The band formed in 1989 when Jian Ghomeshi (then going by Jean Ghomeshi[REF]), Murray Foster and Mike Ford, former classmates at the local Thornlea Secondary School and playing in a pub band called The Chia Pets at the time, joined with David Matheson to busk in Toronto.
They cut a six-song demo tape in 1992, and their first major-label album, Bargainville, was released the next year.