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Inspired by the music of Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, et al., Skinny Puppy experimented with electronic recording techniques and methods, composing multi-layered music generally with synthesizers, found sounds, drum machines, manual percussion, tape-splices, traditional instruments, distortion, and samplers. Whereas many contemporary remixes and re-edits of songs were created in order to make a song more suitable for dancing or different radio formats, Skinny Puppy approached remixing and re-editing as an artistic process of reinterpreting compositions, often using remixes to push their sound into styles of ambient, dub and techno.

Skinny Puppy has been widely noted for their bizarre and confrontational live performances, for which every concert was designed to challenge the notions and beliefs of all who attended. Their music has had some acceptance in dance clubs because of its danceable beats, but has had little play on commercial radio. Skinny Puppy experienced little commercial success outside of Canada, although their influence on industrial and electronic music in general is immense.

Skinny Puppy formed in 1982 out of the partnership of cEvin Key (Kevin Crompton; instruments) and Nivek Ogre (Kevin Ogilvie; voices) in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Key was dissatisfied with the direction of his then-current band Images in Vogue, and began Skinny Puppy with the intention of doing something "raw" and "real". Initially Key had planned Puppy to be a side project while he continued his work in Images, however, when Images in Vogue decided to relocate to Toronto ^[1] Key made Skinny Puppy his full time project.

Key has repeatedly commented on how the name was based on the concept of a "dog's eye view" of the world. Key had already created the name before Ogre joined the band and it was from this concept of "seeing through the keyhole" that Ogre penned the song K-9 (originally from Back and Forth) and voiced it in a rough growl that resembled that of a small talking beast. With engineer/producer Dave "Rave" Ogilvie (with no relation to the vocalist), Skinny Puppy began recording their first EP Back and Forth, which was self-released in 1983. The album drew the attention of Nettwerk Records, who signed the band in 1984. Key brought in Wilhelm Schroeder (a pseudonym of Bill Leeb) to play bass synth and background vocals in 1985, but by 1987 Schroeder had left the band to form Front Line Assembly. His departure was attributed to his lack of involvement and loss of interest in touring, as well as a desire to create his own project. Schroeder's departure allowed for the entry of Dwayne Goettel (synthesizers and samplers), who was classically trained and highly skilled as a pianist/keyboardist.

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