SDK History Pt. 1
Starting this week I am going to be doing a weekly throwback series about the history of #SDK, I want to start the series at the very beginning with this photo, me in the black hoodie and Label in the grey. Yes, this was before I had hair on my head or my face😎
This is how it all began, first of all this photo was taken at the old Ephin Shop way back in 2005. Around the same time the name “Stompdown Killaz” was created by both Label and myself.
Back then things were pretty terrible, I will only speak for myself on this issue but drug abuse, depression and anxiety was an everyday problem. It was a dark time and it felt almost as if there was no hope for the future. I was an angry lost young man. Label was in a very similar situation as mine and things needed to change fast!
One day before we even came up with the name SDK, Label and I decided we needed to find a way out of this hole. We needed something badly but we didn’t know what that “something” was. So we did what we always did, we got fucked up, we grabbed some very strong cheap beer from a pub in Surrey BC called “The Moose” and we went to the Guildford mall parking lot, where the old Walmart used to be, and we sat, smoked and drank all day.
Something happened that day, maybe it was desperation or fate, who knows. What I do know is that was the birthday of what would later be known around the world as STOMPDOWN KILLAZ.
All day we brainstormed, coming up with ideas, some insane, some brilliant, but we wrote everything down. After many hours we decided to start a business based on ART. Label was and still is one of the most talented people I have ever met in my life, he is also a natural comedian. I knew we would be successful I just didn’t know how.
We designed our own business cards some of you might remember, it was an amazing drawing by Label, the word “Stompdown” and a jungle background with the silhouette of a soldier and his rifle (photo 2,3) We had no idea about business or even what we wanted to do, so we decided to just try anything, graphic design, custom murals, we even started selling spray paint. The 2 of us would walk down the street handing out our cards to any business that would let us in the door, most wanted nothing to do with these 2 scary looking wierdos. It was disheartening and seemed impossible.
We managed to get a few mural jobs here and there but times were very tough and it only got worse, but we never gave up. Probably because there was absolutely no plan B. It was success or death.
I will continue the story of SDK every Thursday and explain what happened next. Thank you for reading and thank you to the people who have been with us since day one, and thank you to all the new ones along the way! Love you all. To be continued...
-Q