were acknowledged when Moo, You Bloody Choir won the second annual Australian Music Prize in 2006 for "the most outstanding and creative Australian album released in the past year." Ammendola told Drum Medias Andrew Street that this award was more significant than an ARIA: it is "nominated on the grounds of music, and the art of it – not necessarily record sales." The band used the A$25,000 prize money to fund their second US tour. Richards explained that they had no expectation of a US breakthrough and if this second attempt was not successful, they would not try again. Augie March played in Los Angeles and New York in May 2007. In August of that year, Moo, You Bloody Choir was released in the US via Jive Zomba. Additional US shows followed, where they were praised by local media. Joe Tangari of Pitchfork Media called it a "crime" that the band had not broken through in North America earlier, though AllMusic's Ben Peterson remarked that Strange Bird was a higher quality album than its follow-up. Despite the Australian success of Moo, You Bloody Choir, much of the group's post-album touring was backing other artists. They played shows supporting the Aliens and Andrew Bird in the US, before returning to Australia to open for Crowded House. Richards said the band's status as an opening act, rather than head-liner, was a challenge—their intention was to win over the main act's fans. He described the Aliens tour as depressing; they played different types of music and attendances were small. Augie March had a prime slot at the 2008 Big Day Out. Richards was now expected by Sony BMG's agents to produce a quality follow-up, they persisted with, "Richo, have you got a single? Do you have singles? Please, do you have singles?" Much of the writing for their fourth album, Watch Me Disappear, took place while touring the US, which Richards argued minimised the band's opportunities to be creative. In 2008 they began recording at Neil Finn's Auckland studios; and followed with studios in Melbourne, Sydney and Los Angeles. The band worked primarily in New Zealand to get away from distractions in Melbourne and focussing on recording. Augie March worked with producer, Joe Chiccarelli, who took a significant pay cut after declaring his interest in their music. According to Richards, the production occurred with "a fair bit of friction." Ammendola was critical of