[1] The group was featured on the MTV television series Band in a Bubble in 2007 as part of an experiment where they were given 20 days to write and record a full album.

[2] In April 2020, Pugh released an EP for a new side project, TAURIDS, with fellow Nashville residents Bobby Holland and Adam Bokesch—both musicians and audio producers/engineers from the band The Daybreaks.

The band built a strong fan base and eventually was signed to The Militia Group, an independent record company in Long Beach, California, releasing their EP The Ransom.

[17] Progressing from local shows, they kicked off a headlining tour featuring bands Cobra Starship, Boys Like Girls, Quietdrive, New Atlantic, and Permanent Me.

[22] The band had twenty days to write and produce a full-length album while inside a bubble-shaped construction.

[30] On August 25, 2009, the band announced the track listing for the album[31] and on September 6, "The Perfect Mistake" was released for digital download.

[32] The album's pre-order on iTunes also included a special, bonus song otherwise unavailable titled "In No Hurry.".

Following the release of Cycles, the band supported All Time Low, Boys Like Girls, Third Eye Blind, and LMFAO for part of The Bamboozle Roadshow 2010, along with numerous other supporting acts, including 3OH!3, Good Charlotte, Forever The Sickest Kids, and Simple Plan.

On April 7, 2011, Cartel confirmed that bassist Jeff Lett has left the band to finish school.

From October 11, 2013, to November 30, 2013, Cartel headlined for Mayday Parade on their Glamour Kills tour along with bands Man Overboard and Stages & Stereos.

On April 19, 2015, the concert held on New York City for the Chroma tour was transmitted on live streaming by Yahoo!

In December 2016, the band members performed a DJ set at Emo Nite in Los Angeles.

[41] Cartel supported Dashboard Confessional and Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness on select dates of the Hello Gone Days tour in the summer of 2022.