Formed by the husband-and-wife team of guitarist/vocalist Steve Kennedy and bassist Kim Oberly, Sciflyer was the product of years of experience on the indie rock scene. Kennedy started out as a member of Delaware college-rockers the Houseplants, during which time he met and married Oberly in 1994; when the Houseplants disbanded after releasing a 7" single, he briefly joined High Karate as bassist in 1996. He then moved to Washington, D.C., and founded Red Circus Records with his friend Bill Holt, but returned to Delaware and formed another band first known as Menthol, then Nitrous (or, sometimes, the Menthol-Nitrous Fiasco). Oberly was the bass player in this group, and in 1997, when the band broke up after recording only one demo, the couple moved to Alameda, CA. After a year of auditions for other bands, Kennedy and Oberly decided to form their own outfit, and recruited drummer Laurens "Larry" Campos. Campos had played with several minor bands in L.A., and was also featured as a child actor in a 1978 TV-movie called Devil Dog: Hound from Hell. Drawing from '80s college rock and '90s shoegazer bands, the group released its self-titled debut album in 2001.