Before being named Secession, the band played at least one concert as the Gift, during which Jim Ross performed with one arm in a full plaster cast following an accident.
Shortly after recording demo material at Palladium Studios in Edinburgh, Jack Ross, disillusioned with the direction the music was taking, left the band.
MacLeod was asked to divide his contribution between percussion and synthesizer/sequencing, and the band continued in this form for a short period of time until Jim Ross left, cutting the line-up to a trio.
This was the unit that produced the original demo of "Fire Island" (based around two sequences programmed on a Yamaha DX7) at Planet Studios in Edinburgh, which came to the attention of the Beggars Banquet Records A&R department.
After being signed by Beggars Banquet, the trio re-recorded "Fire Island" at REL Studios in Edinburgh, later remixed by the production team associated with Freeez and John Rocca.