in Los Angeles, California, in an attempt to secure a deal with another record label. After playing several shows together, Alien Ant Farm became well-acquainted with Papa Roach. When Papa Roach achieved commercial success, they were given ownership of the New Noize record label. Alien Ant Farm was shopping around for a record deal, and an A&R person from New Noize eventually found them. While Alien Ant Farm was in Europe, producer Jay Baumgardner, known for his work with Korn and Slipknot, attended a Papa Roach show. A demo of Alien Ant Farm covering "Smooth Criminal" (1987) by Michael Jackson was playing over the speakers, which caught Baumgardner's attention. He proceeded to ask the DJ who it was, informing him that it was Alien Ant Farm; Baumgardner was a fan of Jackson's Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987). A month following this, after producing Infest (2000) by Papa Roach, the A&R representative for that band contacted Baumgardner: This band, Alien Ant Farm, I think I should sign them.’ I said, ‘Yeah, they do that cover of Michael Jackson. It’s incredible. I think it’s a hit.’ And he said, ‘Would you do the record if I sign them?’ I said, ‘Yeah! By this time, nu metal had becoming the dominant strain of rock music, replacing alternative rock and grunge. At the end of 2000, Alien Ant Farm were recording their next album at NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood, California, with Baumgardner. The band's enjoyed his work with the likes of Orgy and Papa Roach. Alien Ant Farm recorded two songs with him, before spending a month writing material. The rehearsal studio they used was located opposite Baumgardner's studio, which allowed him to witness what the band were working on at any given moment. They would tape ideas with a recorder, by which point, Mitchell would listen to it in his car and they would then come up with parts to add to it. During recording, James Murray acted as engineer and operated Pro Tools, with assistance by Justin Harvey; John Ewing and Brian Viture did additional Pro Tools work. Baumgardner cited Pro Tools as an important piece of equipment as it enabled them to "chop things up and edit things", and said that Linkin Park, one of the band's contemporaries, "epitomized what you could do with Pro Tools in rock". Mitchell said Baumgardner did not alter the songs that much, save