Ragged power pop-punk group the Actual comprised vocalist/guitarist Max Bernstein (the son of writer %Nora Ephron and Watergate journalist %Carl Bernstein), guitarist/vocalist Ben Flanagan, and brothers Jeremy and Aaron Bonsall (bass and drums, respectively). The guys played their first show together on Easter Sunday 2001, and the Los Angeles-based quartet thus began making a name for itself by booking gigs wherever people would have them (including one ill-advised performance at a biker bar). Former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland caught wind of their infectious tunes, and subsequently added them to the roster of his own Soft Drive Records (Sony BMG).