The Porkers

"Things were brewing in the late 80's in 3 key areas of the world, Newcastle Australia, Boston, andOrange County USA. It was the sound of ska-punk, a fusion of high energy punk rock with thesyncopated beats of Jamaica, and The Porkers were there leading the charge alongside the likes ofThe Mighty Mighty Bosstones, No Doubt, and many others.Starting in 1987 in a lounge room in Bar Beach, The Porkers released their debut single in 1990,'Earthquakin', which climbed to almost the top of the Aussie indie charts and was then followed bytheir debut album 'Grunt!' in 1994. It was hailed as "a masterpiece of ska brilliance", but it was a lotmore than that: it was skanking rhythms mixed with punchy punk choruses, some funk and reggae,some Aussie pub rock and a distinctive Novocastrian sense of humour.The album soon gained the attention of New York label Moonska Records which licensed thealbum, as well as their 1998 follow up "Hot Dog Daiquiri". During the latter half of the '90's ThePorkers played almost every festival in Australia including Livid, The Big Day Out, The Falls, andHomebake, where in '99 they headlined the second stage and filled the break between Powderfingerand Silverchair over on the mainstage. After playing both the '98 and '99 Vans Warped Tours inAustralia they set out to conquer the USA, playing the northern Summer '99 Vans Warped from Eastto West, Playing alongside Eminem, Black Eyed Peas, Ice-T, as well as Suicidal Tendencies,Pennywise, Blink 182 and many more. 2000 saw the release of their 3rd album 'Time Will Tell' whichspawned the singles 'Too Big For Your Boots' and 'Waiting For Us', both of which were playlisted onTriple J. 2004 saw the release of 'Swinging Like Tiger Woods' which foretold the story of the progolfer's fall from grace, 3 years before it happened ! Also this year the 'Men of Pork' toured Japanand recorded and released the 'Live at Nakanoshima' album.Keeping a 7 piece band on the road is a hard job, and founding members, Pete 'Radley' Cooper, andPhil 'Bigfil' Barnard know it all too well, and after the release of their 4th studio album 'This Is ThePorkers', and the DVD 'Persistence is Futile' in 2007 they took a well earned hiatus. But then in 2014,at the request of eccentric promoter A.J. Maddah, The Porkers returned bigger than ever to openthe main stage on the Soundwave Festival, warming it up for The Living End, Placebo, Rob Zombie,and Green Day. Soon they were invited back to the USA as special guests of The Mighty MightyBosstones at their annual 'Hometown Throwdown' in Boston, followed by a month long tour throughsleet and snow over Xmas and New Year 2016-17, with the boys kicking off their 30th year in NewYork City! 2018 saw a slight hiccup with front man Pete suffering a stroke and having to undergoheart surgery, but you would never know, he was back on stage in a matter of weeks and firing on allcylinders.The Porkers are currently booking shows for the 25th Anniversary of their critically acclaimedalbum Hot Dog Daiquiri.