He played guitar in Phoenix based punk rock band No Gimmick before setting out on a solo career in 2005.

[1] Stooks along with 3 High School friends formed the punk rock band No Gimmick in 1996.

[2] Stooks played on the band's first two releases One Wop, Two Micks and a Bean, and Loss for Words recorded in San Diego with Blink-182 collaborator Jeff Forrest.

[6] In 2007 Stooks released another Bob Hoag collaboration titled Women & Gold.

This was again produced by Bob Hoag and included the cover song Bad Love Anthem by Ben Trickey.