based DJs and record shop owners who’ve been big fans of psychedelic rock throughout the course of their friendship. However, the idea to start the Brown Acid series came from a shared interest in discovering rare vinyl. … read more
Review: The Holy Automatic
Despite being a non-religious fellow, there have been a few times in my life when I really envy people who are well-versed in the Bible. Though, no duh, shame on me for not being so. The shit’s canon. Regardless, this zine presents a brilliant concept on the complicated relationship between poetry, words and their relationship to “the truth.” … read more
Review: Sugar House Review #10
Do not be fooled by the clown-pants print, dear readers—Sugar House Review has continued to do impressive work compiling writers for their magazine. … read more
Review: A Brief History of Melancholy
A Brief History of Melancholy is a collection of vignettes that attempts to capture the almost cruelly casual and realistically unsexy sufferings of everyday people. … read more
Review: Saltfront Vol. 3
The third edition of Saltfront continues to inspire with its assortment of environmentally charged works of poetry, photographs, essays and short stories. … read more
Top 5 Paisley-Crushing Psych Albums
We get it—you like Dead Meadow, bro, but there’s a lot of psych out there that breaks this mold—psych to bang your head to and to do a spooky dance to. Here are five psych albums that keep the genre interesting. … read more
On the Rise: New World Distillery
New World Distillery is out to produce one of the best agave spirits in the Rocky Mountain area. … read more
On the Rise: Dented Brick
With Dented Brick, Marc Christensen is planning on becoming one of the most generative distillers in the state. … read more
On the Rise: Distillery 36
Distillery 36 finalized their first product, a white rum, this summer after getting their DABC license in March. … read more
Localized: 90s Television
Listening to 90s Television is like funneling 40 years of pop culture at once through the mono speaker of a VHS/TV combo set. … read more
Localized: Bat Manors
In January of this year, Bat Manors released their debut full-length album, Literally Weird—a collection of beautifully crafted, multi-instrumental ballads that meander through the sweet, melancholic headspace of their primary creator, Adam Klopp. … read more
House of Lewis: Craft Lake City Performer
House of Lewis thehouseoflewis.com Emerging from the ever-growing musical crop of Provo, Utah, artistic collective House of Lewis are establishing themselves as one of the leading figures for rap and hip-hop across the state. The group recently won City Weekly’s “Best of Utah” music competition in February, which earned them an opening spot for Run
Amy Falls & Amy Fry: Craft Lake City Performer
Amy Falls & Amy Fry amyfalls.com • mdcslc.com As longtime contributors to the local dance community in Salt Lake City, choreographers/performers Amy Falls and Amy Fry are collaborating together for the first time. Falls has an academic background in modern dance from the University of Utah and is currently serving in a managerial position for
St. Bohéme: Craft Lake City Performer
St. Bohéme facebook.com/StBoheme Picture the light ambience of street players busking on an old Parisian street: accordions and violins, small guitars and light trumpets. This is the sound of St. Bohéme. As the ongoing vision of musician/songwriter Beaux Underwood, this French swing, gypsy folk, classical contemporary ensemble (there’s no easier way to say it) is
Nick James: Craft Lake City Performer
Nick James facebook.com/SirNickJames Nick James is a DJ, writer, hairdresser and entrepreneur from Salt Lake City. As the current owner of both The People’s Coffee and its neighboring salon, Nick James Hair, James’ live performances have become rarer in the past few years. However, the Craft Lake City DIY Festival will be getting the
BEACHMEN with Koala Temple, High Counsel, Palace of Buddies 09.18...
The Urban Lounge has been doing this thing lately where they showcase local music to the public every week at no cost. It’s a simple “walk in and enjoy yourself” strategy to support our homegrown heroes. As a Salt Laker who doesn’t really attend farmer’s markets or other such gatherings, I try to catch as many of these as I can. Besides, organic produce doesn’t have shit on the ripeness of this lineup. … read more
Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band @ Urban Lounge 09.24 with...
When Peyton and his posse take the stage, they’re greeted with saloon-style whistling and hollering. Sporting a pair of workman’s overalls and a scruffy beard, Peyton looks like he just finished picking crops for 10 cents a barrel. … read more
Fly Moon Royalty @ The Shred Shed 09.25 with Durandal,...
In the song “Action Speaks,” Fly Moon Royalty tell a story of attraction in a kind of back-and-forth dialogue style. Action J runs his mouth at top speeds about his fascination with a woman while Boo responds to him in choruses of slower, soulful words. … read more
Hell of a Ride, Into the Wide: Interview with Delta...
Almost two years has gone by since Delta Spirit’s last album release, and the boys from San Diego have been busy moving across the country, fighting cramped spaces, replacing damaged equipment and constructing their moodiest album to date. Thankfully, SLUG had a chance to talk briefly with bassist and Delta Spirit co-founder Jon Jameson about their new release Into the Wide. … read more
Delta Spirit @ Urban Lounge 10.20 with SACCO
In any event, by 9 p.m. the dance floor is already filled with people, and the drip is steady underneath the approving eye of Jerry Sloan. The early birds are ready to go, and the main floor begins to compact as SACCO prepares their set. The width of space they have to play on is about the length of Shaquille O’Neal’s shoe, but the trio takes a strong stance against the ledge and faces the crowd. … read more
Foxygen 10.21 @ Urban Lounge with Dub Thompson
When I heard that Foxygen canceled their opening spot with MGMT for the Twilight Concert Series last year, the news hit me pretty hard. So I have to admit, after hearing that they were coming to Salt Lake City this fall, I withheld my enthusiasm—I’ve been hurt before. But tonight, the marquis of Urban Lounge proudly boasts their arrival, and it thaws my cold, nervous heart. Uh, I mean … “Word.” … read more
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. @ Urban Lounge 10.27 with Miniature...
I’ve been a junkie of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. ever since I first caught that guitar riff on “Vocal Chords” a couple years ago while cleaning my kitchen. It’s a hell of a song. If you haven’t listened to its hometown album, It’s a Corporate World, you should make out to it. Seriously. … read more
The Wytches @ Kilby Court 11.13 with Max Pain and...
It’s the first half-rain, half-snow storm of the winter, and small pairs of dedicated concert attendees hide inside the shelter of the Kilby Court playing space where their breath can’t be seen. Outside, the drips of sleet have a tendency to put out cigarettes and I do my best to achieve lung cancer while watching members of Max Pain and The Groovies huddle over the amplifiers that they’re carrying in from the van. … read more
Review: Branches and Twigs
If you’re a typical resident of Salt Lake City, or perhaps even just “The West,” there’s a chance that your ancestors aren’t very clear, mentally. Meaning, you can’t say much about your greatgreat-grandparents other than that you have a vague awareness that they belonged to the nomadic, proletariat mass of people who left their homes at some point for greener pastures. … read more
Exploring Craters: The Soft Moon and the Making of Deeper
Perhaps it’s not too dramatic to say that listening to The Soft Moon is like wading into the riptide of a black pool—to immerse yourself in the tremulous and unpredictable forces of the project’s single visionary, Luis Vasquez.
Monument Cabs: Small Beginnings, Big Sounds
Dave Jones and Max Johnson, bandmates in Oldtimer and owners of Monument Cabs, have been friends for over 15 years. They officially started their company just five years ago, but their experience with DIY craftsmanship goes further back than even their friendship.
The Wanderer’s Tradition: An Interview with Bombino
Omara Moctar, known internationally as the Nigerien psych-rock hero Bombino, is the local and living legend of a small tribe in the country of Niger. While on his international tour, Salt Lake will have the good fortune of seeing him at no charge at The Salt Lake County Building on May 15–17 for The 30th Annual Living Traditions Festival this summer. Recently, SLUG was able to interview Moctar about his music and his message.
Christmas Wish List from the Underground: A Collection of Appeals...
Remember when you were young and anxious, desperately propelling yourself up from the tile floor of a shopping mall with your toes just to glimpse the red mess of a man who, according to your sources, planned on hooking it up big time? We remember. That’s why SLUG recently sat down with a handful of members from Utah’s underground music community and asked them some irresponsibly Christian-based questions about what they want for Christmas this year. … read more