The album fused electro-pop, funk, rock, and techno into a distinctive sound the band members have dubbed "DanceThink".

Ella Riot, originally called My Dear Disco, evolved from founding member Duncan's 2005 instrumental endeavor, Toolbox.

[2][3] Duncan who played bagpipe, with percussionist Aaron Gold, guitarist Theo Katzman, and bassist Christian Carpenter, all undergraduate students at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor,[4] developed experimental tracks using Irish bagpipe as the lead instrument and a laptop to mix bass music and techno drum beats.

[6] Michelle Chamuel, a classmate of Duncan, recorded a track titled "My Dear Disco" with Lester independent of the Toolbox project.

The band members area of study at the University of Michigan included classical drum, jazz, and performing arts technology.

[10][12] In the summer of 2008, the band performed at BlissFest,[10] Hoxeyville, Dunegrass,[5] Feel Good Festival, and Jazz Aspen Snowmass.

[citation needed] The band's debut album, Dancethink LP, was co-produced by Mark Saunders.

The band's remix of Kanye West's "Love Lockdown" earned high praise from Arjanwrites music blog, citing the use of live instruments as a reason.

An album review characterized the music as pop influenced by funk, techno and house, and called the approach "hardly doctrinaire".

[30] In September 2011, the band announced the decision to go into an indefinite hiatus,[31][32] citing the need to develop other aspects of their lives.

As of 2013 eight band members had continued to make music as independent artists – Duncan, Lester, Chamuel, Katzman, Dosik, Dart, Carpenter and Gold.

[1] Although made for dance and live performance, the band's objective was to make music that could stand and be enjoyed on its own merit.

[10][13][36] In November 2009, the song "My Dear Disco" was used in a promotional commercial for Season 1 Episode 9 of Melrose Place.

[4] Michelle Jacqueline Chamuel (born 1986), the vocalist and former member of the band took part in the fourth season of the reality television singing competition The Voice, broadcast on NBC.