It was formed in early 1987 by Brewster Shaw and Robert L. Gibson, recruiting George Nelson.

Gibson has stated that he came up with the name "Max Q" (though recognizes that Shaw has also claimed having come up with the name himself), the engineering term for the maximum dynamic pressure from the atmosphere experienced by an ascending spacecraft.

He joked that like the Space Shuttle, the band "makes lots of noise but no music".

[2] The band's rotating line-up often changes due to flight crew assignments, training, and the occasional retirement.

In Gibson's last year with the group, Max Q was the warm-up band for Cheap Trick on their tour which came through Houston.