Murcof was born as Fernando Corona in 1970 in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. His earliest contact with music came from his home, where his father sang, played bass and accordion. Corona tried some of these instruments as his father bought a very cheap organ for him and his sister. He began to wonder how these sounds were made, becoming primarily interested in the sound design aspect of music. His father's record collection included Bach, The Beatles and The Carpenters. His mother listened more to traditional Mexican music. Corona was taught by his father to pay attention to the compositions and arrangements of both classical and pop music, which helped him to better understand what elements in music he liked or not.