Blind Illusion was formed in 1978 by De Anza High School students Mark Biedermann on guitar and vocals, Les Claypool on bass and Bret Hern on drums. By that time, Biedermann had been writing his own music from a young age, and original songs were a priority for the new band from the beginning. The band's earliest sound had been musically rooted in progressive rock, with Biedermann citing as his main inspirations Rush, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Scorpions, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Frank Marino, Black Sabbath, and Blue Öyster Cult. They soon added vocalist David White. Claypool left the band in 1979 and was replaced by bassist Chris Olsen. This line-up would play outdoor parties and self promoted multi-band concerts around the area since all of the members were too young to play in clubs. They also recorded several demo songs during this period. Brian Kehoe joined as a second guitarist and Les Claypool returned as well to record another demo tape of the songs "On Death's Bed" and "Kamikaze" in 1980.