The three members of Liquid had signed up to perform in the school
talent show (it was a few months after the Battle if the Bands).
In addition to temporarily hiring Jason Lofty for bass and Jim Miller
for vocals, the also decided to rename themselves to Mad Hatter.
After failing the tryouts with Metallica's Master of Puppets, Mad
Hatter was looking for a full time bassist and vocalist.
Sean met a
bass player, Wil Taplin, who immediately joined the band.
However, about two weeks after this Shawn Meade got tired of the
band and decided to leave. Shortly after this however, Jim Miller
also joined the band full time.
The newly formed
group played at Milford's Town Library, and at the Coffee house
in Burroville, Rhode Island before going to record their demo. The
band recorded four songs in one day at Glenn's studio.
Unfortunately
the band began to split after the recording of the demo. Wil was
interested in the band taking on more of a punk style. The other
three however, were getting into progressive metal at this time.
Jim even had purchased a keyboard so the the band could cover some
Dream Theater songs. Wil was ultimately banned form the band after
not playing in the groups next gig. Bill Blanchard, who was the
sub on the bass for the show Wil did not attend, was asked immediately
to join as a full time member.