| Gorilla Biscuits | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Origin | New York City, USA |
| Genre(s) | Youth crew Hardcore punk Melodic hardcore |
| Years active | 1987–1991 2006–present (Brief reunions: 1997, 2005) |
| Label(s) | Revelation Records |
| Members | |
| Anthony Civarelli Walter Schreifels Arthur Smilios Alex Brown Luke Abbey |
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Gorilla Biscuits are a New York band on Revelation Records, consisting of Anthony Civarelli, Walter Schreifels, Arthur Smilios, Alex Brown and Luke Abbey.
Contents |
History
Early career
Gorilla Biscuits were formed when Smilios met Civorelli while they were both living in New York City and going to the same high school. They were both fans of the band Agnostic Front. They started going to hardcore shows at CBGB's on the weekends, where they met people like Ray Cappo and John Porcelly, of the band Youth Of Today. Arthur wanted to start a hardcore band and wanted Civ to sing, but Civ had no interest in singing and had to face the floor or wall while doing it in the early stages of the Biscuits. Members of the band Token Entry hooked them up with a show (Gorilla Biscuits used Token Entry's drummer, Ernie Parada for that first show), and needed a name for the still unnamed band, in order to give it to the show's promoter. A popular drug in there area at that time was quaaludes, which people called "ape shit" because the pill was so huge, eventually it evoled into Gorilla Biscuits. The name was only meant to be temporary but stayed with them. The start was rough on the band. They made poor quality demo tapes which were sold at a dollar store with no cases. The band's first official shirts were blue with a gorilla riding a skateboard, and were made using a black magic marker and an ink blotter.
Increasing popularity and hiatus
After having the early Gorilla Biscuits song "Better Than You" on one of their compilations, Revelation Records released an eponymously titled Gorilla Biscuits 7" EP in 1988, which later became a Hardcore hit. The band then toured the United States and Europe twice. The year 1989 saw the release of their first full length album, Start Today. The album became the biggest selling ever for Revelation Records, and was also the first album that was issued on C.D., alongside it's vinyl and cassette versions, as part of the routine production. The band started writing material for a second L.P. (an unreleased song, "Distance" can be seen played by the band during a performance in the 1991 documentary "Live In New York") which they never recorded, and eventually disbanded around the year 1992. Some of the members went on to play in a follow up band, CIV. Besides singing for CIV, Civ now owns a tattoo studio in New York City. Walter went on to form the post-hardcore band Quicksand. He then wrote the songs for and helped produce CIV's first album.
Reunions and the future of Gorilla Biscuits
Gorilla Biscuits briefly reunited in 1997 for a benefit at CBGB's, and played another show there on August 14, 2005 as a benefit to save the club from financial problems. In 2006 Revelation Records reissued their seminal recording Start Today. The album is remastered and features in-depth liner notes by Walter Schreifels. In the summer of 2006 they did a month-long reunion tour which featured both exclusive 7-inchs and exclusive Paul Frank t-shirts only available on tour stops. In September of 2007, Gorilla Biscuits did a month long tour across Europe, including stops in Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and England. In celebration of the European Tour, Paul Frank collaborated with Gorilla Biscuits again to produce an exclusive run of Gorilla Biscuits wallets. Only one was sold at each Paul Frank store worldwide. As of this moment there are no confirmed plans for a new Gorilla Biscuits album.
Members
- Anthony Civarelli - vocals. Civ went on to form punk rock band CIV. Starting out with Lava Records and Revelation Records, they signed a major label deal with Atlantic Records in 1995. They achieved commercial success with the single "Can't Wait One Minute More" , which was also later used in a popular car commercial. Civ is also the owner of a Long Island tattoo studio called Lotus Tattoo.
- Walter Schreifels, who played guitar and wrote most of the songs for Gorilla Biscuits, went on to be the frontman in Quicksand, one of the most influential Post Hardcore bands. Later, Walter was in Rival Schools and Walking Concert. While in Gorilla Biscuits, Walter went on to sing for the band Moondog. His reasoning being he "wanted to sing for a band. Playing guitar and writing songs for Gorilla Biscuits had always been fun but after a while I wanted to be doing something more." Moondog never actually got off the ground and Quicksand became the band he would front. He has also done extensive producing for other bands and lately he does a lot of solo acoustic shows. He has also been a member of Warzone,Youth of Today and Project X.
- Arthur Smilios - bass. Arthur had also played with Token Entry and Underdog for a little while, and after the demise of Gorilla Biscuits joined CIV with Civ.
- Alex Brown - Second guitar. He had previously been a member of the Straight Edge Hardcore bands Side By Side and Project X, before joining Gorilla Biscuits. He was also behind the New-York based fanzine and record label Schism, together with John Porcelly of Youth Of Today (who also ended up playing bass in a later incarnation of Gorilla Biscuits).
- Luke Abbey - drums. While in Gorilla Biscuits, Luke was also a member of Warzone, and had been a part of the first real line up of Judge. He was later replaced by Sammy Siegler in Gorilla Biscuits who had been in the band in the early days, and would go on to be the drummer in CIV.
Discography
| Title | Release date | Notes | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original 1987 Tape Demo Gorilla Biscuits | 1987 | Bootleg, can also be found on Walter Sings The Hits. | 99 Records |
| Gorilla Biscuits | 1988 | First 7" EP | Revelation |
| Start Today | 1989 | Their second and final album | Revelation |
| Having A Great Time... Wish You Were Here | 1991 | Last live show, soundboard recording from Germany in 1991. | ? |
| Walter Sings the Hits | 199? | Bootleg, contains a full version of Start Today with Walter on vocals instead of Civ, several live shows, and two early demos | ? |
| A Puzzle of 38 Pieces | 19?? | Bootleg | ? |
| Live At CBGB's 8/14/05 | 2005 | Bootleg | ? |
| 2 Song 7-inch | 2006 | Sold during the 2006 reunion tour. Only 20 copies were sold at each stop. It featured two brand new songs by the original line-up. | Self-released |
Compilations
- New York City Hardcore:Together, 7" (1987, Revelation Records)
- , CD (1988/1992 (reissue), Revelation Records)
- Where The Wild Things Are (1989) Blackout Records
- Threat: Music That Inspired The Movie, CD (2006, Kings Mob Productions)
Trivia
- The voice in the introduction to the song "Big Mouth" ("Yo, sucka, you got a big mouth!"), on the bands first E.P., belongs to Raybeez, singer of the New York Hardcore Skinhead band Warzone. It was later sampled again by fellow New York Hardcore band H2O on their song "Talk Too Much" from the album Thicker Than Water.
- Start Today was partly funded by friend (and Revelation Records president) Jordan Cooper's compensation from a car accident.
- Folk Punk band Defiance, Ohio covered "Things We Say" for their split with Ghost Mice
- Fall Out Boy covered "Start Today" for the Tony Hawk's American Wasteland soundtrack.
- Strike Anywhere covered "Two Sides" for their album "To Live In Discontent".
- In 2006, the track "Start Today" was contributed to the mashup album Threat: Music That Inspired The Movie, where it was remixed by Defragmentation and dubbed "Zolobovine."
- The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower used the same horn intro from "New Direction" on their song "Reichstag Rock" for their album "Love in the Fascist Brothel".
- Raised Fist covered the song "New Direction" for their album "Ignoring the Guidelines".
- 88 Fingers Louie covered the song "New Direction" for their "Totin' 40s and Fuckin' Shit Up" 10 inch (later released on the "88 Fingers Up Your Ass" CD).
- Skankin' Pickle covered the song "Start Today" for their album "Green Album".
- Concrete Cell covered "Things We Say" for their split with Satanic Surfers.
