the group formed in 2008 when jones began playing brooklyn venues to practice guitar, with the help of dobson. they were then joined by popper, and the three began working together to expand creatively. some of the group's early shows were in front of friends and done just for fun as they covered songs they loved. in an interview with the boston globe published july 17, 2014, jones describes the first shows as "never stressful because it was loose and nobody was coming but our friends." dobson adds, "we were just playing shows and coming together as our schedules went along. it was just about playing music and not having an agenda of any kind." in a july 2014 interview with siriusxm, they described the formation of the band: