We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lucas Musgrave a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lucas, thanks for joining us today. Alright, let’s take a stroll on memory lane, back to when you were an apprentice or intern. What’s a memorable story from that time that you can share with us?

I never intended to be an artist. It was so ingrained in my life it just became an extension of who I was and my identity. There wasn’t a choice. My mother was an old masters oil painter, my father left when I was five and my mother did what she had to do to survive. So art was survival. Made it easy to do what I had to do by example. I absorbed what was around me and who would help me or offer opportunities. I did logos for free to build a portfolio and that led to people noticing me and taking me under their wings. I looked to the people who were where I wanted to be and asked how they got there. And they shared. It never hurts to ask and support them and they will usually open up if they see your passion. I had no money or education but I had passion and that takes you far

Lucas, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Growing up under a fine artist I had learned the basics of drawing. But as a teen I was drawn to the graffiti and tattooing world at 13. So I hung out with those people and this was the late 80’s so it was quite underground. The shady types and bangers. I cozied up to a Norteno fresh out of prison and he gave me a homemade tattoo machine. I was entranced. My life was skateboarding and graff and tattoos. I would trace the old Santa Cruz skateboards graphics and dream of doing art in that world. In 2000 I saw a ad in the paper for someone to do small ads and store signs for a retail store. It ended being a local skate shop I loved going to and they took a chance and hired me. I slaved away doing whatever was needed from shoes signs to gripping boards. The local brand Santa Cruz skateboards was located a short distance from the shop and the art dept guys would come in to trade stuff and noticed my designs for the shop. After a few years they offered me a position to draw for them in house. I was estatic. I had made it. That led to me designing for many of their brands (Creature, Independent trucks, etc) as well as Star Wars, Marvel, the simpsons and more.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

When I took over Santa Cruz they had basically thrown out 30 years of brand equity and attempted to recreate the brand. It wasn’t working. The first thing I did was to bring back the classic logo and art and it started working. The market tells you what your brand is through their support and sales. It’s better to make what people want than to make them buy what you want to make. So I listened. Through social media, sales data, message boards and collector forums etc. find where your customers are and ask questions and listen. They will tell you I also found otter legacy brands to partner with like The Simpsons and Star Wars and make collaborative colllections that appealed to collectors of both properties and it did really well. Blending he equity from both that created a symbiotic collection that celebrated both brands heritage.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I didn’t have many options. A 10th grade education and no art school training. But I drew constantly and stoke from everyone I liked or admired. When no one would hire me I drew for free. Flash art for tattoos, logos for friends dads who had a construction company or bed and breakfast, anything I could add to my portfolio. Eventually people started paying me little bits for art and I kept at it. Working at Burger King or wherever and drawing on my free time. Eventually people took notice and sticking to it is key. Never stop growing and working on doing what people who are in the position you want to be in do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lucasmusgrave.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: @sc_goon
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-musgrave-13754b42