Chris O'Connor is a vocalist, guitarist, and bassist. His first band, The I-Rails, was formed with high school buddy, guitarist/songwriter Jeff Sparks in 1986. Together with drummer Tim Lauterio, The I-Rails made four albums in the course of a few years from the late 1980s up to 1991, none of which received much attention. The band officially broke-up in 1991.

Using material he and Sparks wrote for a planned fifth I-Rails album, O'Connor made the Rocket

Rocket (album)

Rocket is the Primitive Radio Gods' debut album, released on June 18, 1996 by Columbia Records. Their best known hit single from this album, "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand", helped launch the band's career...

album entirely on his own on a broken-down 1969 Ampex

Ampex

Ampex is an American electronics company founded in 1944 by Alexander M. Poniatoff. The name AMPEX is an acronym, created by its founder, which stands for Alexander M. Poniatoff Excellence...

 16-track tape deck and a budget of $1,000 and called himself Primitive Radio Gods

Primitive Radio Gods

Primitive Radio Gods are an American alternative rock band from Southern California. Current members consist of frontman Chris O'Connor, who performs vocals and bass; percussionist Tim Lauterio; and Luke McAuliffe, who contributes various additional instrumentation as well as much of the art that...

, which is what would have been the bands last album title. The album wouldn't be released for four years however when it was picked up by Columbia Records, Germany. It was soon released with only minimal remixing and the single, "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand

Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand

"Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand" is an alternative rock song by the band Primitive Radio Gods. The song appeared on the band's major-label debut album, Rocket, in June 1996, and became a popular radio hit over the next few months, reaching #10 on Hot 100 Airplay in...

" shot up the charts and was featured in Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey

James Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...

's movie The Cable Guy

The Cable Guy

The Cable Guy is a 1996 black comedy film, directed by Ben Stiller, and starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick. The film also features Leslie Mann, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson...

. O'Connor reunited with The I-Rails under the new name.

The band released a second album, White Hot Peach

White Hot Peach

White Hot Peach is the Primitive Radio Gods' follow-up to Rocket, and was released on October 24, 2000. Quite different in sound from the debut album, White Hot Peach features much less of the sampling that made the band famous...

in late 2000 under a small independent label What Are Records?, and then a third album, minus Sparks, called Still Electric

Still Electric

Still Electric is the Primitive Radio Gods' third album, released independently through in early 2003. Still Electric once again shifts the general sound of the band, this time towards more shoegazing-esque alternative, laden with heavily layered guitars.Still Electric was released in two...

in 2003.

Primitive Radio Gods released their fourth full-length album, Sweet Venus, on May 4, 2006. Currently the album is only available as a download on their website. Whether or not a physical copy of the album will be produced or distributed remains to be seen.

Some biographical information can be found on this page of Primitive Radio Gods' official site.