Skumboyz was conceived by Jake in October 2015, who was, at the time, playing drums for a local bar band in Fredericksburg. Looking to branch out to a faster and heavier sound, he recruited his two bandmates, Julius the guitarist and Kris the bassist, to start a new project. The three sat down and decided on the name Skumboyz for this new band, and after seeing What We Do Is Secret, they knew the exact direction they wanted Skumboyz to go in. Jake decided to become the vocalist for their new band, and the trio quickly recruited Ty Die, who had previously played in other local bands (such as Banned Class and Model Train Wreck), as their drummer. On November 19th 2015 the group had their first practice, and only a month later had booked their first show at an underground art showcase. By March 2016 they had recorded and released their first demo, “8 Demos And A Basement” and contributed a track to Richmond-based DIY label Tired And Pissed records first compilation.
The group quickly built up a local following and strengthened relationships with other regional bands; beginning to play shows from DC to Virginia Beach, and always returning the favor and booking their friends in their hometown of Fredericksburg. However, many of these shows failed to continue past the first set as they were often shut down by the police. Not even a year after their initial formation, Jake had joined another project: a DC-based band featuring members of now-disbanded underground DC icons Bust Off, known as BBC. From this close relationship with Bust Off and BBC, a new regional festival was born, bringing in bands from across the mid-Atlantic, known as Snot Fest. However, immediately after the first Snot Fest, in June 2016, Ty Die left the band.
The final missing piece of Skumboyz was found in Richmond drummer Maxwell Murder, who also performed in the punk band Pissing Contest and the goth rock/black metal project Aural Exile. With Maxwell, the band quickly resumed playing shows across the region, contributed a track to Tired And Pissed Records second compilation, and in February 2017 released their second demo entitled “Get Over It!”. Jake eventually left BBC to focus more time on Skumboyz, and as the months went on, the four decided that it was time to to record their debut LP. Work on the LP officially began in June of 2017, and during the production period, Skumboyz hit several milestones. These include opening up for DRI on their Summer 2017 tour, performing at the final Bust Off show alongside Mike of Doom and Misled Youth, playing the second annual Snot Fest, contributing an exclusive track to the “Domestic Terror: Volume 1” compilation album (released December 2017), and opening up for the Cro Mags and Beyond in March of 2018.
In late 2017, Jake joined Richmond-based band The Donalds as their drummer, but soon left due to time constraints. Similarly, Maxwell Murder began a new project in early 2018 called Lounge Lizzard. Considered by many to be an underground supergroup of sorts, it features members of a number of regional bands, including Skumboyz, Pissing Contest, Cremains, The Donalds, and Toxic Moxie. In May 2018 Skumboyz finished recording their LP (titled “Underage Thinking”), and only a month later played alongside Cannabis Corpse at the third Snot Fest. In October 2019, Skumboyz self-released two singles, “Who Do You Think You Are?” and “Blotter” to promote their upcoming album. The next month, they self-released their debut LP “Underage Thinking” on the third anniversary of the band’s first practice. In early 2019, the “Underage Thinking” LP was released on cassette tape by Vinyl Conflict Records.
Influences: Bad Brains, Black Sabbath, Black Flag, Children of October, D.R.I., Dead Kennedys, Descendents, G.G. Allin, GBH, The Germs, Misfits, Mötley Crüe, Municipal Waste, The Ramones, T.S.O.L.
