The Scumfrog

The Scumfrog (Jesse Houk)
Jesse Houk in 2009
Background information
Birth name	Jesse Houk
Also known as	The Scumfrog
Born	October 3, 1971 (age 44) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Genres	Electronica Techno House
Occupation(s)	Disc Jockey Music producer
Years active	1997-present
Website	http://www.thescumfrog.com/

The Scumfrog (Jesse Houk) (born October 3, 1971) is a Dutch-American DJ/remixer/producer/artist, mostly known for his underground flavored remixes of artists like Kylie Minogue, Missy Elliott, New Order, and Annie Lennox and his collaborations writing and producing techno-oriented works with David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, and Sting (musician). He released four full-length albums as a solo artist (Extended Engagement 2003, Simmer 2004, A Place Where We Belong 2011 and In Case We're All Still Here 2013). As a DJ, he has toured the world many times over, between 2008 and 2014 he hosted and produced the weekly radio show/podcast Glam Scum International, and in 2015 he launched a new series of club nights named M.B.T.S.(Most Below The Surface)

Jesse Houk was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, to an American father and a Dutch mother. After finishing college, his dual citizenship allowed him to move to New York City in 1997 where he started producing music under his new alias The Scumfrog. Between 1997 and 2000 he lived between New York City—where he DJ’d Deep House and Tech House in NY’s East Village lounges such as the Opium Den – and the Netherlands where he worked with his production partner Jacques Sperwer. Jacques and Jesse released several singles under various names such as Jake & Jesse, Barbarus and a full-length album on BMG Bertelsmann Music Group under the name Resonance. In this period he also recorded his first work under the Scumfrog alias, called The Watersong, which was selected by Danny Tenaglia -- DJ Magazine’s number 1 DJ in the world at the time -- for his Global Underground Athens compilation.

After the underground buzz of The Watersong, The Scumfrog signed an album deal with Roger Sanchez, who also took him as his opening DJ on his 2001 tour. That summer, The Scumfrog single “We Love You” (based on the Beatles/Rolling Stones collaboration) went to number one in most European dance charts and put the Scumfrog name on the map.