Hard Candy originated in 1992 through the partnership of James E. Jones and Jeff Wiggins in Brooks County, GA. Composition and recording activities commenced that September. Brooke Martin joined the lineup in September 1994. Home recording sessions conducted between February and June 1996 produced material for the debut EP Sweatin' to the Indies. Martin exited the group in April 1997, and the EP appeared shortly afterward. Will Joiner entered the lineup in February 1998, at which point the members felt prepared to begin live performances. They also spent time in the studio from April through July 1998 on the album Turn Out the Flame. A contribution to Verfrumdungseffekt: The Songs of Stephen Merritt followed in August 1998. Later that year, Hard Candy and Lloyd "Buddy" Wheeler established the label Screven Musical Partners to deliver timeless pop songs to a dated populace. The band has guided the movement known as "the Resistance" while taking on the identity of "Harbingers of the Southern Glam Resistance." Turn Out the Flame reached the public on October 8, 1998.
