Janne (guitar/vocals), Fox (bass), and Iggy (drums) began playing together as Smack in their native Stockholm circa 1996. By 1999, new drummer Trisse had joined up and a couple of well-received three-song demos convinced the band to go pro and adopt a new name in the year 2000. Their choice, Grand Magus, was actually much more fitting with their sonic identity, which consisted of both '70s hard rock and stoner rock influences (what the band likes to call doom blues) and drew the attention of Rise Above label boss Lee Dorrian. At the beginning of 2001, they entered local das Boot Studios with Dismember drummer Fred Estby acting as producer, emerging a few weeks later with a self-titled debut which was released in the U.S. by Music Cartel in early 2002. On a trivial note, singer Janne now goes by the initials J.B. and also sings for top Swedish stoners Spiritual Beggars