The Mr. T Experience

The Mr. T Experience (sometimes abbreviated MTX) is an American punk rock band formed in 1985 in Berkeley, California. They have released eleven full-length albums along with numerous EPs and singles and have toured internationally. Their music is best classified as pop punk and is intentionally playful, comical, and satirical, often dealing with issues of love and relationships. The band's name is taken from actor and television personality Mr. T. The Mr. T Experience serves mainly as the creative outlet for singer/guitarist "Dr. Frank" Portman, its primary songwriter and sole continuous member throughout multiple lineup changes. The band is closely associated with the Berkeley and greater San Francisco Bay Area punk rock movement of the late 1980s and the 1990s, revolving around the 924 Gilman Street venue and the Lookout! Records label, through which they have released all of their albums since 1990. MTX are contemporaries of numerous other groups who emerged from this same "scene," including Green Day, Operation Ivy, Rancid, Jawbreaker, The Donnas, Tilt, and NOFX. They also share stylistic similarities with other bands not native to the Bay area but closely associated with this movement, including The Queers, Screeching Weasel, and the Groovie Ghoulies. Over the years the Mr. T Experience has performed, toured, and shared a record label with many of these bands. They also share a heavy Ramones influence, which was more prevalent in the band's early albums but is still evident in their recent work.