Joel Bell, Adam Neubauer, and Justin Levy formed the group in 1991. Conrad Tolosa and Christian Ergueta, who also went to the same youth group, joined the band shortly after. Justin Levy left the band after one year to pursue other interests. Conrad's cousin, Jamie Tolosa, was asked to join the band soon after. In 1994 they started to develop their pop-punk sound. The group released two independent EPs in 1994 and 1995, both produced by Kevin 131 at Assembly Line Studios. They built a following primarily in central Pennsylvania. Ghoti Hook signed to Tooth and Nail Records in 1996, then released four albums: Sumo Surprise, Banana Man, Songs We Didn't Write, and Two Years To Never. Conrad, the guitarist and a primary songwriter of the band, decided to leave Ghoti Hook after the release of "Banana Man" and the subsequent tour promoting its release. He left the band when the band began to tour full-time so he could finish seminary and continue with his accounting career. His last show was in the fall of 1997 at a show promoted by Javacasa in Lebanon, PA. Mark Lacasse joined on lead guitar in 1998 and helped to write and record "Two Years to Never". Christian Ergueta left the band sometime after the recording of "Two Years to Never" with Mark leaving a few months later. As a three-piece band, and as their last ever studio recordings Ghoti Hook released a six song EP titled EP on Velvet Blue Music. The group disbanded in 2002. The band's last concert was at Cornerstone Music Festival on July 6, 2002 with guest performances by Conrad and Mark. The concert was recorded and released as a live album entitled Rest In Peace. The band played a reunion show on June 13, 2009 at Circle of Hope in Philadelphia, PA with the Huntingtons, Speedy Delivery, 274, and Main Line Riders. The performance was part of a benefit concert to support Jeannie Pierce, wife of Huntingtons' drummer Mikey Pierce, who is suffering from brain cancer. The band performed as the final three-piece lineup along with an appearance from Conrad Tolosa on guitar for five songs.
Name
The word "ghoti" is a phonetic spelling of "fish”, invented in the 19th century as an example of the irregularities of English spelling. Pronunciation: the "GH" as in the word "rouGH", "O" as in "wOmen" and "TI" as in naTIon. However, the band pronounces its name more intuitively, as a homophone for "goatee".
