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Johnny Socko
Biography
Johnny Socko was founded by Dylan Wissing in Bloomington, Indiana in 1990. Influenced by genre-hoppers like Fishbone and Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as the more traditional funk and soul of James Brown and Parliament/Funkadelic, Socko also had an affinity for the party rhythms of hip-hop, ska and reggae. But after almost ten years of being lumped into the sometimes-schlocky third-wave ska scene, Socko went through a transformation, and emerged as a solid, road-tested rock & roll band.



In the early nineties, Johnny Socko broke out of its regional existence, embarking on a nationwide tour with American ska stalwarts Bim Skala Bim. The sound was raucous and crowd-driven, with liberal doses of toilet bowl humor thrown into the mix to differentiate the band from its third wave compatriots. The Bim Skala Bim tour would be the first of a cycle that would eventually establish Johnny Socko as one of America's most consistent touring bands. In 1994, Socko released Bovaquarium through Bim Skala Bim's BIB imprint; the Oh I Do Hope It's the Roast Beef EP followed two years later. The band jumped to Asian Man for 1997's Full Trucker Effect, and honed their energetic sound with 1999's Quatro.
Selected Discography
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