Lifelong locals Kane Schwengel and Spencer Neumann launch The Santa Monican, a free quarterly serving up hometown creativity—with politics and crime off the menu.
Santa Monica locals have plenty to argue about. Two longtime friends would rather give them something to flip through.
Kane Schwengel and Spencer Neumann –– former volleyball teammates at Samohi –– have just launched The Santa Monican, a free quarterly print magazine rooted in hometown flavor and pride.
“We really felt like the current state of local media is primarily negative, and there’s a lot of positivity here that goes unnoticed and unspoken about,” Schwengel tells The Sun.
Their answer wasn’t another news site. (We’ve got that covered, thanks!)
The Santa Monican is a 64 page glossy, community anthology filled with local essays, photography, illustration, poetry and personal stories — minus the political cage matches and disputes over bike lanes.
“Neither of us had a background in publishing or journalism,” Schwengel admits. So they’re figuring things out on the fly. And financing the venture out of pocket, for now.
“We had a couple of ads in Issue 1, so it didn’t hit as heavy as it could have,” he says. “But for now, it’s just the two of us saving up and funding it personally.”
The goal is to make The Santa Monican fully ad-supported while keeping it free for readers.
The first issue dropped November 1, with a run of 1,000 copies. The follow up, due in mid-January, will increase to at least 1,500.
Hometown Boys, Fresh Pages
Schwengel and Neumann, both 25, have local roots that go back a generation: Their fathers grew up in Santa Monica, too.
Schwengel attended Franklin Elementary where his dad, Kurt, taught Kindergarten for more than three decades. He then moved on to Lincoln Middle School.
Neumann attended Grant and John Adams. After high school, they both briefly attended Santa Monica College before splitting up to finish their degrees at different U.C. schools.
When they’re not working on the magazine, Schwengel coaches volleyball and Neumann works in field marketing.
Both realize print media may be a tough sell in a digital world. But Schwengel believes the appeal of The Santa Monica is precisely that it isn’t online.
“There’s a real appeal to having a physical object [in your hand] instead of keeping everything on a screen.”
Pick It Up, Pass It On
Copies of The Santa Monican are available at shops, cafés and other businesses around town, including: Bob’s Market, Layla Bagels, Gnarwhal Coffee Co., Forma, Zibby’s Bookstore and Chez Jay.
The current issue will stay print-only while it’s fresh. When a new edition hits the streets, the previous issue will be available online in a PDF archive.
“We’re trying our best to make the magazine a reflection of the community,” Schwengel says.
Writers, photographers, illustrators and prospective advertisers who would like to join them can reach the founders at thesantamonican.com or email spencer@thesantamonican.com.
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