The Shrubs started out when Spike and RJ, college classmates originally from upstate New York, started jamming in the basement of Spike's mother's house. Their mutual influences were the Police, Rush and XTC among others. Later, an acquaintance introduced Charlie to the guys. After jamming for a while, the trio decided they needed a name. They came up with The Shrubs after dismissing other names (Dumpster Juice & Piggy Pucker among them). They found a new practice home in the basement of a friend's house and soon were playing at parties there, other house parties, bars and even a local Rod and Gun Club. They started writing and recording their own music, producing 3 albums of original music (Another Day Goes By..., One Happy Zucchini and Who's Cow's in the Hoosegow). The band went on hiatus for a while when RJ moved to San Diego. Spike and Charlie started recording and mixing new parts of the old and new songs. RJ joined remotely to record and help mix.