Four Minute Mile is the debut studio album by American rock band The Get Up Kids. Background The Get Up Kids evolved out of the breakup of Kingpin, which consisted of high school friends guitarist Jim Suptic, bassist Rob Pope and his brother drummer Ryan Pope. After that group's demise, vocalist/guitarist Matt Pryor formed Secret Decoder Ring with Suptic, before they broke up after six months. Pryor and Suptic started working with Rob Pope, who invited college friend drummer Nathan Shay to form The Get Up Kids in 1994. Following this, the group self financed the 7" single "Shorty", which would sell over 2,000 copies. Shay moved to St. Louis, Missouri to focus on his studies, eventually leaving the group in April 1996. Ryan Pope joined initially on a temporary basis as there was concern with having both brothers in the band, and with Suptic and Pope not getting along in the past. The group recorded two additional releases: one for Florida-based Outback Records, while the other was for Rhode Island-based Contrast Records. After recording four songs, the group sent copies of them to rock-centic labels listed in the publication The Musician's Guide To Touring and Promotion. The songs caught the attention of Ohio-based Doghouse Records, who was interested in signing the band. They wanted to release a 7" vinyl EP as a precursor to an album. Instead of recording another release, the group paid for the Outback release and issued it through Doghouse as the Woodson EP. The group subsequently signed a two-album recording contract with Doghouse. Recording Four Minute Mile was recorded in April 1997 on a budget of $4,000 with Shellac bassist Bob Weston acting as producer. Instead of recording at Red House Recordings, which they had used for the previous EP, they opted to track the record at the Chicago Recording Company. As Ryan Pope was still at school, the members went to a local music store to stock up on guitar strings and plectrums. They ended up running over a rock, and later found out it punctured the car's exhaust manifold, causing carbon monoxide to circulate through the car and had to travel with the windows down. The members waited in the parking lot of Pope's school, before he got in the car and they drove to Chicago. The recording sessions took place over the course of two and a half days from a Friday