Stroke 9 is a band that was formed in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1989. The success of their first hit song "Little Black Backpack" really boosted their careers. Their third album "Nasty Little Thoughts" went gold in 2000. The single "Kick Some Ass", was featured in the movie Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. The song also became associated with 9/11, as an angry response. The "her" could be considered to be America. Their music can also be heard in other movies and in TV shows such as Malcolm In The Middle.
The band actually formed due to a "Rock Band Class" at Marin Academy in Marin County, just north of San Francisco. In 1990, as a project, the class went to Jim Reitzel's Right Sole Studio in Kentfield, California. They produced a demo containing five songs, including "Blindness", "Wild", and "Dream Song". After Spring that year, the "Rock Band Class" seniors, Luke Esterkyn (Guitar and Vocal) Greg Gueldner (Drums) Tom Haddad (Bass) Kirsten Stromberg (Keyboard and Vocal)
took their final half-semester off to form the band Stroke 9 for full credit. They set up in Luke's basement and started writing songs for their next demo.
Stroke 9 had their first "official" live performance at Cafe Nuvo in San Anselmo. They split up for the summer and didn't get back together until the summer of 1991. However, Tom Haddad and Kirsten Stromberg had no desire to revive Stroke 9. Therefore, Luke and Greg recruited old schoolmates John McDermott and Stephen Heath. They moved from the basement to the garage, and played publicly anywhere that they could.
