The group formed in Pittsburgh's South Oakland neighborhood in 1999 as an informal side project of Dean Swagger, a rock trio that had spent the previous year mainly performing in basements to college party crowds.

The original lineup consisted of guitarist Phil Boyd and drummer Paul Quattrone, then nominally students at the University of Pittsburgh.

The group made its first appearances at the Halloween weekend in 1999 and played a live set on WPTS 92.1 FM, the University of Pittsburgh college radio station, segments of which later turned up on the group's demo album, House on the Hill (and, subsequently, its 2002 self-titled release).

Prior to the mid-2003 release of second album Thunder + Lightning, Boyd and Quattrone added Jason Kirker on guitar and Moog synthesizer.

In October 2009, it was announced that their track "Become a Monk" from the band's album Season of Sweets, would be included on the soundtrack of the video game, Tony Hawk: Ride.

Boyd played drums and sang while Quattrone operated an MPC sampler and effects pedals.

The band released 3 singles "Riderz USA 2013" (self-released), "Mountaintop Rock" (Volcomm Entertainment), and "Punisher/Dearest" (Velocity of Sound).

He also performed with the electronic duo TM Eye from 2010 to 2012 with Pittsburgh producer/musician and operator of Machine Age Studios, Preslav Lefterov.