John Holy and Tim Fields met while playing together in ZoundBoX. When ZoundBox's lead singer moved to Japan in April 2006, ZoundBoX disbanded. John and Tim made the decision to persevere and they found Jason Myers through Craig's List and he was brought in for lead vocals and rhythm guitar. GTA found Jim Mueller, also through Craig's List, and he was hired to play the bass. For a short period, they continued as ZoundBoX but by the time they played their first show in May 2006, they were officially "Grand Theft Audio," a name that came from Jason. Within the first few months, GTA morphed into the ALT/Hard-Rock dynamic that they are today. In November 2006, Jason learned that he had been accepted into the U.S. Navy's Officer Candidate Program and would be required to leave Oahu. The search for his replacement immediately began and while singers were hard to find, Jason's rhythm guitar position was quickly filled because Tim knew Ken Roberts through work. GTA loved Ken's energy and he was invited to join GTA in December 2006 as the rhythm guitarist. GTA ran into Keoni Maiwela at a show and Keoni suggested to Tim that GTA call his wife Ruth Maiwela (formerly of "Full Circle") about singing. After doing so, Ruth accepted the invitation and became the voice of GTA. During the transition from Jason to Ruth, Keoni (also formerly of "Full Circle," "Surf Psycho Sexy," & "Rail") was asked to take over the bass guitar duties. Although he had never played the bass in a band environment, he accepted the invitation and became GTA's bassist in January 2007 while Ruth officially took the reigns in February 2007. Ken moved to Seattle in April 2007 and GTA found Anthony (Tone) Buhain; surprise, through Craig's List, and he joined in May 2007. However, in December 2007, Ruth announced that she was pregnant and the auditions started shortly after that. After six weeks of searching, Ezekiel Gonda was invited to fill in for her. In September 2008, Tone left GTA to focus on his career in advertising. However, during Tone's farewell show, GTA hooked up with Jason Baker, a talented bassist who had previously played with Keoni and Ruth in "Full Circle." After one jam session, he was asked to join GTA and he accepted. Keoni was required to switch back to guitar but he agreed. After a 15 month hiatus, Ruth rejoined GTA in March '09 bringing Zeke's tenure, although extremely fruitful, to an end. Tim moved to Mississippi in June '09 and Jason left to pursue other interests.
