Forming a band is easy. Forming a band with five guys who all share the same goals, ideas and dedication is very hard. At the very beginning it was just James Semense (drums), Mike Doyle (bass) and Jerry Jaborek (guitar). We rehearsed three to four times a week writing material and searching for "the" singer. We auditioned countless vocalists and although some were very talented, none were exactly what we were looking for. Much of the problem stemmed from the fact that when they came to try out, they themselves were unsure of what we were expecting from them. Thus, many hours were wasted bringing in vocalists who's singing style was'nt even close to what we were looking for. One night James brought by this guy named Kevin Hicklin. He came to hang out, listen to our material and talk about music. Kevin had grown up on the East Coast and had played guitar in many hard-core bands out in Maryland. He had moved out to California a few months earlier to jam with the band Ignite. However, he wasn't officially in any band. We never considered having two guitarists in the project but Kev was so cool and laid back that we asked him if he wanted to bring his gear over and play with us the next evening. He did, and the mix worked very well. His presence brought texture and aggression that in turn, allowed Jerry to expand his melodies and back-up vocals. So, we asked him to join. Again, this left us without the last piece in our new five man puzzle. We went right back to work at finding "our" singer. We did what all bands do...we placed adds, we handed out flyers and went to shows. You name it, we did it. We were back to cattle calling vocalists in the slim hopes that one would pan out. We decided that bringing in vocalists one at a time was sure to become a nightmare. Instead, we recorded our songs ourselves with Jerry doing the vocals. This way, when we talked to a singer we could hand him a CD that would at least let the guy know what style we were looking for. Our hopes were that we could seek out the guys that were into our kind of stuff and not waste the time of those that weren't. Along came Dan. Dan, who's full name is Dan Hammock had placed an add on a local music internet site. The add had a link to his web page where we could hear some samples of his singing. Upon first listening to him, we could tell the guy could really sing yet had not found the "right" band to back him up and give him the proper platform to fully expand his skills. Jerry called him up on the phone and played him a song we had recorded. Just as the first chorus finished, Jerry could hear Dan yell out "that's it! That’s what I'm looking for!" At that second, we had "our" singer. Dan came down the next evening to rehearse with us and it was easy to see that Dan was a great vocalist and song writer. Dan also brought an inner drive that completely fueled his entire existence as a musician. For the next few months we wrote songs, rehearsed our asses off and meticulously planned out our entire game plan. We were determined not to allow any of the millions of things that break up other bands, to sneak in and derail our band. As individuals, none of us are the greatest guitarist, bassist, drummer or singer. But when playing together we create a special chemistry that is hard to find. Together, we are five guys who share the same goals, ideas and dedication to write the best music we can and play it for as many people as possible...