Prior to his music career, the Rip-Off Artist worked for several years aboard an off-shore oil-drilling platform off the coast of California. Working for weeks at a time in twelve-hour shifts, surrounded by the constant din of sea and machine, the crew of the platform are extremely isolated. Gut-wrenching loneliness and frustration permeates the atmosphere, and the crew (both male and female) think constantly of home. Close relationships onboard are discouraged, and so the 'roustabouts' and support crew naturally turn to thoughts of distant spouses and lovers.
This sexual tension is obvious in the names of tools and machinery used by the oil industry. Odd words such as "swage nipple," "downhole," "stuffing box" and "packing gland" expose the emotions attached to mere objects. These words become titles of music about longing in the midst of grindingly hard work. The Rip-Off Artist captures this bizarre juxtaposition of flesh and metal on Pump.