About SCUMDOG Entertainment
Everything you ever wanted to know but were afraid to ask.
- who, what, when, where, why, how -
What is SCUMDOG Entertainment? What does it do?
SCUMDOG Entertainment is a loosely organized company consisting of people who once worked for the same retail outlet in Lubbock, TX.
The group used to throw some killer parties. Now they offer free social commentary (primarily focusing on their years in the retail trenches) and low-cost simple-yet-elegant design services. Keep an eye out for more parties in the coming months/years, too.
Who is SCUMDOG Entertainment?
SCUMDOG Entertainment consists of SCUMDOGs and SCUMDOG Soldiers. These days, the founders are the primary active members, though this tends to change from time to time. The founders are:
- j3ph - a music buyer for a medium-sized retail chain
- Migedy Mark - a store manager for the same chain
- Steev - an internal consultant for a large high-tech company
When was it founded? When did it start offering services?
The group was founded in mid/late-1999 on a slow Saturday night at the store. j3ph, Mark, and Steev were all working in the music department, and a discussion of Jerry Springer came up. j3ph mentioned having seen Oderus Urungus from GWAR on the show, lecturing a teenager about how he should not try to emulate the band. Steev had seen it as well, and the line that stuck out to both of them was Urungus’s bark of, “So you wanna be a scumdog?” Much laughter ensued at this recollection.
The music department’s associates had always had a bit of pride in themselves / their dept. (and well they should have, they totally rocked), so Mark suggested that they begin to call themselves “Scumdogs.” A day or so later, he decided that the group should be “The Scumdog Clan.” Being a member of the group became a bit of a status symbol among the store’s staff, at least in the eyes of the founders. A loose hierarchy was also established, with music associates being the only “true” Scumdogs (the rest of the department’s staff was soon inducted). “Cool” employees from other departments were named as “honorary Scumdogs,” also called “Scumdog Soldiers.”
During this time, Master P’s No Limit Entertainment was one of the biggest games in the rap business. j3ph and Steev decided that it would be funny to change their group’s name and symbology to emulate No Limit’s: thus, SCUMDOG Entertainment was born. Aside from adding “Entertainment” to the name, the group also adopted a tank as its logo.
The group began having SCUMDOG-branded parties in late 1999. It began to design album covers in 2002. The first gig it promoted was in late 2003. That also marked its entrance into the wonderful world of flyer design. One of those bands, Nosmo King (now Icarus Fixed) also contracted their website’s design from SCUMDOG Entertainment at that time, shortly after the group had redesigned GwD’s site.
Where did it all start? Where are they now?
All SCUMDOGs, at one time or another (in the late 1990s/early 2000s), worked for the same media-entertainment store in Lubbock, Texas (while many of them attended Texas Tech University). They were primarily employees of the store’s music department.
Most SCUMDOGs have moved on from Lubbock in the years since the group was founded. j3ph now resides in Amarillo, TX. Mark is in the San Antonio area, and Steev lives in Houston.
This seems pretty silly. Why?
Originally, the name was used as a status symbol of sorts for the employees within the store. Once a logo was adopted, it became a means of establishing continuity between the group members’ parties. In time, SCUMDOG parties became legendary (though perhaps “infamous” is a better word).
It was later decided that the group would do small-scale concert promotion (to go along with the parties and the “Entertainment” in the name) and simple, elegant graphic design, primarily for gig flyers, album covers, logos, and musician/band websites.
Why musicians/bands? Because, deep down, we’re all still music associates at heart. *Sniffle*
How do they do it?
Well, people are always told to “write what you know,” so they do. Each of SCUMDOG Entertainment’s mighty publications is, at least tangentially, related to the members’ work in the retail industry.
As for their services, they are primarily done with the usual tools (e.g. Photoshop, digital cameras, scanners, notepad, your mom, etc.).
