Straight Faced

The founding members were Eric Glenn Stewart (1973–2007), Ron Moeller, Matthew Polentz, and Samuel Marrs.

Stewart set them up in a warehouse in Santa Ana that his father used to run a construction business out of, and taught the other members how to play.

At the request of Ron Moeller for his birthday, he and Grossman rented a rehearsal studio and recruited their new friend Johnny Miller to sing.

They returned to the studio to record Broken in 1996 before setting off on their first European tour, a 7-week stint opening for their friends, Ignite.

After Grossman and Marrs’ departure in 1997, the group enlisted David Tonic and Kevin Norton and signed with Epitaph Records to release Conditioned, their third LP.