After guitarist
Ben Einziger and stepbrother and bassist
Paul Fried's band,
Audiovent, broke up, they thought that their time in the professional music world was finished. They continued to play casually together, however, which gave
Einziger the opportunity to try his hand at songwriting and singing for the first time, something that he took to quickly. Soon they invited singer
Stephanie Eitel to join their band, called
Agent Sparks, and also brought in a drummer, although he quickly left when another group offered him a paying gig. Luckily,
Einziger and
Fried knew a good replacement, session drummer
George Purviance, a childhood friend from summer camp who was also living in Los Angeles, and invited him to join the band.
Purviance accepted, and in 2005
Agent Sparks' EP,
Not So Merry (produced by
Einziger's brother and
Incubus guitarist
Mike Einziger), came out on Immortal Records. The next year saw the release of their debut full-length,
Red Rover. ~ Marisa Brown, Rovi
