Greg Ponder. In late 1995, Christy and Childers formed Burning Inside new recruits Jamie Prim on vocals/bass and, later on, Michael Estes on guitar. To increase their potential, the group relocated in February 1996 to Orlando, Florida, an area favourable for the metal scene. Christy arrived by car, carrying everything he owned. They toured, recorded songs for five metal tribute albums, and produced a six-song demo tape of new material released as The Eve of the Entities (2000). Christy stayed in Florida for eight years. His income from music and electric work was limited, so he could only afford accommodation in a storage unit where he also kept and practised his drums for as much as six hours each day. With only an outside garden hose to shower with, he later wrote a song about his appreciation for more comfortable living named "The Beast Outside My Window". Christy joined local metal group Acheron, touring and playing on Anti-God, Anti-Christ (1996) and Necromanteion Communion (1998). His boss at his electrical company allowed him to spend time away to record and tour with his bands. In 1997, Christy met fellow Orlando resident, singer and guitarist Chuck Schuldiner, in a chance encounter at a Florida book store in Altamonte Mall. Schuldiner was, and remains, an influential figure in Christy's career. Christy was a big fan of Schuldiner's metal band Death, so when he learned the group needed a drummer his friends suggested his name and he was offered an audition. Christy knew "all of their albums ... back and forth", and auditioned with only Schuldiner and himself present. The audition was a success, and Christy played on The Sound of Perseverance (1998), an album he called "the album I'm most proud of". In May 1998, Christy toured Europe for four months with Death, which included a spot at the Dynamo Open Air festival in the Netherlands in front of 35,000 people. A friendship and musical camaraderie with Schuldiner also brought Christy into the line-up of Schuldiner's progressive metal group, the more melodic Control Denied. Christy played drums on their debut album, The Fragile Art of Existence (1999) and When Man and Machine Collide, an incomplete album that is yet to be released. The two became close friends, and Christy would spend several Thanksgiving holidays with Schuldiner's family. In December 2001, Schuldiner died from brain cancer. Christy remains close with the family. Between 1999