Self Against City formed in April 2004 in Sacramento, California, when vocalist Jonathan Michael, guitarists Jack Matranga and Jeff LaTour, bassist Patrick O'Connor and drummer Chris Trombley decided to record songs together.
The songs were uploaded to their PureVolume profile, a link to which was forwarded to Drive-Thru Records owner Richard Reines by a fan of the band.
Take It How You Want It finally hit music store shelves on April 5, 2005, while the band embarked on their first nationwide co-headlining tour with Houston Calls the same month.
Self Against City began recording their full-length album Telling Secrets to Strangers in April 2006 with producers Steve Haigler and Mike Watts in Long Island, New York.
Towards the end of the year, in search of a new permanent bassist, the group once again recruited fellow vocalist/bassist Blake Abbey in December 2006.