Child grew up in Kislingbury, a village in Northamptonshire. In 1989, he moved to Birmingham to study audio-visual design, played in a jazz/rock/fusion band called Blim, and learned to DJ from friend Paul Damage. At that time, there were no Techno clubs in Birmingham so he and his friends started House of God, and by 1991 he was DJing there regularly. In 1994, he released his eponymous debut EP on Downwards Records.

Surgeon's musical style is characterised by his incorporation of the more cinematic and left field aspects of his musical background into his club-based material. His production, remix, and DJ repertoire are inspired by krautrock and industrial music bands such as Faust, Coil, and Whitehouse. In particular, the extent of Coil's influence is such that most of the track titles from Surgeon's Tresor album "Force and Form" are direct references to Coil recordings. Child also draws influence from Chicago house, Techno, Dub music, and Electro, and also from non-musical works by Mike Leigh, David Lynch, William S. Burroughs, Bret Easton Ellis, and Cindy Sherman.

Child is also known for several significant artist collaborations in his career. These include tonal experiments with Mick Harris, British Murder Boys with Regis, and most recently with Ben Sims as Frequency 7.