Space Needle began in 1994 as the four-track project of Long Island-based Jud Ehrbar and Jeff Gatland, longtime friends who began performing together while attending high school. After graduation, Ehrbar moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where he attended school and played drums in Chick Graning's band Scarce; after creative differences prompted Ehrbar's exit, he returned to Long Island and reunited with Gatland, where the duo founded Space Needle as a venue for incorporating diverse influences ranging from experimental music and '70s prog rock to '80s post-punk and hip-hop. After signing to the New York label Zero Hour, Space Needle debuted in 1995 with Voyager, a collection of fuzzy, psychedelic compositions backed by primitive tape loops and experimental production techniques. Just prior to 1997's ambitious The Moray Eels Eat the Space Needle, guitarist Anders Parker -- the auteur behind Varnaline -- became a full-time member; Ehrbar also continued with his concurrent ambient project, Reservoir.