Cleveland artist Kristal Mills, who performs as Slugg, describes her sound a mix of industrial and techno. "But then it's also noisy. And then so overall, I think it's just experimental," she said.
This year, Mills was selected as one of four recipients of support from the Panza Foundation. The Cleveland-based nonprofit offers financial assistance and mentorship to independent musicians who work outside mainstream channels.
With this support, she plans to press and release her first full-length album.
"The way that I decided to record it was like, I think I'm just gonna record this thing live," she said.
She's still figuring out the details about when it will be released.
Mills grew up in the Akron and Youngstown areas. She had a tumultuous upbringing.
"My mom left when I was seven, and she struggled with drug addiction, and my dad was a biker who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident," she said. "He was a single dad with no family. I just had a very different life compared to everybody else that I knew."
When Mills discovered she was good at math, she leaned into her academics to make friends.
"I think because I was smart, I just somehow got to connect to kids who were like me, but they also came from more stable home environments," she said. "And so I just have a good support system."
She went on to college at Youngstown State University and became a high school math teacher. But she missed school. So, she enrolled at Cleveland State University for a master's degree.
Eventually, she worked as a statistician for some of Cleveland’s biggest corporations.
But a desk job left little room for creativity. She said when depression set in, she set off on a journey of self-discovery.
“The reason why I decided to leave my corporate career was because I was stuck in that space of not having energy, not knowing what to do, not feeling any sort of passion about what I was doing but then feeling like I don't have any other realistic options,” Mills said.
She leaned heavily into the local music community, going to concerts and realizing she had found her place — and discovered the kind of music she wanted to make.
“I want to hear really nasty, hard beats, and I want it to wash over me,” she said. “I want that kind of aggression, but not intense. Like something that’s a little weird.”
Mills said the heavy music gave her a sense of calm.
"This project also was like a healing experience. It was like the reason why I want those like hard beats and that intensity is because I felt so much," Mills said.
Mills began experimenting with sound on her own. She was going through a divorce and seeking an outlet to process the complex emotions that came with that experience.
Slugg’s live performances are crucial to understanding her work.
"For me, it is personal. It's like, it's genuine. It comes from my heart. It comes from a place of, this is what I would want somebody to do and see and feel," she said.
"When I first started making these beats, I'm like, 'Oh, it's so sludgy. So nasty. And like, yeah, I'm gonna call this Slugg."Kristal Mills
Mills says that while her songs have some improvisation, the music is all calculated.
It starts with a beat on her drum machine.
"As I add my effects, it kind of starts to take on its own thing. And then I add other things. You know, I add in other layers, snares or keys or whatever," she said.
Audience reactions vary. Some listeners are entranced, while others are unsettled.
"You get that one person in the crowd that's just like making this nasty face. And then like, if I click a certain pedal on and it gets nasty and they just go, 'Oh, oh!' And they're just like, their hands are up," she said. "I'm like, 'Thank you. You're giving me what I want.' I don't know who those people are, but I think we're kind of on the same frequency. That's kind of why I do it."
With her first album in the works, Mills is focused on refining her sound and continuing to challenge herself creatively.
She’s also interested in exploring more visual elements in her performances, potentially incorporating lighting, projections or installations.
She performs Friday, May 16 in Cleveland as part of Re:Sound 2025.
