formed as a five-piece ska band

Children 18:3 was originally formed in 1999 as a five-piece ska band, with David on guitar, Seth on drums, and some friends that played bass guitar , trumpet , and saxophone . In a later interview with HM Magazine , David admitted, “It wasn’t like we wanted to be a ska band. It’s just that our friends, who wanted to play horns, wanted to play with us. So it was like, ‘Okay, we’ll be a ska band.’ It wasn’t like a conscious decision.” The three friends ultimately left the band in 2001 and, after going through several replacement bassists, David and Seth settled on their sister, Lee Marie, a year later. Now adopting a punk rock sound, the band recorded their first EP , Places I Don’t Want To Go , in 2004 to sell at local shows. Around the same time, the band entered the local Club 3 Degrees ‘ annual Music Tournament competition, and in 2005, they were awarded the grand prize of free recording time at Winterland Studios in Minneapolis . The band used this opportunity to record a second EP, Songs of Desperation , investing their own money when they had used up the allotted time. The band released the EP in 2006 and sent a copy to Tooth & Nail Records CEO Brandon Ebel . Ebel, having already taken a liking to the band as one of the judges at the Music Tournament, signed the band in January 2008. The band released their self-titled debut, Children 18:3 , on February 26, 2008.