Thornton and KutMasta Kurt recorded two songs under the alias Dr. Octagon, "Dr. Octagon" and "Technical Difficulties." Thornton mailed the songs to radio stations as a teaser, as well as giving copies to several DJs, as well as producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, resulting in the production of "Dr. Octagonecologyst". The album was recorded in Automator's studio in the basement of his parents' San Francisco home. "Dr. Octagonecologyst" featured the work of turntablist DJ Qbert and additional production by KutMasta Kurt. An instrumental version of the album was released under the title "Instrumentalyst (Octagon Beats)". KutMasta Kurt later pursued legal action against Automator because Kurt's demos had initiated the project. Kurt told the AV Club, “I got the whole Octagon thing started and really got nothing directly out of it. ran with it, but he never gave credit to the person who threw the ball. At the end of the day, I actually had to sue the guy."