They put the idea of a band off for awhile until Travis went to another school and started a band with a drummer that he met, Jay. Along with Jay's uncle Danny, they formed a band called Strick-9.  After learning that Travis had started another band, Curtis wanted to join, and he did. During this time Travis started experimenting with the electric guitar, and soon grew to like it more than the bass. He got tired of the arguments and the completely Metallica based musical style of the band so he finally left. Soon after Travis left, Curtis was reluctantly kicked out and the whole band came to its end.

Jay and Travis still liked playing metal together and decided to start a new project, in which Travis would now play guitar full time. This project was intended to be heavier, faster, and more gothic sounding than Strick-9 ever was, and eventually came to be known as "Dark Autumn". After the two musicians had everything planned out and everything was going smoothly, without warning, Jay moved to another part of the county and Travis completely lost contact with him. Now he was left with a choice, to search for a new drummer and other band members or wait for Jay to contact him.

After numerous attempts to contact Jay over a period of four weeks, Travis decided to search for new members and carry the title of "Dark Autumn".He soon found a new drummer, Philip, a friend from school. They practiced several times and decided to try to find a rhythm guitarist. Curtis was a suggestion by Travis and he was accepted.They began to write several songs, including "Niviene" and at the same time were looking for members to complete the line-up of the band.

A few month's later they found Michael, a friend of Curtis that played bass, and he became a member. After that, they found Greg, another friend, who would play keyboard. All that was left was a lead singer.

Philip found Ricky, and Travis found John. They were both invited to practice to try out for the band. During a break, Ricky was playing Michael's bass when Michael said, "I have an announcement to make. If you guys haven't noticed, this guy's way better than I am, and I don't wanna hold you guys back, so I'm leaving the band." Shocked by this startling announcement, the band did what was right and made Ricky, who was originally a bass player, the new bassist in the band. John, who's vocals were preferred, became the lead singer. In an odd twist of fate, the band was completed, for a while. The next day, Greg quit the band because the dedication the band was looking for in him was too much for him at the time.

The group wasn't necessarily concerned about the keyboardist's leave, and continued playing steadily for about two months. During this time, Travis regained contact with Jay, who was disappointed with Travis' decision to move on without him. Soon after, the band realized what had happened and wanted to give Jay a try. They had two practices with him and decided to let him replace Philip.

The band now had a new, heavier sound, mixed with a melodic aspect forged into the music by Philip and Travis.  During this time, they experimented with two people that played keyboard, Kris and Blake (Ricky's cousin), who both ended up parting from the band. After going steadily for about six weeks, tension mounted between John and Jay and John ended up leaving the band, which created an opening for a vocalist.

Ricky's cousin Blake (previous keyboardist) became the bands new lead singer. After several practices with him, Greg contacted Travis and he said that he was now more interested in the band. Greg was given another shot, but after he missed a more than acceptable amount of practices and regressed to his old ways, the band sent him on his way.

After a while of going smoothly and having two gigs, the band started having problems again. After a long period of time with no practice, tension and differences in personal beliefs and ideas led to Jay's departure from Dark Autumn. Soon afterwards, Blake felt out of place in the band, lost dedication, and was also let go.

The band decided to return to their old line-up with John as vocalist and Philip as the drummer. After their previous departures from the band, both of these members have increased in talent tremendously. The band also decided to have a new keyboardist, Jared, who adds to the gothic sound of Dark Autumn's music. Now the band has more of a creative force than ever before.