Tuneful indie pop band the Films was formed in 2003 by four high school friends from Charleston, SC -- lead vocalist and guitarist Michael Trent, guitarist and keyboard player Kenneth Harris, bassist Jake Sinclair, and drummer Adam C. Blake. Citing a wide range of influences from Tom Petty to Elliott Smith, the Films quickly made a name for themselves on the local music scene, and began spreading the word through frequent touring in the South and West. The group's debut recording, a self-titled EP, was released by the independent Filter label in 2005, and they made their major-label bow a year later with a four-song EP Being Bored, issued by Reprise in the fall of 2006. Their relationship with Reprise proved to be short-lived, and the Films' first full-length album, Don't Dance Rattlesnake, came out on the European 7Hz label.