McKagan had moved from Seattle to Los Angeles at this point having already been a member of the bands The Fartz, Fastbacks and 10 Minute Warning while he also played one show drumming for Johnny Thunders. Shortly after his move, he answered the ad and met with Slash and Adler at Canter's Deli. Describing McKagan's appearance upon meeting him at Canter's, Slash said that he was "this bone-skinny six-foot-plus guy, with short spiked blonde hair rolled in wearing a Sid Vicious-style chain and padlock around his neck, combat boots, and a red-and-black leather trench coat in spite of the seventy-five-degree weather. No one had predicted that." Soon after meeting, the trio formed a group together, named Road Crew (after the Motörhead song "(We Are) The Road Crew") and began auditioning singers.