Material Issue was formed in 1985, led by frontman Jim Ellison, who played guitar, sang lead vocals, and wrote most of the band's songs.

[4] The band's follow up album, 1992's Destination Universe, was also produced by Jeff Murphy at Short Order Recorder, and included the single "What Girls Want" in addition to ballads such as "Next Big Thing" and "Everything".

Freak City Soundtrack sold fewer than 50,000 copies and Material Issue, feeling left behind by their label, parted ways with Mercury in early 1995.

The legacy of Material Issue lives on in the International Pop Overthrow festival that plays in Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago each year.

He has drummed for Green,[8] the Darlings [9] and most recently Zelenko has been playing with a new power pop band from Chicago called The Ladies and Gentlemen.

[10] Australian power pop band the Pyramidiacs also released a tribute song to Ellison, entitled "Jim", on their 1997 album Teeter Totter.

The original bassist, Lance Tawzer, went on to form The Lupins (RCA Records) and wrote a song for the movie Dumb and Dumber; he married Q101 (WKQX) DJ Samantha James and they have two children.

The documentary will feature people like Rick Nielsen, Jeff Kwatinetz, Matt Pinfield, Steve Albini, Mike Chapman, and the original members of the band.

[11] In 2011, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the International Pop Overthrow album, the two surviving members, Mike Zelenko and Ted Ansani, reformed the band under the name Material Reissue.

The show was part of the International Pop Overthrow festival, named after the album, and took place at the Abbey Pub in Chicago on April 23, 2011.