After the name Sean Dowdell And His Friends? and its 3-track self-titled mixtape in 1993, the band split and Krause met Dowdell's brother at his work and heard that Sean broke up with the band. Krause also broke up with his band earlier that year. Krause got Sean's number and started Grey Daze. They began searching for a lead singer to perform with them, and Dowdell suggested Chester Bennington as their lead vocalist for the band.