Morasky and Flattum moved the band to Seattle, Washington where Darren Mor-X joined the band, before they all moved to San Francisco, California. The band became known for their chaotic, noisy style and frequent use of television and movie samples, with several 7" singles and albums on Boner Records, becoming a mainstay of the San Francisco music scene. before being signed to Slash Records and releasing their major label debut in 1995. Their signing to Slash was part of a mid-1990s free-for-all signing bonanza of alternative rock bands,particularly bands from the Northwestern United States in the wake of the surprising commercial success Geffen Records had with Nirvana, many of which ended in creative and ownership conflicts. Steel Pole Bath Tub and Slash's relationship was no different. The only album they ever released on Slash contained very few samples, which had previously been a staple of the band, at the insistence of Slash's legal department. The band hoped their second album for Slash would be a cover of The Cars' first album in its entirety, but the label would not allow that idea and then deemed the demos the band submitted unlistenable and refused to release them. The band wouldn't release any more significant material until the rights to the music they recorded for Slash would revert to them 2002. In 2002, the band released those recordings as the album Unlistenable, the title a play on a Slash executives comments on the material and reformed to play the Beyond the Pale festival at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco in November 2002, where they co-headlined with Neurosis and Tarantula Hawk. They reunited to play a show at the Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon on September 4, 2008 as a part of MusicFestNW. The group's song "Train to Miami", from the album The Miracle of Sound in Motion, was featured in a November 2008 television ad for the PC and Xbox 360 game, Left 4 Dead. Mike Morasky is also responsible for writing and performing the songs by the fictional band Midnight Riders in the game's sequel, Left 4 Dead 2. Straddling the punk, noise, art and grunge scenes, SPBT was a touring staple. Between the years 1986 and 1997 SPBT shared the stage with dozens of notable bands. From veteran touring bands The Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth, Firehose and Meat Puppets to Bay Area punk bands like Neurosis, Christ on Parade, Jawbreaker, Operation Ivy and Econochrist to noise/art bands such as Melt Banana, Crash Worship, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 and Ethyl Meatplow, amongst many others. They were also closely associated with the Seattle scene, playing often with such core grunge acts as Mudhoney, L7, Tad, and Hole, and touring Europe with Melvins as well as performing a notable string of early tourdates with Nirvana. Steel Pole Bath Tub toured the United States incessantly and traversed Europe and Japan several times.
Side projects
The band joined with Jello Biafra to form the group Tumor Circus, releasing a self-titled album in 1991. Milk Cult, with Morasky and Flattum using the names The Bumblebee and C.C. Nova, released 4 albums between 1992 and 2000. Their last album, Project M13, was the result of an invitation from the French Government to be guests of the La Friche Art Collective in Marseille. Novex, a Dale Flattum and Darren Mor-X project, recorded with Vern and Justin at the Unwound farm, released as Kleptophonica. Pink Teeth is a project including Dale Flattum and Zak Sally of Low. The Hand is another project including Dale Flattum and Zak Sally of Low.
