Motivated by the competition, Lang jumped into the Minneapolis club circuit with his band. One group that greatly inspired him to improve his technique was Doctor Mambo's Combo, a group that would frequently invite Lang on stage with them during their sets and force the teenage guitarist to improvise with them. He also made connections in Minneapolis with a number of former Prince cohorts, namely producer David Z, who offered to help Lang record a demo tape. Based on the demo with David Z, Lang received a contract offer from A&M Records.