Nine Days (stylized as ninedays) is an American pop rock band from Long Island, New York. It was formed in the Suffolk County village of St. James in 1994 by John Hampson and Brian Desveaux, and released three independent albums in the 1990s before their mainstream debut album, The Madding Crowd, released in 2000. The band scored a hit in the United States from the album The Madding Crowd, with the single "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)", which reached number six. History Prior to creating the group, John Hampson and Brian Desveaux played in a heavy metal band, and were also members of a cover band with drummer Vincent Tattanelli called Wonderama. In 1993, the duo took time off from those bands and began writing more poppy songs, with a focus on strong songwriting: "If the song didn't work on acoustic guitar, then it wasn't a good song," said Desveaux. The band's influences were Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young. They joined with bassist Nick Dimichino and recorded eight songs with a studio drummer. Tattanelli joined the new project and the band gained Jeremy Dean as keyboardist. They recorded their debut album, Something to Listen To (1995) in nine days, which they used as their band name. The group, from St. James, began playing weekly at the Village Pub, which was regularly frequented by Midshipman from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, in Port Jefferson, New York. They released their second album Monday Songs in 1996, and won several local radio contests. After recording their third effort, 1998's Three, the band contacted producer Pat Thrall to create a four-song demo to circulate among record labels. The process was exhausting for the musicians, according to Desveaux, who estimated that they performed at showcases for each major record label and were "passed up twice by each." They more frequently began performing in New York City and continued to write, with Hampson adopting an edgier songwriting style. He wrote the song "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)", and the band recorded a three-song demo to once again shop around to labels. They were signed by 550 Music (then known as Sony 550 Music) in February 1999, and began working on their major-label debut album with producer Nick DiDia. The Madding Crowd was released in May 2000, and was the band's highest-selling album, shipping over 500,000 copies in the US. "Absolutely (Story of a Girl)"