Snapcase

The band was originally conceived in 1989 in a basement in West Seneca, NY and was named Solid State. In 1989, the lineup was embodied by guitarist Scott Dressler, then a mere 15 years of age, 17 year-old drummer Mike Kimaid, Daryl Taberski, age 18 on bass, and Tiger Balduf, the eldest at 19, on vocals. Prior to recording their first demo as Solid State on January 30, 1990, Quest for Reality, Tiger Balduf left the band to get married, and Mike Kimaid left to join the Lockport, NY based band The Watchmen. In their places instead were Chris Galas on vocals and Peter Dawidzak on drums. Soon after recording this, Peter Dawidzak left the band to go to school. On May 22, 1990, Solid State recorded their second demo, Accept Your Fate, with their friend Mike Lampe, who had assisted with the previous demo, as well. During this recording, the band was comprised of Chris Galas on vocals, Scott Dressler playing guitar, Jason Kourkounis on drums, and Daryl Taberski on bass.

During the spring of 1991, Solid State went through a big lineup shift; Kourkounis left the band to pursue other musical interests, and Kimaid rejoined the band along with The Watchmen guitarist Joe Smith, making the band a five-piece. After these changes to their lineup, the band decided to change their name to Snapcase. Between the years of 1991 and 1992, Snapcase recorded two demos with Dennis Fura, Break The Silence and King of the Mountain. In 1992 the band was signed to Chicago hardcore label Victory Records and recorded their first 7 inch, Comatose, with Mike Sac and Robby Takac that year. After this recording Taberski moved over to vocals, replacing Chris Galas, Bob Whiteside from Buffalo, NY band Support took over on bass, and Jon Salemi joined to replace Joe Smith, who left for school. In 1993, Kimaid left the band after partially recording the band's first album and was replaced by former Buffalo, NY based Slugfest drummer, Tim Redmond, who performed on the rest of the tracks. This full length, Lookinglasself, was released in 1993 and was recorded with Don Fury and Fred Betschen. In early 1995, the band released the Steps EP, which they recorded with Fred Betschen. This was the last recording to feature Scott Dressler, who left the band in the fall of 1995 to go to graduate school. He was replaced by Frank Vicario of Buffalo, NY band Fadeaway. In the summer of 1996, The California Takeover was released which featured live recordings from Snapcase, Earth Crisis, and Strife.

lifetime, sick of it all, every time i die, rancid