In 1999, the Harrisburg, PA-based band the Stump Wizards asked Deniz Tek, former leader of the pioneering Australian punk band Radio Birdman, to produce their third album, to be entitled Contains Lead. Tek accepted their invitation, and while tensions within the Stump Wizards prevented their own album from coming out, guitarist Jack Chiara and drummer Clyde McGeary hit it off with Tek, and during downtime from the sessions the three began working up songs of their own which blended elements of punk, hard rock, and power pop. The sessions eventually yielded a separate album, which Tek, Chiara, and McGeary decided to release under the group name Deep Reduction. Following an advance single, the Deep Reduction album was released in early 2000, and the group reassembled for a short tour of Europe in the spring of that year. In 2001, the group returned to the studio to cut a second album, simply entitled 2; this time out, they were joined by another Radio Birdman alumnus, Rob Younger, who was invited by Tek to join the group as a vocalist. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi