The Sophomore Year was conceived by high school friends, Jason Perez, Mike Long and Andrew Roy in 2002. After playing numerous shows without a permanent bassist, the three stumbled upon Michael Hunter, who completed the band in late 2002. Having a full line up they officially became The Sophomore Year.
The band quickly developed a large following in their local area, playing house shows, hall shows, and basement shows. Anytime there was an audience, they were there. Eager to get out on the road and spread the music, they embarked on a DIY tour up and down the Eastern Coast of the United States in the mid 2003 with close friends Nuclear Saturday. This marked the beginning of many more tours to come.
In early 2004, The Sophomore Year signed to Search And Rescue Records and immediately began recording their debut album "You Are Here...She Is There" with producer Marc McClusky (Norma Jean, A Small Victory). "You Are Here...She Is There" hits the streets October 5th, 2004. Following the release of the CD, The Sophomore Year has full U.S. tour planned for the months of October and November in support of the album.
The Sophomore Year was featured on the Atlanta stop of 2004 Vans Warped Tour sharing the stage with bands such as Story Of The Year, Yellowcard, Taking Back Sunday, Rufio, NOFX, Fall Out Boy and countless others. They were also included on one of this years Warped Tour Compilation CD's.
Spreading their unique blend of guitar and vocals, there music has been featured on other compilations, with National names such as, Yellowcard, Punchline, Offset, Green Day, Plain White T’s and The Starting Line. They were also placed Pure Volume’s debut Comp, which was distributed though out Warped Tour.
In early 2006 The Sophomore Year relocated themselves to the windy city of Chicago losing 2 members in the process. Leaving Jay Perez and Mike Long the chance to start over in a new city and armed with a new found passion for music. They soon found Reuben Baird, owner of a local recording studio (Chicago Sound Lab) and bass player from some awesome chicago bands Sketch Middle and The Ted Ansani Project (from Material Issue) to take over on bass guitar. After a while things werent going to plan and they lost founding member Mike Long in the summer of 2007 when he decided to move back home to Atlanta for personal reasons. So the search for a drummer began.
Having been in Chicago over a year The Sophomore Year had made many friends with local and national acts meeting Mickey Molinari along the way. Mickey has been in numerous Chicago acts such as August Premier (Fueled By Ramen Records) and Showoff (Maverick Records), he was the right choice for The Sophomore Year. Quickly they started writing new material and rehearsing to make thier new debut on the chicago music scene.
