"[citation needed] The band was formed in the early part of 1988 in San Francisco, California after each of the founding members had grown dissatisfied with other music projects they had been involved in.

[3][4] Consolidated's original line-up consisted of Adam Sherburne (guitar and vocals, previously lead singer of Until December), Mark Pistel (samples, sequencers and keyboards/synths), and Philip Steir (drums).

[1] In 1990 they released their debut album The Myth of Rock,[5] and toured North America with Meat Beat Manifesto the following year.

[1] Since that time, the project has been mainly under the direction of Adam Sherburne, with peripheral involvement by Mark Pistel (primarily mixing and engineering the albums).

Following the split of the original line-up, Consolidated has continued to evolve musically through styles reminiscent of West Coast hip-hop, R&B, rock, and jazz similar to Miles Davis's early 1970s experimentation.

Local, regional and national activist groups were invited by Consolidated to set up tables and information kiosks at their shows while they were on tour.