Founders Zack Ehrlich and Alexi Glickman were raised in Southern California, where they launched a songwriting partnership in middle school and often visited Venice Beach to surf. They took a liking to the area's steady stream of hollow, chest-high waves, nicknaming them botticellis (Italian for "little barrels") and absorbing the beach's sunny surf culture. While studying music at UC Santa Cruz several years later, Ehrlich and Glickman crossed paths with lo-fi producer Burton Li, who helped the duo record an early album. Li then joined the band, and the three musicians moved north to San Francisco. The lineup continued to swell in the Botticellis' new environment, with lyricist Blythe Foster and bassist Ian Nansen climbing aboard. Now sporting a cinematic, sun-drenched sound, the quintet retreated to San Francisco's Outer Richmond district to live together and work on a debut album. Four years later, Old Home Movies arrived on Antenna Farm Records. ~ Andrew Leahey