Spys4Darwin began with guitarist Chris DeGarmo and drummer Sean Kinney, two friends who had both recently performed with Jerry Cantrell during his solo tour.

They were soon joined by bassist Mike Inez and vocalist Vin Dombroski, and began jamming at Binge Studios, an abandoned paint factory in Seattle.

According to DeGarmo, regarding the band's approach to Microfish: "It was really just us getting together, us recording, us taking it into mix with friends, and us releasing it directly to those people that are interested in it, with kind of very little fanfare...

[7][8] Critic Malcolm Dome of Classic Rock gave the album a positive review, calling it "pretty seamless and thoroughly entertaining":[9] In 2002, the members of Spys4Darwin had begun to move on to different projects.

This put Alice in Chains into official hiatus, with Inez (who was rumored to replace Jason Newsted in Metallica)[10] joining Heart[11] and also rejoining Black Label Society.