Story of the Year was formed in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1995 under the original
name 67 North by guitarist Ryan Phillips, drummer Dan Marsala, vocalist John
Taylor and bassist Perry West; the group later became Big Blue Monkey before
adopting the current name in 2002. Their breakthrough came with the 2003 release
of the self‑titled EP Story of the Year, which led to a contract with Maverick
Records and the debut studio album Page Avenue (2003), featuring the singles
"Until the Day I Die" and "Anthem of Our Dying Day" that propelled the album to
Gold status and 846,000 U.S. sales ...