As a teenager, MacDonald was playing a guitar with punk/new wave/rockabilly band. In the early eighties, he heard Michael Stearns’ Planetary Unfolding on a local college radio station, which left a huge impression and exposed him to a completely new world of sound. He soon discovered other ambient and electronic musicians, such as Brian Eno, Jean-Michel Jarre, Klaus Schulze, Robert Fripp, Vangelis (with Soil Festivities album being a particularly big influence), and got interested in synthesizers.

In 1998, Christopher MacDonald self-released his debut Astral Currents album, which was entirely recorded on Serge Modular (except a few field recordings). The album was broadcasted on ‘Hearts of Space,’ WXPN Star's End, and other ambient radio stations, and very well received by critics.