Prior to the formation of the band, Dallon Weekes and Ryan Seaman were long-time friends who had worked together in the past. Seaman joined Weekes' former band the Brobecks in 2008 and performed drums for Weekes' solo projects, including the songs "Sickly Sweet Holidays" and "Please Don't Jump ". Initially a solo effort, Weekes had been writing and recording songs while on the road with Panic! at the Disco for several years. Seaman performed drums on the record, which led to Weekes proposing the idea to present it as a duo. As evidenced by old tweets and also Weekes confirming it in interviews, the "I Dont Know How But They Found Me" moniker and project idea had existed since 2009. Uniquely, the punctuation of the band name is intentionally incorrect, with no apostrophe in "don't" and no comma after "how". Weekes credited it to his time in Panic! at the Disco, stating that "punctuation was a big deal , so I just wanted to take the opposite approach and get rid of it all." The name of the band was inspired by a quote from the movie Back to the Future. Weekes and Seaman started playing small shows in late 2016, but kept it secret. They debuted at Emo Nite Los Angeles' 2-year anniversary event on December 6, 2016. After the show, different sources wrote about a "new side project" by Weekes and Seaman, and confirmed the band name. Even when confronted with photos and videos taken at the shows, Weekes and Seaman denied the whole project for months. Weekes later stated that they did not want to exploit both his and Seaman's name recognition and association with the well-known bands they played in. Seaman would depart his band Falling in Reverse in May 2017, followed by Weekes with Panic! at the Disco in December.
Touring and ''1981 Extended Play'' (2017–present)
The duo teased the release of their first song "Modern Day Cain" one day prior with a post on their Instagram account. On August 18, 2017 the full song was self-released on iTunes and Spotify and followed up with a music video on the same day. The single reached number 8 of the Top 10 Alternative Music Charts on iTunes on the day of release. The duo's second single "Choke" was released on October 26, 2017. It was again self-published and accompanied by a lyric video. The single peaked at number 7 of the iTunes Top 100 Alternative Music Charts. The band went on a few short tours between July and December 2017, playing shows in Utah, California and neighboring states, as well as one show in New York. They also performed as the opening act for The Aquabats and Dashboard Confessional. On March 14, 2018 they released the song "Nobody Likes The Opening Band" as a free download on their website accompanied with a music video. On March 28, it was announced that the band would perform at the Reading and Leeds Festivals . On August 24, the duo re-released "Choke" alongside a new song titled "Do It All The Time" as a double A-side single via Fearless Records. In October, the duo announced their debut EP titled 1981 Extended Play, with a release date of November 9. Later that month, they released a single from the EP titled "Bleed Magic". Upon its release, the EP topped the US Billboard Heatseekers chart. In March, 2019, the duo announced "Night Heat", a headlining tour consisting of 17 stops across North America as well as music festivals from April 28th to May 18th with the band Superet supporting headlining dates. On April 26, 2019, the duo released the single "Choke " which features a cabaret style version of their hit single. The band released a Christmas EP titled Christmas Drag on November 15, 2019, which includes a cover of "Merry Christmas Everybody". This was followed by three music videos, one for each song on the EP.
On its website the band describes itself as "...a band out of time. One who faded away into obscurity after struggling to find success in the late 70's and early 80's." The duo's music, as well as their appearance and social media presence, is strongly influenced by the style of the 1980s; Weekes has stated that he draws inspiration from pop culture of these time periods. Their style has been described as indie pop, electronic rock, new wave, alternative, and "electro pop rock," as well as a pop rock-influenced mix of "sixties garage, seventies glam, eighties new wave, and the early days of Britpop." Weekes himself has described their musical style on Twitter as indie pop, "hipster nonsense," and "Glam Wham". Among others, Weekes has named Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Oingo Boingo, Elvis Costello, The Ink Spots and Joe Jackson as musical influences on the band's sound.
Band members
Dallon Weekes – lead vocals, bass, guitars, piano, keyboards, synthesizers, production
