[5][6] Capital Lights was formed in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2002 as a Christian screamo band called Aftereight.
[7] The group consisted of lead vocalist Jacob Dement, guitarist Brett Admire, bassist Bryson Phillips, and drummer Jay Caudle.
In 2005, drummer Jay Caudle left the group and was replaced by Phillips' brother Michael on drums.
[8] On August 13, 2006, Aftereight released their first studio album Better Late Than Never under the independent label, Yeah Siam Records.
[11] In 2008, while recording their debut studio album for Tooth & Nail, Aftereight officially changed its name to Capital Lights as a way of signifying their new musical direction.
[12] Later in September, Jon Odle joined the group as the band's new bassist, relieving Bryson Phillips to focus solely on lead vocals.
He announced on the behalf of the band that they had agreed with Tooth & Nail CEO Brandon Ebel to record a second album for the label.
[8] On February 8, 2012, the band announced on their Facebook page that they were finished with initial recording and would be releasing the album soon.
When asked to identify the content of the band's music, guitarist Nathan Nelson responded, "Mostly life situations.
Some examples are 'Gotta Have Love' and 'Honey Don't Jump' but for the most part life experiences influence the songs.
After migrating from the genre of Christian screamo under their former incarnation of Aftereight, Capital Lights developed their current style of power pop for multiple reasons.
According to lead singer Bryson Phillips, the change was due to the fact he couldn't sing the band's original genre when he took up the mantle as lead vocalist, and that Tooth & Nail had not been interested in their original style to begin with when looking to sign the group to their label.