Dr. Know is an American

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band, which began as a

Nardcore Since the mid-1970s, California has had thriving regional punk rock movements. It primarily consists of bands from the Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, Fresno, Bakersfield, Alameda Cou ...

band from

Oxnard Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. They are regarded as founding fathers of the so-called "Nardcore" punk movement.

History

The band was started by Kyle Toucher, Ismael Hernandez, and Robin Cartwright in early 1981, and after auditioning a few singers, local

Silver Strand Beach Silver Strand Beach is an unincorporated beach neighborhood in Ventura County, California, United States. Lying between the mouth of Channel Islands Harbor on the north and the ocean entrance to the Port of Hueneme on the south, the eastern side o ...

surfer/skater

Brandon Cruz Brandon Edwin Cruz (born May 28, 1962) is an American actor and singer best known for his role as Eddie Corbett, son of widower Tom Corbett (played by Bill Bixby) on the television series ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father''. Cruz is also a punk ...

got the job.

, California was the birthplace of

. The band recorded studio versions of several early songs with Cruz, however the early momentum was somewhat derailed by inner turmoil and it led to him leaving the group in 1983, leaving Toucher to take over vocals just as the band was starting recording of ''Plug In Jesus'' for

Mystic Records Mystic Records is an American record label and music production company specializing in hardcore punk, crossover thrash, underground music, vintage and cult records. It is owned and operated by Doug Moody. The label was first established in Hollywo ...

. Several more albums followed, including the ''Burn'' EP, ''This Island Earth,'' and ''Wreckage in Flesh,'' which were subsequently released on Death Records/Metal Blade, signaling a shift to a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

direction in their sound. For ''This Island Earth,'' their best album to date the lineup was founding member Kyle Toucher on vocals and guitars, drummer Rik Heller and bassist Ismael’s Hernandez. In the mid-1980s, Kyle Toucher and the boys recorded a demo tape in the Camarillo CA, Televents Studios with Gene McDole ("KUATO" of International Freedom Foundation and Union Of Three percenter American Patriots fame) as Executive Producer and successfully earned the band a new label. (check the liner notes on "This Island Earth"). Before an American tour for ''This Island Earth'' with Scottish street punks

The Exploited The Exploited are a Scottish punk rock band from Edinburgh, formed in 1979 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie Buchan. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981,Stäläg 13 members, bassist Tony Black and second guitarist Tim Harkins. After another short U.S. tour and attempt at writing a new album, Rick Heller quit the band before moving to Scotland, where he joined

The Exploited The Exploited are a Scottish punk rock band from Edinburgh, formed in 1979 by Stevie Ross and Terry Buchan, with Buchan soon replaced by his brother Wattie Buchan. They signed to Secret Records in March 1981,The Circle Jerks Circle Jerks (stylized as Ciʀcle JƎʀᴋs) are an American hardcore punk band, formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California. The group was founded by former Black Flag vocalist Keith Morris and Redd Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. To date, Ci ...

, D.R.I., Murphy's Law, 7 Seconds as well as shows with up and coming

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

bands Forbidden,

Vio-lence Vio-lence is an American thrash metal band formed in 1985 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Throughout its existence, they released demo tapes, one EP and three studio albums. Vio-lence is best-known for their association with the 1980s Bay Area ...

, Holy Terror, and

Metal Church Metal Church is an American heavy metal band. They originally formed in San Francisco, California in 1980 and then relocated to Aberdeen, Washington the following year and briefly using the name Shrapnel. Led by guitarist and songwriter Kurd ...

. Dr. Know disbanded to pursue other projects in 1991. Since that time

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

covered the Toucher penned "Mr. Freeze" on their ''

Undisputed Attitude ''Undisputed Attitude'' is the seventh studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on May 28, 1996, by American Recordings. The album consists almost entirely of covers of punk rock and hardcore punk songs, and also includes ...

'' album. The Dr. Know song "Piece of Meat," written by Toucher and Cruz, is used on the 1998 (season two)

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...

episode entitled "Clubhouse." In 1998, Cruz called Hernandez and together they approached Toucher. Toucher declined, but Hernandez and Cruz recruited others and embarked on a North American tour with big-name punk acts of the time. In September 2001, Cruz was asked to sing with old friends, the reunited

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk rock, punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, sa ...

, leading to a gig that lasted until April 2003. Dr. Know still managed another record, entitled ''Father, Son, and Holy Shit!'' and toured the West Coast with Stäläg 13 and

Ill Repute Ill Repute is an American hardcore punk band from Oxnard, California, United States, formed in 1981. They are noted for popularizing the "Nardcore" sound in the mid-1980s hardcore punk scene, and recorded for Mystic Records. Their record ''What ...

. Dr. Know released their last record in 2009, on Unrest Records, entitled "Killing For God." Cruz, Hernandez, and the Contreras cousins, Rick and Steve, all wrote the record, recorded in Santa Cruz, California. May 2010, Dr. Know with Hernandez and Cruz played a final gig. This version of the band played 2 more special gigs in Santa Cruz, Ca., and in Oakland, November 25 and 26, 2011. Founding member, and the 6th and 8th vocalist and songwriter Kyle Toucher, now works as a visual effects and digital artist in Los Angeles, CA. He has done work on TV series such as ''

Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series), original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel se ...

'' and '' Star Trek: Voyager'' as well as in movies such as ''Serenity'' and ''Van Helsing''. Toucher has won two

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for his work. On August 18, 2010, Brandon Cruz posted the official end of his and Hernandez' version of Dr Know. The same day that Brandon Cruz announced the breakup of the punk Dr. Know, Kyle Toucher announced the reformation of the ''Wreckage in Flesh'' era line up. Called The Real Dr. Know featuring Kyle Toucher, the lineup is Toucher, Mike Purdy, Tim Harkins, and Steve "El Steevo" Morrison. As of late 2011, the Toucher-led Dr. Know has reformed and have played a few successful West Coast gigs. Brandon Cruz is still playing punk rock and is also a photographer, and recovery consultant. Dr. Know gave birth to KNOW, in November 2016. Known as KNOW, ex members of the band playing the punk music of Dr. Know, began rehearsing with Cruz, Hernandez, Larry White, ex drummer from the metal era, and Fred Mattaquin, the 2nd guitarist on the Burn ep. KNOW planned to go to Europe with Stäläg 13 to begin the Nardcore Summer Tour on July 22, 2017. It was to start off with a festival in Copenhagen with Discharge. Brandon, Ismael, Fred Mattaquin, and Larry White, all ex-original members, are now playing as DR. KNOW, as of 2018. An appearance at Punk Rock Bowling is happening September 24, and 26th. Then a tour with the duo The Garden of the East Coat and Southwest is happening in November. Dr. Know are planning a European tour in 2022 with old friends Million of Dead Cops. as well as Russia, North Korea, China, Australia, Indonesia, and Japan.

Discography

* ''We Got Power, Party or Go Home'' - Compilation LP (Mystic,1983) * ''It Came From Slimy Valley'', Compilation LP (Mystic, 1983) * ''Party Animal, We Got Power II'' - Compilation LP (Mystic,1984) * ''Covers'', Compilation LP (Mystic,1984) * ''Mystic Super Seven Sampler No. 1'', Compilation LP (Mystic,1984) * ''Mystic Sampler No. 1'', Compilation LP (Mystic) * ''Mystic Sampler No. 2'', Compilation LP (Mystic) * ''Mystic Sampler No. 3'', Compilation LP (Mystic) * ''Nardcore'', Compilation LP (Mystic, 1984) * ''Return to Slimy Valley'', Compilation LP (Mystic) * ''Plug-in Jesus'', 12-inch LP (Mystic, 1984) * ''Burn'', 7-inch EP (Mystic, 1985) * ''This Island Earth'', 12-inch LP (Death Records, 1986) * ''The Original Group'', 12-inch LP (Mystic, 1987) This was actually the first recording, done with Brandon Cruz in 1981. * ''Wreckage in Flesh'', 12-inch LP (Death Records, 1988) * ''This Island Earth/Wreckage In Flesh'', CD (Death Records, 1990) * ''Father, Son, and Holy Shit'', LP ( recorded in 2000) * ''Habily: What Was Old Is New'', CD (Cleopatra, 2001) * ''Fish & Vegetables'', Compilation CD (Hello Records, 2001) * ''Best of Dr. Know'', CD (Mystic, 2003) * ''Welcome to the Neighborhood'', Compilation CD (Let Them Eat Records, 2005) * ''Killing For God'', CD /Vinyl LP (Unrest, 2008)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dr. Know (Band) Hardcore punk groups from California Crossover thrash groups Musical groups from Ventura County, California Musical groups established in 1981 Musicians from Oxnard, California