Splatter was formed after saxophonist Dave Barrett (then a member of Club Foot Orchestra) saw a 1987 performance of John Zorn's Cobra Ensemble that included Myles and percussionist Gino Robair. Years of collective experience with the likes of Anthony Braxton, ROVA Saxophone Quartet, Snakefinger, Fred Frith, and Dead Kennedys gave the three exceptional skill with experimentation and improvisation. Rather than being slaves to song structure, they play with it. Gino calls structure "our main material, like sonic playdough... as if the playdough just sort of appears as we play." Myles says, "We don't get lost, but we also don't know where we're going." A Cambodian saying quoted on their first album Splatter Trio puts it well: "When musicians play together each goes his own way but they meet from time to time."

"This is West Coast avant-garde - a little world music, some free improv, even a bit of rock and roll...it reminds one a lot of that downtown NYC thing, but with more coherence." --Option Magazine