Burning Brides formed in Philadelphia in the spring of 1999. According to their label bio, Dimitri Coats (vocals/guitar) and his longtime girlfriend/musical partner Melanie Campbell (bass) dropped out of Juilliard art school and spent two long years together "traversing the country in search of an environment responsive to their rock needs." They reportedly lived in San Francisco, Portland, OR, and Boston (where Coats grew up) before settling in the South Philly area, where they joined forces with drummer Mike Ambs and formed this heavy rock trio. They soon began drawing large crowds to their local shows as word of their aggressive stage presence began to spread. After first being scouted by several other labels, they eventually signed with the local File 13 imprint, then hit the road to tour the U.S. with musicians/groups like J. Mascis, Zen Guerilla, and the Greenhornes while steadily building a growing fan base.