[6] Arm first entered the Seattle rock scene in 1980, when he formed a band while still in high school, called "Mr. Epp and the Calculations" with singer Jo Smitty, and Peter Wick, who wrote and recorded their first song,"The Pigeon in the Fountain bed," which caused local radio DJ Stephen Rabow to declare them, "The worst band in the world."

The next year they added a second guitarist, Steve Turner, and released a cassette described on the lyric sheet as a "combination of art and hardcore.

[citation needed] After Mr. Epp and the Calculations ended, Mark Arm and Steve Turner (who had become close friends) joined the band Limp Richerds for a few weeks.

Afterward, Arm and Turner took on future Pearl Jam members Jeff Ament and Stone Gossard, as well as Alex Vincent, to form the band Green River.

At the time, Sub Pop, their record label, was "on the verge of bankruptcy, having trouble paying its flagship band, severely delaying the release of the album to July 1991.

[10] Monkeywrench members include Arm, Turner, Tim Kerr (Lord Hi Fixers, Big Boys, Poison 13), Tom Price (Gas Huffer) and Martin Bland (Bloodloss).

In 1998, he made an appearance on the motion picture soundtrack for the film Velvet Goldmine with Ron Asheton, Mike Watt, Thurston Moore, and Steve Shelley under the name Wylde Ratttz.

In 2000, Arm, Turner, Peters, Scott McCaughey, Tom Price and Bill Henderson recorded the album "The New Original Sonic Sound" under the band name The New Strychnines.