Authority Zero was started in 1994 when Bill Marcks met Jason DeVore at Westwood High School. Marcks didn't actually meet DeVore until the summer of 1995, until then Authority Zero was 2 guitarists (Marcks & Jerry Douglas) and a drummer J.W. Gordon, all from Westwood. This trio put a few songs together without lyrics or basslines. When that summer rolled around Douglas was expecting the yearly visit of his friend Jason DeVore from Wyoming. Douglas introduced his long time friend and Marcks jokingly asked if he wanted to be their singer, later it was no joke.