The original members of the group were childhood friends who learned their instruments practicing old Guns N' Roses, The Stooges and Mötley Crüe songs. A band member reportedly said that the name came from miserable high school experiences, saying, "beat up the jocks and kill the cheerleaders". They started off playing shows in Toronto but were soon banned from clubs for their on and off stage antics. They started playing shows in Southern California after being invited by Chris Squire to open dates for his garage punk group, The Tori Cobras. During this tour Squire introduced the band to professional skateboarder, Kris Markovich, landing Kill Cheerleader the opening music track in Markovich's "Hollywood Skateboards" video. After this tour the band became popular among hardcore skateboarders and so-cal punk rockers.