The Living End formed in 1994 after lead singer/guitarist Chris Cheney and bassist Scott Owen were introduced to each other by their older sisters at Wheelers Hill Secondary College in Melbourne, Australia. Cheney, obsessed with 80s rockabilly group the Stray Cats, convinced Owen to learn the double bass instead of the piano and they started playing gigs under the name Runaway Boys after the title of a Stray Cats song. The group went through a succession of drummers before settling on Joe Piripitzi.

The Living End got their first big break in 1995 when, after sending a t-shirt and a demo tape to Billie Joe Armstrong, they landed a support slot in Green Day's upcoming Australian tour. After the tour, the group went into the studio to record their debut EP Hellbound which received moderate support from community radio stations.

In November 1995, the band went back into the studio to record their second EP (It's for Your Own Good which they released several months later. This recording yielded their first major radio airplay with the song From Here On In, which was placed on high rotation on the youth radio network Triple J. Shortly after the release of the second EP, drummer Joe Piripitzi left the band and was replaced with Travis Dempsey who was soon playing with the band at major festivals such as Pushover and the Falls Festival. After a year touring Australia, The Living End again headed into the studio to record something new to sell at their now very popular shows. The result was the Second Solution / Prisoner of Society double single.