In 1984 guitarist Paul Gilbert moved from Pennsylvania to Hollywood, California, in order to attend the G.I.T.. There he met bassist John Aldente and drummer Harry Gschoesser who also studied. They started rehearsing every morning at 7am at the school when nobody else was awake. Legendary record producer Mike Varney helped him find vocalist Jeff Martin who was singing in Phoenix's biggest local metal band Surgical Steel. This was the beginning of Racer X. In 1986 Harry Gschoesser's visa ran out so he returned to his native Austria.