Chris Hamilton started playing the piano at the age of nine in his hometown of Baltimore. Sometime after that, he taught himself guitar on an old acoustic guitar owned by his father, and somewhere along the way, he started writing songs. In 1995, Hamilton started his first band, Sparks With Divinity. Sparks With Divinity quickly transformed into Playground in 1997. Playground started played a few gigs in Baltimore and the surrounding area, and in late 1997, they recorded "Don't Eat Cheese Crackers" for a local compilation.

In December of 1997, Hamilton went on hiatus from the project, joining two new groups. He played piano and sang backing vocals for Punch Buggy Red (jazz/pop) and manned the synthesizer for Arrogance (guitar-based industrial). He continued writing songs in the meantime until Playground's return in 1998, as Radiation Puppy. Fueled by pop and rock singles such as "Indie Rock Star" and "Crush on Eleanor," Radiation Puppy played for over a year, eventually entering the studio and recording "Get Normal" for another compilation.

In May of 1999, Radiation Puppy again went on hiatus, and Hamilton became primarily a solo act. With his infectious combination of pop hooks ("Buffalo"), dark sketches ("Vincent Price"), and in-your-face humor ("He's Gonna Screw a Fat Girl for Christmas"), Hamilton's reputation as a solo performer grew rapidly. From the summer of 1999 to 2001, he gigged as lead vocalist for The Better Side of K-OS and rejoined Playground friends Brian Cunningham and Jason Cuomo as the drummer for BC and the MDs, while continuing to work on new material and trying to regroup Radiation Puppy.

In summer 2001, Radiation Puppy regrouped with the addition of ex-Quiddity member Chris Smith, The Better Side of Chaos vocalist Mandy Buttrum (who replaced Hamilton as the lead singer in Chaos in 2000), and ex-Acacia drummer Dane Krich. The foursome played throughout the area and recorded the Driving Nowhere EP with acclaimed producer Mike McAree (SR-71, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack).

Currently, Hamilton continues to front Radiation Puppy and perform as a solo act. He resides in Baltimore.