Despite common musical interests, both played in separate bands for the next few years, with Downey soon joining drummer R.J. Porter in Plain Jane; at age 17, Ziemba also issued a self-released solo tape called Slackjawed. In 1995, he recruited both Downey and Porter to perform live in a band also called Slackjawed; originally a one-off project, the trio ended up releasing a pair of home recordings, with Downey also issuing the solo cassette A Fire Breathing Dinosaur by Tim. In late 1996, Ziemba's girlfriend, singer/keyboardist Amanda Lyons (who became Amanda Ziemba shortly thereafter), joined the group, and with her arrival the quartet rechristened themselves Wolfie. Debuting a year later with the single "Don't Turn It Off," in 1998 they released the effervescent full-length Awful Mess Mystery. Where's Wolfie followed in the spring of 1999; a year later, the group moved to the Kindercore label to issue the EP Wolfie & the Coat & Hat. The full-length Tall Dark Hill followed in 2001. ~ Jason Ankeny