They played one gig in a friend's basement, after which the Caterer parents decided that Eli, then a sophomore in high school, would have to quit the band until after he graduated, so Matt switched to bass and Dave Martens joined on drums.

In early 1992, the band self-released a 4 song EP called "The Smoking Popes Break Up", recorded by Phil Bonnet.

In early 1994, the band resumed their partnership with Phil Bonnet and began recording their second LP called Born to Quit which included the song "Need You Around", which would later launch Smoking Popes to a huge audience via the soundtrack to the film Clueless.

Producer Jerry Finn, who had added gloss to the sound of Green Day and Rancid, was brought in to do the same for Smoking Popes.

The start of 1997 brought dissatisfied label executives who insisted they didn't hear a single among the tracks Smoking Popes submitted for the new album.

In October they began to tour with Morrissey, who said of their earlier album Born To Quit, "[it's] extraordinary, the most lovable thing I'd heard in years.

"[2] The band funded its own video for "I Know You Love Me", which was filmed as a single camera shot, in a rehearsal space at Metro using the creative talents of members of Defiant Theatre.

In November 2005, the Smoking Popes reunited for a packed and much-anticipated show at the Chicago club The Metro with Rob Kellenberger of Colossal replacing Mike Felumlee on drums.

Due to Josh's conversion to Christianity and past stance on particular "non-christian" themes in a select few pre-1999 songs, many fans wondered what sort of setlist would be played at the Popes reunion show.

In that show – recorded on a DVD called At Metro, bundled with a CD of the performance – Josh, Matt and Eli were happy and energized.

In March 2006, Bayside released an acoustic album with a cover of "Megan" featuring Josh Caterer on the second verse of the song.

During that time, the Popes acquired a new drummer, Ryan Chavez, who replaced Kellenburger, who was unable to commit to the new, full-time touring schedule.

During this tour, Josh introduced and played several new songs, including "If You Don't Care", "Stay Down" and "Welcome to Janesville", which he announced would be on the upcoming Smoking Popes album.

On the official Smoking Popes Twitter page, they stated it was released so fans would have new songs people could sing along with when they played at Riot Fest 2016 in Chicago.