Battle of the Bands setback

Salazar noted that the band struggled to make much progress prior to the arrival of Cadogan, and felt that the songs really started to develop when Cadogan’s big guitar sound was added to Jenkins’ more stripped-down demos. The two became songwriting partners, with Jenkins writing lyrics and Cadogan helping him brainstorm musical ideas; together, they worked on a second set of demos. The band toured locally during 1994 and early 1995, building up a following. However, in July 1995, the band hit a significant setback with a disastrous “Battle of the Bands” performance that would see the winner be offered a record deal. Urbano (the drummer at the time) quit shortly before the show, Jenkins was sick and unable to perform well, and Cadogan blew out his guitar amp two songs into the show. They lost the contest, and with it, the potential record deal and the confidence of their management and studio team, who left the band right afterwards. On the verge of breaking up, the band instead regrouped and recruited two new key people: Drummer Brad Hargreaves and manager Eric Gotland, a long-time personal friend and confidant of Jenkins. Jenkins, Cadogan, Salazar, and Hargreaves went on to be the core lineup for the band during the recording of its first two studio albums.