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Skankin' Pickle | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | San Jose, California |
| Genres | Ska punk, third wave ska, punk rock |
| Years active | 1989–1997 |
| Labels | Dill Records Asian Man Records Dr. Strange Records |
| Past members | See: Skankin' Pickle member line-ups |
Skankin' Pickle was an American ska punk band formed in San Jose, California that was active from 1989 to 1997.
Skankin' Pickle first formed in December 1988, made up of students from Westmont High School and Los Gatos High School. The band played their first show on April 28, 1989, consisting of bassist and vocalist Mike Mattingly, saxophonist and vocalist Mike Park, guitarist and vocalist Lynette Knackstedt and drummer Chuck Phelps. The group recruited trombonist Lars Nylander several months later, then continued as a five-piece until the addition of second trombonist Gerry Lundquist in early 1990. [1]
In 1991, Park formed Dill Records, based out of San Jose, California, to release Skankin' Pickle's material, beginning with their debut album, the half-live, half-studio Skafunkrastapunk . Dill Records would later go on to release early material by Mu330, Slapstick, The Rudiments and Less Than Jake. Throughout their career, Skankin' Pickle adhered to a strict independent ethic, performing only all-ages shows, $5–$7 cover charges and selling their CDs for no more than $8 [ citation needed ](Park would carry this DIY ethos over to his future bands and record labels).
Skankin' Pickle toured full-time throughout the early 1990s, playing shows with such acts as Bad Manners, The Skatalites, Mustard Plug, Sublime, Let's Go Bowling, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Rancid, The Queers, Primus, Mr. Bungle, Bad Religion and Green Day. [2] The band strove to make their live shows as energetic and entertaining as possible, with the members dancing manically about the stage and engaging in such antics as baton-twirling and onstage wrestling matches. In 1994, SF Weekly voted Skankin' Pickle as one of the best unsigned bands in the Bay Area. [3]
The band released their final studio album, The Green Album , on Dr. Strange Records in 1996, a collection of cover songs and newly recorded versions of previously unreleased tracks. Shortly after its release, Mike Park chose to leave the band (news of which he announced in the album's liner notes), being replaced by Mike Liu of the Santa Clara ska punk band Janitors Against Apartheid. The group went through more member changes in the following months until only Knackstedt and Nylander remained from the "classic" line-up, though continued to perform as Skankin' Pickle for their final tour in Europe in June 1997. [4] Following this tour, the title of Skankin' Pickle was retired as the current line-up (featuring former members of Monkey and The Rudiments) continued touring, re-inventing themselves as the ska punk/pop punk band the 78 RPM's.
Knackstedt and Nylander continued playing in the 78 RPM's, recording two albums before disbanding in 2003. Following his departure, Mike Park founded his own independent record label Asian Man Records and later went on to form the ska punk bands The Chinkees and The Bruce Lee Band before branching out as a solo acoustic artist. Gerry Lundquist became a member of the St. Louis ska punk ensemble Mu330 in 1996 and Jay Vance formed the robot-themed rock band Captured! by Robots.
Mike Mattingly created former band Neosoreskin and the Deviled Egg Heads Music label. He currently performs solo shows and continues to write, record and release albums under the name Tingly, including the acoustic album Beautiful View.
On December 7, 2007, Lynette Knackstedt died in San Francisco from a drug overdose. On April 19, 2008, a benefit show was held for her at 924 Gilman Street, featuring a number of local bands and headlined by Mike Park. [5] The evening concluded with Park and Lundquist joining Monkey on stage and performing Skankin' Pickle songs. The benefit concert raised a net profit of nearly $2,000, which was donated to the Ohlhoff Recovery Programs, a Bay Area rehabilitation foundation.
On November 20, 2010, Park, Lundquist and Nylander, backed by the band Monkey, performed at the San Francisco stop of the Yo Gabba Gabba! live tour, playing a cover of the Marcia Griffiths/Bad Manners song "Feel Like Jumping".
Skankin' Pickle was unique for their unconventional melding of various genres: though primarily recognized and categorized as ska punk, the group frequently utilized elements of traditional ska, punk, funk, hardcore punk, rock, metal, reggae, rap, hip-hop, speed metal and polka into their music. Though after the departure of front man Mike Mattingly, Mike Park was generally regarded as the front man, songwriting responsibilities were evenly distributed throughout the band; lead vocals were usually split between Park, Knackstedt, Nylander and Mattingly/Miller, though the remainder of the members had sung lead on at least one recording.
Lyrically, the band also showcased diversity, ranging from silly, comedy-oriented songs ("Fakin' Jamaican") to serious and sociopolitical ("Racist World"), promoting racial equality and unity, often touching upon then-current events such as David Duke's 1992 presidential campaign ("David Duke is Running For President") and the racial controversy surrounding Ice Cube's album Death Certificate ("Ice Cube, Korea Wants A Word With You"). Most of the latter songs were written by Park, who would continue to write about themes of anti-racism in The Chinkees, The B. Lee Band and his solo work.
On Alkaline Trio's Halloween at the Metro DVD, Matt Skiba references Skankin' Pickle while playing "Goodbye Forever": "Remember last April when we saw Skankin' Pickle; Somehow the singer showed the Fireside exactly how I feel"
Canadian punkers Fucked Up have a diss track about fellow Canadian rock band Billy Talent in which they reference Skankin' Pickle twice - a nod to Billy Talent's previous ska punk incarnation known as Pezz.
On Sublime's rarities box set "Everything Under the Sun", front-man Bradley Nowell mentions Skankin' Pickle in an interview with WBCN Boston (Disc 2, Track 12):
WBCN - "...so, welcome to town. Playing TT's tonight, in Cambridge..."
Nowell - "With Sprung Monkey."
WBCN - "With Sprung Monkey?"
Nowell - "I mean Skankin' Pickle. I'm sorry, I always confuse the two."
WBCN - "Heh, heh, heh... It's easy to do..."
Nowell - "Skankin' Pickle is way better than Sprung Monkey..."
1989–1993
1993–1996
| Post-Green Album (early 1996)
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| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Skafunkrastapunk | Dill Records |
| 1992 | Skankin' Pickle Fever | Dill Records |
| 1994 | Sing Along With Skankin' Pickle | Dill Records / Asian Man Records |
| 1995 | Skankin' Pickle Live | Dill Records |
| 1996 | The Green Album | Dr. Strange Records |
| Year | Title | Label | Tracks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Skankin' Pickle cassette | Dill Records |
* all unreleased versions | ||
| Year | Title | Label | Tracks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Fever | Beach Recordings | Side A: "I Missed the Bus"/"David Duke is Running for President" Side B: "Ice Cube, Korea Wants a Word with You"/"Pass You By" |
| 1995 | Hi, My Name Is Eric Yee. My Favorite Band Is Green Day! | Dill Records | Side A: "My Name Is Eric Yee. My Favorite Band Is Green Day"/"Losin' Again" Side B: "Sally Brown" |
Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes, Roger Lima, Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxophone).
Mike Park is a Korean American musician and progressive activist. His musical ventures include Skankin' Pickle for whom he both played the saxophone and sang, The Chinkees, The Bruce Lee Band, and Ogikubo Station, as well as an acoustic solo project under his own name. After his time with Skankin' Pickle he went on to found Asian Man Records, a label which he has run out of his garage in California since 1996 with only help from his parents and friends. Asian Man Records supports mostly ska and punk bands. Park will support any band as long as it is "anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-prejudice". Park has used Asian Man Records to release his own music, in addition to providing a start for smaller bands to allow them to grow, including Less Than Jake, Alkaline Trio, and The Lawrence Arms. In 1999 he formed the Plea for Peace Foundation an organization whose aim is "to promote the ideas of peace through the power of music", something which Park has been trying to do with his own bands and with the help of other groups.
Shaken 69 was a ska side-project started in 1995 in the Berkeley/Oakland area for musicians including Rancid's Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, The Uptones' Paul Jackson and Eric Din, Skankin' Pickle's Lars Nylander and Mike Park and former Operation Ivy and Schlong drummer Dave Mello.
Slapstick is an American punk-ska fusion band from the Chicago area that was primarily active from 1993 to 1996. Started by a group of friends from the Elgin area, the group took inspiration from Operation Ivy and the guttural punk vocals of Crimpshrine. Though they had made the decision to break up a couple of weeks beforehand, their original final show was October 5, 1996 at the Metro with Less Than Jake and Skankin' Pickle. Since disbanding, Slapstick has periodically reunited to perform shows for various reasons, including benefits and anniversaries. The band is known for being the root of the "Slapstick Family Tree", a group of musical projects which spawned from members of Slapstick, including Alkaline Trio, The Lawrence Arms, The Broadways, Tuesday, Duvall, Colossal, The Honor System and The Falcon.
Growing Up is the debut album by Japanese punk rock band Hi-Standard. It was released on an American label, Fat Wreck Chords, in February 1996. According to Fat Mike in a 2015 interview with CBC, it sold 700,000 copies during the heyday of Fat Wreck Chords in the late nineties.
Ear of the Dragon (1995) is a CD album released on the Fortune 5 label in collaboration with A Magazine. It is a compilation of tracks by American and Canadian indie bands which contained Asian-American members. The album contains a broad range of American indie music styles and notable indie artists from the early to mid 1990s including indie rock, punk, ska punk, slowcore (Seam), cuddlecore (cub), and key players in post-rock.
The Bruce Lee Band is the name given to the releases of Mike Park and his backing band which up until 2005 included members of Less Than Jake and the Rx Bandits. As of 2014, the collective consisted of touring and recording members from Skankin' Pickle, MU330, Hard Girls, The Chinkees, Bomb the Music Industry, The Arrogant Sons of Bitches, among others.
Dill Records was a small punk rock/ska record label based out of Monte Sereno, California, that put out CDs/records from 1989-1998. The name is an allusion to initially the label's only band, Skankin' Pickle. The record label was started by Mike Park, a.k.a. Bruce Lee of Skankin' Pickle. The first other band with a release on Dill Records was the Tantra Monsters in 1994. After the breakup of Skankin' Pickle, Mike Park continued releasing records, beginning the label Asian Man Records in 1996. Asian Man and Dill Records coexisted until 1998. Asian Man re-released many albums originally released by Dill Records, as all releases are now out of print and Dill Records is no longer in operation.
The Chinkees are an American ska punk band fronted by Mike Park. The group debuted with 1998's The Chinkees Are Coming!, and followed with 1999's Peace Through Music and 2002's Searching for a Brighter Future before a greatest hits album was released in 2003. According to the liner notes for the band's debut album The Chinkees Are Coming!, the music was recorded by members of the band Tuesday with vocals provided by Mike Park. Subsequent albums were recorded all or in part by members Park, Miya Osaki, Greg Alesandro, Jason Thinh, and Steve Choi, as well as "guest" musicians, including Slapstick and Tuesday drummer Rob Kellenberger and Link 80's Steve Borth, often with members trading and playing different instruments than listed. All of the members were involved with the ska/punk scene. Jason Thinh was from the band Short Round, Miya was a member of the Santa Cruz punk trio The Muggs, Greg Alesandro a member of San Jose band Statue Man, and Steve Choi later becoming a keyboardist and guitarist for Rx Bandits in 1999.
The Rudiments are an American ska punk band from the East Bay, California, United States.
Skankin' Pickle Fever is the second studio album by American ska punk band Skankin' Pickle, released in 1992 on the band's own label, Dill Records.
Sing Along With Skankin' Pickle is the third studio album by the American ska punk band Skankin' Pickle. It was released on Dill Records in 1994. Four of the bandmembers contributed to the songwriting. The band supported the album with a North American tour.
Skankin' Pickle Live is a live album by American ska punk band Skankin' Pickle, released on Dill Records in 1995.
Skafunkrastapunk is the debut album by American ska punk band Skankin' Pickle, released in 1991 on Dill Records and subsequently re-issued in 1995.
The Green Album is the fourth and final studio album by American ska punk band Skankin' Pickle, released in 1996 on Dr. Strange Records.
George Fraska (Hosni) (born August 3, 1975) is a songwriter and producer, who was born in Monrovia, Liberia, Africa. He is known for his role as lead vocalist, guitarist, and drummer for several underground bands such as Startled Calf, The Smiley Kids, Four!, the Scooterz and many other projects. Including an Operation Ivy coverband called The Freeze Up's and a Minor Threat coverband called Minor Treat.
The Chinkees Are Coming is the first studio album by the all-Asian ska punk band the Chinkees. Released in 1998 on Asian Man Records, it was the first of three studio albums by the band. Some of the album's proceeds went to anti-racist organizations.
Stretch Armstrong was a popular third-wave ska band from Provo, Utah. Formed in 1990, Scott Van Wagenen, the lead singer, was the main constant in the band's initially oft-changing lineup. By 1994, the lineup had settled on Darren Hutchison (bass), Dave Thomas (drums), Mike South (guitar), Dan Nelson (sax), Ryan Ridges (keyboard), Brian Rowley (sax), and Sterling Acomb (sax). Their ska music included elements of punk, jazz, and circus music. Their concerts were full of energetic dancing and moshing.
Lynette Christine Knackstedt was an American punk and ska musician, as well as a member of the band Skankin' Pickle.
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