Ideamen was created in late 2006 shortly after keyboardist Tim Swanson ended his short stint as keyboardist for Dog Fashion Disco and then teamed up with vocalist Dave Solar and bassist Mark Vasquez, following the dissolution of local Chicago-area bands Duct Tape Mustache and Soulvasq.
[1] Guitarist Jeff Piekarczyk and drummer Phil Goodrich rounded out the lineup, and in 2007, the band debuted with the release of their self-produced EP Progress.
Throughout the next two years, the band toured with the likes of Polkadot Cadaver[2] (which contains former fellow DFD members), Look What I Did, and Tub Ring.
A mash-up of the Mr. Bungle song "Retrovertigo" and Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" titled "RetroVertigoidAndroid" (a live favorite for the group), was recorded in the studio and released in early 2011 as a free download to anyone who signed up for the band's newsletter.
[4] Figurell ended his tenure with the band after recording his guitar parts for the album, and has been replaced by Greg Millikan.