This Is What I Live For is the first Blue October studio album to feature lead guitarist Will Knaak on every song.

The album also marks the first appearance of Justin Furstenfeld's daughter Blue Reed on one of the band's recordings, providing vocals on the song "Fight for Love".

The title track features vocals and lyrics by Steve Schiltz of Longwave, a longtime collaborator and de facto session member of Blue October.

The songs “I Will Follow You” and “This is What I Live For” were recorded at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios.

However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the band members did not appear in the video; instead it was created by animator Johnny Chew.