mark stuart met the original guitarist and bassist for audio adrenaline, barry blair and will mcginniss, while attending kentucky christian college (now known as kentucky christian university). barry blair was mark's roommate for three years. they founded the band in 1986 under the name of a-180. however, they temporarily disbanded the next year when mark went to haiti for a semester. when he returned to kentucky, the band reformed and recruited bob herdman, who brought them two songs to record. after they did, they changed their name to audio adrenaline and signed a deal with forefront records. after more than twenty years of success with the band and eight studio albums, stuart and the band decided to retire on january 2006. the primary reason cited was stuart's "ongoing vocal challenges" stemming from vocal cord damage caused by a disorder known as spasmodic dysphonia, not by overuse.