FEEDING THE ART MONSTER

A few months ago, SLUG Magazine called me up to pitch a story idea. They wanted to do a feature on Anthony Lucero. The editor that called me, Esther, started telling me all about him, his art and the band that he played in, Gaza. I heard her out, then when she was done, and I had accepted the assignment, I let it slip that I actually knew Anthony already and was excited to be writing a story about him.

He and I go back a ways. We were never great friends, but we always got along really well, had a lot of mutual friends and almost played in a band together more than once. His old band Compilate played shows with Cherem and Tamerlane a whole bunch of times and they were really good.

He and I met up one afternoon and talked for nearly an hour about all kinds of things. He's an awesome guy and great artist and I was glad I got the chance to write about him.

Head over to the SLUG Magazine website to read the whole thing, or pick up an actual physical copy when you're out and about. February is a short month, so it'll only be on the stands for about another week and a half. Make sure you grab one. Anthony drew the cover art too, and it looks fantastic.

SLUG Magazine -- When the last bell rang at Valley Christian School in Kearns, 8-year-old Anthony Lucero gathered his things just like the rest of the students. Only instead of heading for the door to be free until the next morning, Lucero headed to another part of the building. 

Valley Christian School was a K-12 institution with around 60 students total. Lucero’s mom was an English teacher for the junior high– and high school–age kids, and was often stuck after hours grading papers and finalizing lesson plans—which meant that he would be stuck there, too. Lucero and his friend Garritt Tucker, whose mom was also a teacher at the school, needed a way to pass the time each day. The two of them would unfold sheets of computer paper—the kind that was attached together with feed strips down each side—lay them out and just draw. 

“We’d have contests to draw sharks and other creatures and just make them as long as we could,” says Lucero. “Every kid gets showered with praise for whatever they do, but that’s the earliest encouragement that I can remember.”

Read the rest of the article at SLUG