The San Francisco quintet Thriving Ivory came together when Clayton Stroope (vocals) and Scott Jason (pianist and songwriter) met at college. They were soon joined by Drew Cribley (guitar), Bret Cohune (bass), and Paul Niedermier (drums) and, inspired by U2 and Coldplay, began playing gigs for their fellow students, as well as recording their self-funded, self-titled independent debut with Jellyfish's Chris Manning, who acted as their producer.