Gorilla Biscuits

About

Gorilla Biscuits is a New York-based hardcore punk band consisting of Anthony "Civ" Civarelli, Walter Schreifels, Arthur Smilios, Alex Brown and Luke Abbey. They are currently signed to Revelation Records.

Gorilla Biscuits were formed when Smilios and Nick Drysdale met Civarelli while they were both attending the same high school on Long Island. All three were fans of the band Agnostic Front, and started going to hardcore shows at CBGB on weekends. There they met people like Ray Cappo and John Porcelly of the band Youth Of Today.

Arthur sought to form a hardcore band and asked Civ to act as vocalist. However Civ was not interested in singing, and due to nerves had to face the floor or wall during early gigs. Members of the band Token Entry arranged a gig for the still unnamed band (Gorilla Biscuits used Token Entry's drummer, Ernie Parada for that first show), but needed a name to give it to the promoter. A popular drug in the area at that time was quaaludes, which people called "ape shit," or "gorilla biscuits" due to the pill's large size. Eventually the name evolved into Gorilla Biscuits, and though it was initially only meant to be temporary, they have continued to use it.