Jeff Turzo and David Reilly both grew up in small-town Pennsylvania, experimenting with computers and keyboards until one night in 1993, they decided to form a band around an industrial/techno song they had recorded for a party. The duo recorded four additional songs, and got an audition with Rick Rubin, president of American Recordings. Rubin liked what he heard, and signed Turzo and Reilly to his Onion subsidiary. They recorded a self-titled EP in 1995, then added guitarist Andrew McGee and drummer Adam Kary for live shows. God Lives Underwater's debut album, Empty, was released later that year, followed in 1998 by Life in the So-Called Space Age.