Sydney band Skunkhour started out as an urban funk band fronted by a rapper. From there, the band incorporated all manner of styles and fusion elements into its frantic, rhythmic, groove-based attack.
The Larkin brothers Del and Aya had a background in ska bands. Guitarist Warwick Scott was influenced by funk and rock. The Sutherland brothers rhythm team played rock and jazz. Common influences for all musicians were reggae, 1970s funk (James Brown, Funkadelic) and hip hop. They joined together to become Skunk, and later, Skunkhour, named after the poem by Robert Lowell.

"The first show (as Skunk - Dean, Michael, Warwick) was at what is now The Underground (formerly the Tom Tom Club, Kings Cross). Del and I were both in the audience, just independent of one another, and we bumped into one another and went, 'these guys are fucking awesome'. Brilliant, you know... it sounded just like our Sly Stone records. We were like, 'this is good', and then in a few weeks we joined the band" -- Aya.

Over the course of 18 months, the band became a popular live attraction on the Sydney scene. Skunkhour was amongst a clutch of new bands exploring diverse musical avenues on the traditional Australian pub-rock circuit during the early 1990s: Juice's hard funk, Swoop's soulful funk grooves, Def FX's techno-metal, d.i.g.'s acid-jazz and Caligula's techno-pop.

In early 1993, Skunkhour supported UK acid-jazz outfit Galliano on an Australian tour, and then issued the debut, self-titled album on the Beast label. Skunkhour produced the CD EP `Booty Full' (September 1993).

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