In February 1999, three longtime friends from West Texas went to a pizza place in Austin, Texas, for a prearranged meeting with a young man from Illinois. The Illinoisan had just moved to Austin, and he had put up a flyer that caught the interest of the others. They ate pizza and discussed movies and arcana. They also decided to meet the next day with their various instruments (two guitars, bass, and drums). This happened, and over the coming months, they picked a band name (Explosions in the Sky), then picked a better band name, then wrote and recorded an album.