After New Zealand's This Kind of Punishment ceased to exist in 1987, co-leader Jefferies continued working on a variety of solo recordings on a four-track machine while determining where he would go next with his music, much like his brother and TKP bandmate Peter did at the same time.

The end result was a solo record, Messages From the Cakekitchen, which was released the following year via Flying Nun but did not achieve prominence until some years later with an American re-release.