One might begin a history of a band with accounts of the bands from which various members came; those would be too numerous to cover here, and to the degree that they are relevant they will be included in the bios of the people (particularly Mark) in the band.  But the story of Collision must begin as the story of a nameless combo which then had another name before becoming this one.

It started because Tyler Chroniger was leading praise sessions on Wednesday nights for a youth group at the Seventh Day Baptist Church in Shiloh, where his father was (and still is) pastor.  Mark and Janet Young began attending, and became members of that church, and Janet mentioned to Tyler that Mark played numerous instruments and could play bass guitar for the sessions, as well as help lead the singing.  Tyler liked the idea, and soon they were working together on praise choruses, attended by the youth group and several older members of the congregation.  Tyler liked the sound, and decided to expand it, getting Travis Burlingame to play drums, adding the vocal of Becky Patterson (who we sometimes had accompanied in solos in church), and starting to practice before each service so we would know what we were doing.  By January of 2006 we had taken the name 7dB, which Mark suggested, a double-entendre in that we were at that point all from the Seventh Day Baptist church in Shiloh, and that seven decibels is a measure of sound volume (albeit a very quiet one).

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Tyler had written quite a few songs, and Mark also had written songs, and so it was agreed that we would pursue playing more of our own music.  Tyler's sister Jessica came in on vocals after Becky left for college, and one of her peers, Kyle Baxter was also interested, and became our lead guitar player in June of 2006.  Tyler played guitar, and Mark was on what was called "fifth instrument", switching between guitar, keyboards, flute, and a second bass; several people agreed to play bass, but none ever did, so Mark would cover bass at the few concerts performed.  Evan Young began working sound, and participated in decisions about repertoire.  Travis played drums, sporadically, and the band played at a couple church functions before Tyler decided he did not really want to be part of a band, and on his departure Travis and Jessica also left, leaving Mark and Kyle, with a bit of help from Evan, wondering what to do next.

But they agreed that they still wanted to be this band, that there was still a need for a good Christian rock band in the area and they had good material and decent ability, so they pushed forward.  In a brainstorming session one afternoon they agreed on the name Collision, and they started looking for people who could make it a band and not just a duo.  Again the band went through several bass guitar players, of whom Adam Young, intermittently from about September 2006 through July 2008, was the only one to play at a concert (back at the Seventh Day Baptist church, April 19th 2008), with Mark still playing "fifth instrument".  Having only Mark's vocal at this point, they stripped the repertoire severely, but kept Tyler's song Stand Up along with several of Mark's songs, adding a few new ones that worked with one voice.

At some point around this time, we spoke with drummer Kevin Rabago who expressed interest in playing with us, and promised to give him a shot; but in the confusions of changing relationships, we lost contact with him and kept trying to find him.  Yet barely had we promised him the shot when Mark got a phone call from John Mastick, a great drummer from The Last Psalm decades before.  John was eager to play, despite Mark's insistence that Collision had a drummer and the drive from Bergen County to Cumberland County for rehearsal would prove an insurmountable obstacle.  John pushed for the idea of having two drummers, and Mark agreed conditioned on the other drummer also being comfortable with that.  Since we never found the other drummer again, we never asked; but at the time the band was short on practice space, having lost access to the facilities of the Seventh Day Baptist Church when Tyler left, and for a while there were no rehearsals.  Then there were communications and logistical problems, and John never made it to a rehearsal.  He did, however, influence repertoire, insisting that we revive Fork in the Road, one of his fonder memories from the earlier band, a rock-oriented song that had featured a drum solo.

Kyle found Brittany Boscola in November 2007, a strong female vocalist who could handle rhythm guitar; Passing Through the Portal was written for her to sing, and she also selected Shout to the Lord.  In addition to those two, Stand Up, Fork in the Road, Convinced, and Still Small Voice, they were doing I Use to Think, Selfish Love, Heavenly Kingdom, Song of Joy, and were working on That's When I'll Believe, Sometimes, Look Around You, and Holocaust, plus covers of Strong Tower, In the Light, and He Touched Me.

By early 2010 Collision was down to Mark, Kyle, a bit of help from Evan on sound, and an absentee drummer.  They accepted an invitation to open for Tal & Acacia at a Lift-FM sponsored concert April 16th 2010, doing Convinced and Still Small Voice acoustically.  Early in 2011 they sat down and talked again about the future, and again agreed that they wanted to do this, and if it was just the two of them and the drummer, they would do everything they could to contact the drummer and get him down to rehearse, and work as a three-piece, lead, bass, drums, and one voice.  Again they began to rethink repertoire; but God had other plans.

Those plans came to fruition as the history continues in 2011.