Grog Shop co-founder Matt Mugridge died Thursday, May 7. He would have turned 42 on May 13.
Well-liked and well-rounded, Mugridge played hockey at Saint Ignatius, then got the music bug at the University of Cincinnati. He lived and died as a larger-than-life, infectiously fun-loving presence on the Cleveland music scene. The talkative Mugridge was one of the Grog’s initial three partners who established the venue in 1992. He remained with the concert club for three-and-a-half years. He helped lure acts like Oasis, the Offspring and the Flaming Lips early in their career.
“The music was all him,” says Grog co-founder and current owner Kathy Simkoff. “He’s the one that knew the bands and loved the bands. It was totally his passion and vision when we started. There would be no Grog Shop without him.”
After leaving the Grog, Mugridge opened the Comet Club on Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights and ran a Columbus reggae bar. He briefly lived in Las Vegas and England, then returned to Cleveland. Mugridge established Flash Films in 1999. He traveled regionally, shooting concerts by national stars like Neko Case and local bands big and small from the Black Keys to the Very Knees. His video archive is at youtube.com/mattmug13.
Even after Mugridge retreated from the bar business, he remained active in local music, pouring his paychecks into different projects. The fiercely loyal Mugridge was a champion of the ClePunk community, the Cleveland collection of old-guard lifers. Mugridge sang and played guitar in bands like the Sellouts, the Skipped and, most recently, the Drexels. Reviewing the Skipped’s 2004 Revved Up, former Scene music editor Jason Bracelin wrote, “Singer-guitarist Matt Mugridge slurs and slobbers … His guitar playing [brightens] the band’s mostly mid-paced numbers with frothing solos — instant anthems that are all curled lips and clenched fists.”
Mugridge’s family will receive friends Thursday, May 14, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at the DeJohn-Flynn-Mylott Funeral Home (4600 Mayfield Rd.), with a tribute service following at 1. The Beachland (15711 Waterloo) will host a memorial benefit from 4-7:30 p.m. Friday. Visitors are welcome to bring a dish to the potluck dinner.
Mugridge hanged himself in the attic of his North Collinwood home. The sudden suicide surprised even those who knew him best. “He was a true rock-and-roller, a true punk rocker, always bucking the establishment,” says a close friend. “In the end, he went out with a flash. He didn’t just roll over and die. He made a statement: ‘Fuck you’ to the world.” — D.X. Ferris
EDITOR’S NOTE, MAY 20, 2009: This report generated much negative response (see here) and there have been requests to remove the last paragraph of the article from the web site. As a general rule Scene does not make substantive changes to online content, but instead attaches relevant follow-ups.
This article appears in May 20-26, 2009.
I was deeply hurt by the last paragraph of this article. It’s bad enough that Matt’s family and friends are dealing with the shock and pain of the loss. Why exacerbate the situation by including the details of his suicide? Matt was a sweet and complex person — and a rocker. But how can you assume what his last sentiments were as he was exiting this world? I’m ashamed for you DX.
nice job butchering an article that could have been tastful and a nice way for those who didnt know him to learn a few things about him. Instead you turned yourself into an idiot tabloid writer. Ill close with a “fuck you” to you
I agree that the “Fuck you to the world” part should have been left out, and I blame the writer for putting it in there. On the other hand, the writer did not come up with that phrase. It is a quote by one of Matt’s supposed friends. Don’t you think he/she deserves some blame too, for uttering such a stupid phrase to a reporter?
THANKS to human piece-of-shit DX FERRIS for publicizing private info, concerning someone’s son, brother, and uncle which he had no right to expose in a major public forum. Your betrayal of your responsibility to the public, your employers, the Fourth Estate (you obviously don’t even know WHAT THE FUCK that means), and most of all, the DIGNITY and PRIVACY of your subject and his family, is abysmally beyond comprehension.
And by THANKS, I mean go FUCK OFF, you stupid piece of shit. scumbag lowlife.
I would ask Clepunk readers to lodge your complaint on this unexcusable and careless breach of the social contract with the editors, and publishers of Cleveland Scene Magazine, and I am serious in that I would have this ASSHOLE FIRED, but I am just one.
I can’t belive that after all the pain and damage you’ve caused for the Mugridge family and Matt’s dear friends, you still have the gall to leave that final paragraph on your website. My pleas were an appeal to your human decency, ut it is apparent that it does not matter to you. Once again, in the interest of the family’s dignity and privacy, please remove the final paragraph from this article online, and that will show that you are at least making an attempt to right a horrible error on your part.
very pained, disgusted, and outraged,
Tony Urso, clevealnd
First, why is everyone blaming Ferris, when he’s not credited with writing this?
Secondly, a ‘true punk rocker’ would’ve been proud of such a bold epitaph.
Finally, why should scene have given a single shit more about how his friends and family would emotionally receive that paragraph, than Matt did before hanging himself?
“It’s really all the same, that no one’s happy and nobody’s to blame.” -br