The glam-style metal band It's Alive was formed in 1985. Martin "Max Martin" Sandberg (born February 26, 1971) was one of the founding members of the band. He eventually dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music with his band under the nickname Martin White.
In 1988 they participated in the national rock championships and they also played as the in-house band at a disco in Cyprus. The decision to focus on his music career paid off as they landed a record deal on producer Denniz PoP's label Cheiron Studios. After recording their first album they toured through Europe in the early '90s.