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Skinny Puppy History. Kevin Crompton started Skinny Puppy in 1982 as a side project in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Crompton founded Skinny Puppy with the goal of creating something more intriguing and creative since he was unhappy with the mainstream direction the band he was in, Images in Vogue, because taking I mages in Vogue had established themselves as a prominent act in Vancouver after scoring a number of radio hits and serving as the opening act for acts such as Roxy Music, Depeche Mode, and Duran Duran.  Crompton originally intended for Skinny Puppy to be a side project while he continued to work for Images in Vogue, but once the magazine moved to Toronto, Crompton made Skinny Puppy his primary focus. When Crompton invited Kevin Graham Ogilvie to join, the project already had a name and some songs recorded. At a gathering in late 1982, Ogilvie and Crompton met. Ogilvie and Images in Vogue member Gary Blair Smith were roommates. The two decided to go under stage names, with Crompton becoming cEvin Key and Ogilvie becoming Nivek Ogre, to prevent confusion caused by having two persons with the name Kevin in the same band. Both of them started recording songs at Key's apartment, which they used as a makeshift studio. In 1983, Skinny Puppy released the EP Back & Forth with the aid of Images in Vogue recording engineer Dave "Rave" Ogilvie (who is not related to Ogre). This marked the start of a lengthy collaboration between Skinny Puppy and Rave, who would go on to produce their albums twice more—in 1993 and 1995—and who was occasionally mentioned as a band member in the liner notes of albums. Although just 35 copies of the self-released Back & Forth were ever made, it caught the interest of Vancouver startup label Nettwerk, who later that year signed the band. The Unovis art gallery in Vancouver hosted the debut live Skinny Puppy performance in February 1984. According to Ogre, Key used Skinny Puppy as a means of escape from Images in Vogue. Key would continue to drum for Images in Vogue until the group relocated to Toronto in 1985. Key's concept behind Skinny Puppy came from the group's first song ever recorded, "K-9". Skinny Puppy was invited to Vancouver's Mushroom Studios to start working on new music after signing a record deal with Nettwerk and as interest in the Back & Forth EP grew. Bill Leeb was brought in at this point to provide bass synth and backup vocals for the ensemble. As Ogre and Key had done before him, Leeb adopted the stage name Wilhelm Schroeder. He explained that his true name is Wilhelm and that the moniker Schroeder was inspired by the character who played the piano in the Charlie Brown cartoon. Remission, Skinny Puppy's second EP, was released in December 1984, over a year after Back & Forth. Remission was the first time Skinny Puppy and album cover artist Steven Gilmore would work together. The EP was once exclusively offered on vinyl; however, in 1985, a cassette version of the EP was also made available. Remission "grabbed everybody by the you-know-whats," according to Nettwerk VP of A&R and Marketing George Maniatis, and brought with it an affiliation with industrial dance music for Nettwerk Records. The songs "Far Too Frail" and "Smothered Hope," the latter of which was the closest thing to a hit single any North American industrial artist had at the time, were promoted with music videos. Key and Dave Ogilvie produced Skinny Puppy's debut full-length album, Bites, which was released in 1985. Bites was produced with help from Tom Ellard of the Australian electronic band Severed Heads, who also served as producer and did numerous sample and mixing tasks. Bites produced the underground smash "Assimilate," which Billboard magazine described as "techno dance...a la Kraftwerk." As Hell 'O' Death Day, Key and Ogre supported Chris & Cosey on their 1985 Canadian tour; some of the songs they played will be found as bonus tracks on Bites. The Centre Bullet, a song with lyrics by the legendary Pink Dots creator Edward Ka-Spel, was one of these additional tracks. Due in part to their anti-consumerism ideas and Cure-like visuals, Skinny Puppy had gained popularity among underground audiences in the majority of large urban regions, but not everyone was in favor of the band. Key characterized Skinny Puppy as resisting "Top 40 conformity" and the "Bruce Springsteen attitude of music." Toronto-based DJ and music critic Greg Clow remembered how Much music VJ Michael Williams introduced him to Skinny Puppy and termed them "Canada's answer to Depeche Mode."