McInnes was born Gavin Miles McInnes in Hitchin, England on July 17, 1970 to Scottish parents James and Loraine McInnes. His family migrated to Canada when McInnes was 4 years old. He attended Ottawa's Earl of March Secondary School. As a teenager, McInnes played in the Ottawa punk band "Anal Chinook". As an adult, McInnes emigrated to the United States from Canada.