Adam Kurtz grew up a poor black child playing Beatles songs on guitar and then recording songs he wrote on the 4-track he somehow conned his brother into buying the summer after 9th grade. After college, he moved to Boston and joined Lost Pilot as its lead guitarist with an old friend and then started a band in the same role with his college roommate Patrick Walsh called the Fifty Mission Crush. After Patrick defected to Paris for love, Adam moved to Maine for solitude and spent the next era writing songs and recording them on his laptop (ProTools). Wanting a fuller sound, as opposed to a singer-songwriter paired down guy-and-a-guitar approach, Adam put a band together to flesh out the songs and record a full length album (The Devil is Defeated). Zebulan ("Z. E.") Coffin and Douglas Parker are old pals who were living together in a small apartment in New York. Adam had met them during visits to NYC and knew he wanted Z.E.'s solid low end skills and Doug's impeccable metronome-like drumming. They were easily enticed to come to Portland - they love the rainy weather and the coffee - unfortunately for them they were thinking of Portland, Oregon, and actually thinking of Seattle. Adam selfishly played dumb until after the move. A three piece band was a great start but Adam always had wanted to add a lead guitarist and keyboardist. After jamming a few times with Z.E. and Doug, Adam put out a call for auditions for lead guitarist. It was a lengthy process - Adam demanded that the guitarist be able to "shred mightier than the Warrior Prince Shred of the Land of Shredding" and also to "play with the sensitivity of a baby unicorn tear dropping onto a cloud of misted mother's milk." Many tried out and were rejected for various reasons, but then one guitarist made an immediately strong impression on the three. The Colonel showed up lugging his Fender Strat without a case, and quietly and humbly asked to use the effects pedals strewn about the room. Adam, Z.E. and Doug were not psyched, but decided to go forth with the audition. The Colonel had clearly listened to the demo tracks that had been on MySpace and added lines of his own creation that were complementary and perfect. The guys pitched in to help get him the necessary equipment and The Colonel was in. He also knew a guy called Demian Ridge who played keys. By no means a virtuoso, Damian fit in personality-wise and musically and also knew how to program synths. He assured the guys that that would come in handy some day.