WREKKING MACHINE formed in Santa Cruz, CA during the summer of 1986, and within a year had solidified a stable lineup consisting of Shawn Smith on guitar/vocals, Doug Livingston on guitar, Nick Felczer on bass, and Sam "Bam" Adato behind the kit. The group recorded the I Am Born demo in June of 1987 at Harbor Records in Santa Cruz, CA-four songs of aggressive thrash that retained a classic heavy metal influence-before Scott Sargeant joined up on second guitar, allowing Shawn to focus solely on fronting the band. An unreleased four-track demo, Fatal Mistake, followed; and in March of 1988, the Shut Your Mouth and Let Us Play!! rehearsal demo was circulated, featuring 14 tracks-including a cover of NUCLEAR ASSAULT's "Hang the Pope." Later that same year, the two-song Merge!! demo was tracked once again at Harbor Records - the material starting to reveal a harder-edged sound with a hint more sarcastic humor.