Taking its name from the works of 19th century author Jules Verne, Vernian Process is a steampunk band that creates music themed around Victorian scientific romance and its modern counterpart steampunk. Pfeiffer began working on music under the name Vernian Process in the winter of 2003. He released a number of homemade downloadable albums over the next 4 years before being approached by Irigoyen about joining the project to work on Behold the Machine. From that point forward, Vernian Process evolved beyond a solo project.