The Skunks were a third wave ska band formed in 1988 by a group of high school friends from suburban Maryland.
Soon, the newly formed band, augmented by Anthony Foronda, Jake Hughes and Brent Washburn, began to play at events and parties in suburban Maryland.
Even before Chaos in Skaville, the Skunks had attracted the attention of Robert "Bucket" Hingley, who was recruiting for his label Moon Ska Records.
[7] The tour culminated, on February 27, 1993, with Moon Ska's Skalapalooza at The Ritz in New York City, where The Skunks appeared with The Toasters, Bad Manners, The Skatalites, The Scofflaws, and Ruder Than You.
[9] During 1993, the Skunks, joined by new members George Beronio, Tim Karns and Mike Kim, continued to perform at home and on tour.
At the Black Cat, the release of Mixed Nuts was celebrated on August 18, 1994, and in June 1995, it appeared in the Moon Ska catalog[9] as MR040.
[12] In 1995, after Mixed Nuts was released, James McDonald left The Skunks to found a new band, Eastern Standard Time.
[9] One of its tracks, "Dubz 57 Sauce", was included on the Moon Ska produced soundtrack to the 1997 independent film, Bang.
Erick Morgan, Dave Reinstein, Ely Rodriguez and Matt Simms joined Eastern Standard Time.
Joe Hottell lives in the Atlanta suburb Decatur, Georgia, where he performs occasionally and plays soccer with the Oakhurst Rovers.
Scott Treude has played with several bands, including Fireworks Go Up!,[21] while pursuing parallel careers as an environmental physicist and web programmer.
Matt Earl, who left The Skunks to go to graduate school, is Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore,[23] where he is director of the dosimetry training program.