They were formed in the late 1980s by guitarist / singer Dave Parasite and bassist Ron Nole in New Jersey.
[1] Dave later relocated to Berkeley, California, and continued with a new lineup during the heyday of Lookout!
[2] Parasites have been releasing records since 1987 and toured the US, Europe and Japan extensively.
They have played with Green Day, Rancid, NOFX, Bad Religion, Buzzcocks, Jawbreaker, The Queers, Lunachicks, Fear, The Adicts, Channel 3, Dayglo Abortions, JFA, Good Riddance, Street Dogs, Teenage Bottlerocket, The Mr. T Experience, The Smoking Popes, Dillinger 4, The Ataris, Swingin' Utters, Weston, Ben Weasel, The Ergs, The Methadones, The Lillingtons, Squirtgun, D.O.A., The Vibrators, Los Crudos, Sloppy Seconds, Dan Vapid and the Cheats, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Down By Law, Avail, J Church, Travoltas, The Apers, Sonic Dolls, Banner Pilot, Iron Chic, Boris The Sprinkler, FYP, Lemuria, Masked Intruder, and thousands of other bands.
After taking a break in 2003, the band reunited in 2006 to release Retro-Pop Remasters, a "Best Of" compilation, on Go Kart Records.