The band originally formed as Pezz in 1993, when vocalist Ben Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jon Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk, met at the same high school in Streetsville, Ontario. They released a few independent recordings and caught the attention of Juno-nominated producer Brad "Merlin" Nelson, with whom a full-length CD, "Watoosh," was recorded in 1998.

After toiling in indie rock obscurity and many repeated cycles through the Toronto club circuit, the quartet changed its name to "Billy Talent" in late 1999 after a character ("Billy Tallent") in Bruce McDonald's film adaptation of Michael Turner's 1993 book "Hard Core Logo". The change was also a reflection of the band's sound and attitude: aggressive emotional punk rock. With the goal of crafting memorable songs that fire away like ammunition with precision hard-as-math rhythms, Billy Talent recorded a four-song e.p. in September of 2001 that they called "Try Honesty". Their live show put audiences in riot mode as one journalist described them, "...Billy Talent isn't so much a band of four guys as it is a singular, sonic force; they're the music equivalent of a tsunami tidal wave that destroys your village, crushes your loved ones, and then comes back to laugh at you."



With the help of Warner Canada A&R rep Jen Hirst, that tsunami named "Billy" rolled into the spotlight throughout the spring of 2002 carrying a demo tape produced by Gavin Brown (former drummer of Big Sigar, Danko Jones). The record companies flew into Toronto like vultures and in the end Billy Talent signed with Atlantic Records and Warner Music Canada at home. With the mandate of trying to bring indie rock credibility back to the majors like so many bands a decade before them did, their label debut is in the works for an early summer release in 2003.