Back in the Heavy Metal High School Daze

During the 1980s, thousands of teenage boys from middle-class suburbs all over the country wanted to become rock stars. In the classroom, they daydreamed about the fame, the parties and the girls, girls, girls while they doodled their plans in notebooks. After school they would race home and put on their favorite album, crank it up and pose in front of the mirror, practicing all the moves they hoped to one day break out on the big stage in front of a roaring audience.

Three such teens lived on the Westside of Madison, Wisconsin, two brothers named Scott and Travis Storch and their neighboring friend Joel Schilling.

The trio quickly evolved from playing air guitar to picking up instruments. Travis would gravitate towards the lead guitar as Joel picked up the bass. Scott would pick up the mic to become the frontman for the upstart band.

After a series of revolving drummers, the slot was filled by Joe Wilke and with a complete line-up, the band would take on the name TEMPEST and begin an intense rehearsal schedule. It was around this time the Storch brothers would start to compose songs. Soon, writing original material became the focus of the band.

In December 1988, TEMPEST played their first live show at The New Loft in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. However, trouble was already brewing behind the drum kit. Within four months of joining the band, it became apparent that there was a problem behind the kit with Wilke. In early 1989 he exited the band and would be replaced by drummer prodigy Greg Porter.

Along with the addition of Greg, the band changed their name to SMASH PALACE. They immediately focused on refining its original material. Travis and Joel had penned several tunes as the band set their sights on their first EP. They used a 4-track recorder that Travis bought with his allowance money to record a homemade demo tape of 5- songs in the late spring of 1989. The tracks on this demo tape had a heavy sound and dark lyrics.

Despite their young age, it was clear these early teenagers were committed to pursuing music. Richard Storch, the brothers' father, would be inspired to invest in the band and become their manager. With new equipment and increased support for the band, plans they made to go into the studio to record an official demo album. However, the sound of the newer material was not heavy enough for new drummer Greg Porter. He left the band in the summer of 1989, only five months after joining the group.

The Storch brothers and Joel rethought the vision for the band and decided to bring in a second guitarist. They would hold auditions and one of the players to try out was guitarist Liberty Kohn. Liberty was a classic style hard rock guitarist who featured a large mop of brown hair, a grey Les Paul, and a formative guitar education built on Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, and Motley Crue riffs. His grinding, hard rock licks would be the perfect counterpart for Travis’s supersonic riffs and volcanic lead lines.

After finding a second guitarist, the focus again turned towards finding a suitable drummer. The band auditioned a collection of drummers that would rival Spinal Tap. The search began to look hopeless. Then a guy wearing a Zildjian t-shirt with a clean-cut image named Greg Ervin entered the rehearsal space. The expectations were low. To their surprise, Greg sat behind the kit and skillfully pounded through the Tesla song “Hang Tough” with the band. His strength and finesse behind the kit were undeniable, as was his chemistry with the band. Auditions were immediately closed. The line-up was complete by the late summer of 1989. The additions of Liberty and Greg created a fuller sound and reinvigorated the band.

The now 5-piece band would go to work on composing new material. Travis and Joel penned several dozen tunes in preparation to record. The band would choose only six of the songs to use. They then chose Randy’s Recording studio in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin, where they would record their debut EP titled ”Trouble’s Coming”.

The sessions took only three days to complete. The band then made plans to release the EP, but an issue needed to be solved before production could move forward. It had come to the band's attention that its current moniker, Smash Palace, was already under copyright. The band had to change their name so the EP could be released. After several days of deliberation and multiple suggestions, the boys unanimously chose the name CROSSFIRE.

In late December of 1989, CROSSFIRE's debut EP "Trouble’s Coming" was released. The material on the debut strongly reflected the influences of hard-rocking bands like Motley Crue, Metallica, Poison, and Faster Pussycat. The EP was only available on cassette and sold at live shows. The release was well-received by local music fans and helped to launch CROSSFIRE on its way to success in the local hard rock music scene.

The debut “Troubles Coming” rapidly sold out its first pressing moving over 200 units in the first few weeks after its release. It would be an accomplishment for a young high school band just starting. In addition, the band found themselves on the cover of MOR magazine, a local music publication. A popular local commercial radio show called 'BEAT OF THE CITY' debuted the somberly stirring explosive track “Burning Winter” and the anthemic fist-pumper “Keep on Rockin” from the release.

CROSSFIRE did moderately well for themselves in their local area in such a short time. As a new-fledging band with such young members in the ranks, CROSSFIRE would show no sign or inability not to be able to contend with and even surpass their contemporaries.