Thirsting Quench got his start as a founding member of Dr. Kamikaze and the $35 Sound in 2000. Around the same time he began releasing solo material via CD-Rs and cassettes at shows and through word of mouth.

The backing band of The Captains of Industry formed in 2009, their first album, The Sentimentary ep recorded in Chicago, Illinois and released in the fall of that year. They followed up with the ambient drone and percussion-heavy Moving Gates in 2010 with the accompanying ep, The Meaning of Modern Art, featuring solo ambient works sans the Captains, released shortly before. That same year, Thirsting developed a dance and electronic-based project, Electric Bolts. They released two LPs and one EP throughout 2010, but the live performance aspect of the group, which was to feature Rabbit Children's Steve Tartaglione and The Literacy Program's David Jensen, never got off the ground.

The Captains of Industry returned in November 2010 with their most popular release to date, Nema Reve, a four track EP that approached minimalism from both a post-rock and more classical, Steve Reich-inspired ambient stance. Award-winning graphic novelist, Warren Ellis had this to say about the album: "[Listening to the first track] It starts like an outtake from "Fur Immer" (I’ve been listening to NEU! all afternoon, which made for a weird moment when I had to check if I was streaming audio or still in iTunes). And then it stops. And then they sort of go through a time-travel portal and put their other foot directly into 90s postrock while still strumming the motorik. At which point, yes, it’s total comfort food for old rockist tendencies, but by the time they start digging power chords out of their guitars with rusty screwdrivers, I’m off with the fairies. Thirsting Quench and the Captains of Industry, we salute you."

2011's It's...(Thirsting Quench and the Captains of Industry) took that minimalist approach and applied it to new wave synth pop, balancing it with Eno-esque ambient pieces. It's... was accompanied by a two track EP, Home Sharps Container (The Epi EP) that featured a 22 minute collage track recorded during the Nema Reve sessions.

In the summer of 2011, The Captains' music was featured in the The Chicago Shakespeare Theater's production of One Step at a Time Like This' En Route (a North American premiere), an audience immersive experience, part living-art, part audio-guided walking tour. To celebrate, The Captains released a three-track single of the two pieces featured in the show alongside a newly recorded minimalist piece called "Tonsillitis" which featured treated vocals by label-mates, Art in Underpants' Jenna March.

Thirsting Quench and the Captains of Industry's albums are released digitally as name-your-price downloads through Stir Up Your Grey Matter Productions (www.stirupyourgreymatter.bandcamp.com). Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.