[2] Known as an unrelenting[3] and abrasive[4] provocateur whose performances trend toward overblown antics and "nihilistic glee",[5] Walter has been described by guitarist Mary Halvorson as "completely manic and extraordinarily sensitive"[6] and by The Chicago Reader as "a splinter lodged beneath the fingernail".

[13] Walter was highly involved in cultivating what he deemed the "Chicago No Wave" scene,[7][14] meeting new musicians and collaborators through the Luttenbachers' art rock-continuum gigs and the experimental improvised music series he ran at Myopic Books.

[15] He graduated from Columbia College in 1995, with a final project, "Un-nerve", performed by a nonet including Ken Vandermark, Gene Coleman, Jim Baker, Kevin Drumm, Jeb Bishop, and Gustavo Leone.

[17] Walter moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2003,[18] where he reformed The Flying Luttenbachers with the addition of bassist Mike Green, guitarist Ed Rodriguez, and later Mick Barr.

Walter continued finding new collaborators and formed a number of groups in New York, among them Cellular Chaos, a band with Marc Edwards, Admiral Grey, and Ceci Moss.