The band originally started out as a three-piece, with Reed on vocals, Gass on guitar and Kevin Weisman as the drummer. The band adopted pseudonym names for its band members, Reed was "Darryl Lee Donald", Gass was "Klip Calhoun" and Weisman was "Kenny Bob Thornton". Gass and Reed began to search for backing musicians, as they felt Trainwreck's musical style was "too close to Tenacious D". The band met electric guitarist John Konesky and bassist John Spiker in Ohio through a mutual friend, with them relocating to Los Angeles to form Trainwreck as "John Bartholomew Shredman" and "Boy Johnny" respectively. Nate Rothacker replaced Weisman as the drummer in the mid-2000s, going under the pseudonym "Dallas St. Bernard".