Still based in San Francisco, Pilson next teamed up with guitarist Randy Hansen, best known as a Jimi Hendrix impersonator, and Pilson recorded the "Astral Projection – Live" album with Hansen for Shrapnel Records. When the band with Hansen dissolved, Pilson moved to Los Angeles and only weeks later, on a recommendation by Mike Varney, was contacted by vocalist Don Dokken who was looking for a bass player for his band Dokken. An audition was set up and Pilson joined the band in 1983.