It’s four thirty on Tuesday afternoon, and as I sat down to post on here I thought: "what could be more appropriate than breaking out my ipod and listening to Silversun Pickups?"  Which got me to thinking… while I’m pretty familiar with the band’s music, I’m not that well versed in their history (a very telling aspect of any band).  Since I’m so amped on them playing at the Roxy Chicken Jam, I decided to do a little digging and find out some interesting knowledge to drop to the hipster/emo/music-loving kids standing next to me when I’m watching them play at Mammoth Mountain.  Here’s what I came across:

The "Sunniest" Place on Earth:  Disneyland isn’t just the happiest place to be, but also the sunniest!  The Silversun Pickups met while working at Disneyland.  Nikki used to dress up as Tinkerbell and twinkle in the electric light parade.  I guess all that electricity "sparked" a common interest between the group and thus they started the band. 

Leto – Let Go?: In 2003, Jared Leto auditioned for the Silversun Pickups, and was denied!  (It’s okay though, we still love him in 30 Seconds to Mars).

Liquor Store vs. State of Mind: The origins of the band’s name appear to be relatively unknown.  In an interview, the SSPU claim their inspiration came from a "state of mind".  No further explanation makes that a relatively vague answer.  It’s up to us to interpret it as we will.  But then, our friend Wikipedia informed me that the name is actually a tribute to a liquor store near Sunset and Silver Lake Blvds in one of the more trendy areas in LA – Silver Lake. (Which reminds me, for all you artistic-types, you should check out the book "Bohemian Modern" by Barbara Bestor.  We had a few copies floating around the office and reading it can only be described as an awesome journey through Silver Lake’s unique architecture.)

After all that research, I feel a little more confident in my ability to swap facts at the Silversun Pickups show on March 29th.