First spotted by a CBC radio executive while busking in Toronto, the four members of Moxy Fruvous used their theatrical experience to set them apart. Their street-side set included rap, folk, impromptu theatrics, comedy, and political satire. Mike Ford, Murray Foster, David Matheson sing and play guitar and bass, while Jian Ghomeshi sings and plays drums. After a cassette reached number one on Canadian indie charts, the band were signed by Atlantic, and released the wildly eclectic Bargainville, in early 1994. Wood appeared a year later after a lengthy break from touring, but the highly personal album was not released in the United States and caused the band to doubt the efforts from their label.