Laidlaw was formed by Craig Defalco and Buzzy James in 1990 in Orange County, CA. They started their career doing the club circuit for year after year. Sending tapes to various record labels earned them plenty of rejections. The group went through several lineup changes resulting with the grouping of Defalco, James, Darrell Millar, Michael Norton, and Tommy Roberts coming together in 1996. Their big break came when Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx got his hands on one of the tapes.