Here's an article from the January 1990 issue of Hit Parader.

BANSHEE

Each issue, Hit Parader journeys back in time to learn about the formative years of a rock and roll celebrity. This month we’re doing something a little different — looking at the formation of one of metals hottest young bands, Banshee.

This is a different kind of story from what you usually read in this space each month. Usually, Hit Parader’s Roots column tells about the early years of a rock star — where he was born, what instruments he first played and how he got into his initial bands. This time, however, we’re gonna tell you the inside story of how a band landed a record deal — the wheelings and dealings that got Banshee’s current album, Race Against Time, on Titanium Records — a new subsidiary of giant Atlantic Records. It’s a tale that should be interesting to any of you who dream of one day having a major label deal. And as you will see, it’s not as easy as you think.

Our story starts some nine months ago when Jason Flom, Vice President of A&R for Atlantic Records, picks up his metal hotline to call the forces-that-be at Titanium Records — the label best known for introducing Jake E. Lee’s new band, Badlands, to the world. Flom tells the Titanium folks about a hot new band he’s discovered in Kansas City called Banshee — a four-man unit consisting of vocalist Tommy Lee Flood, bassist Bill Westfall, drummer Kent Burnham and guitarist Terry Dunn. Banshee have already released an inexpensively produced EP on Metal Blade Records, which has become one of the best-selling indie vinyl ventures of the year. Flom feels the buzz is out about Banshee and that somebody should get behind these guys in a hurry.

A showcase is arranged for Titanium out in Kansas City. The band’s rehearsal hall — basically an old warehouse on the outskirts of
town — is decked out with the group’s full allotment of stage props, lights and gear. It's an impressive sight. The showcase goes well; Flood’s charisma and big voice convince the label execs that this, in fact, could be a very big band. It’s agreed that lawyers for both sides will begin negotiations the following week for a record deal.

Weeks pass. Phone calls between lawyers as well as between Titanium and the manager, Chris Ellis, earn AT&T a small fortune. One day it seems like headway is being made, the next day a major step backwards is taken. It’s an arduous and frustrating process. Finally it seems like an agreement has been reached on the amount of money the band will recieve to record their debut LP, then a snag develops over a bonus clause. The guys in the band, all of whom need to work day jobs to pay their rent, are the ones who suffer the most.

“It was real tough on us,” Flood remembers. “We’ve been together as a band for a few years, and we’ve waited for the opportunity to get signed to a big label. Then you start letting other people control your destiny and you live and die by their decisions. One minute you're on top of the world, thinking everything’s gonna work out perfectly the next moment you're concerned the whole deal is gonna fall apart."

Finally in February, 1989, the deal between Titanium and Banshee is signed. The next problem is deciding where the band will record and who will produce. Through contacts at Titanium they are brought to New York to work on the album at the world-famous Record Plant, a studio where everyone from Kiss to Badlands has recorded over the years. The band chooses Jon Matthias as their producer, and the album is begun. Since Banshee are on a limited budget, work goes quickly. So quickly, in fact, that within a week, all ten of the album’s basic tracks have been laid down. Two weeks later the disc is mixed and mastered. By the end of March, the finished tapes are turned over to Titanium. Then the wait begins until the disc is released - much to the band's regret, not until late August.

“It's been a real interesting process," Flood admits. “Some things have gone more smoothly than we could have hoped, others haven't worked quite as well as we’d have liked. It was tough having to wait four or five months for the record to come out. We’d tell our friends back home in Kansas City that the record was done, and they’d wonder why we were still working our day jobs. But now it’s out — the worst part is over. Now we’re ready to go on the road and kick some ass!”