Formed by vocalist J.R. Richards, guitarist Rodney Browning, and keyboardist Greg Kolanek, they were initially known as Life Talking and then Dish upon adding bassist Scot Alexander and drummer George Pendergast.

[1] The following year, the band changed its name to Dish as they added Scot Alexander (bass) and George Pendergast (drums) to the lineup.

Dish self-released a demo album in 1993, Dish, as it featured three songs that were later re-recorded for their major label debut ("Charlie Brown's Parents", "Give", and "All She Can See"), one song that was re-recorded from their Life Talking era ("Worthless"), and three exclusive tracks ("The Chair", "Love Sees No Color", and "Tear").

The name was based on a Wired magazine article that Kolanek had read, in which the story described a person who provided satellite TV to a neighborhood ("dish" + walla).

The band made their televised debut, performing the songs "It's Going to Take Some Time" and "Moisture", on The Jon Stewart Show shortly after.

Their album Pet Your Friends featured producer Phil Nicolo (known as one half of The Butcher Bros.), and it was released in August 1995.

[10] Despite some moderate success with And You Think You Know What Life's About, the album's singles did not match the popularity of "Counting Blue Cars"; thus, it led to the band being classified as a one-hit wonder of the 1990s.

That same year, the band's song "Find Your Way Back Home" was featured on the soundtrack for the film American Pie.

After deciding to take a break in 2005, the band reformed and began touring in 2008 with a modified lineup consisting of bassist Alexander, guitarist Browning, keyboardist Wood, and drummer Pendergast.

The lineup featured long-time friend Justin Fox, singer of the Santa Barbara band Tripdavon, as a "special guest vocalist".

In November 2012, in an episode of the TV show How I Met Your Mother, Dishwalla and their song "Counting Blue Cars" was written into a storyline.

[16] The band shared the stage with many other notable acts such as Eric Burdon, Collective Soul, Vertical Horizon, Tonic, Stroke 9, and Nine Days just in 2014 alone.

[21] During the summer of 2017, the band joined the "Rockin' Road Trip '17" tour, sharing the stage with notable acts such as Fuel, Marcy Playground, Gin Blossoms, and others.