The Smashing Pumpkins when Jimmy Chamberlin was let go. After Matt's stint with the Pumpkins, he and several other friends formed a band called Cupcakes. Solomon left the Joint to play bass with Cupcakes. DreamWorks Records signed Cupcakes after the bands’ fourth performance. Dovetail Joint needed a new bass player, and Scott Tallarida offered to fill in. Aware, Columbia, and "Level on the Inside" (1997–1999) In 1997, local independent label Aware Records, which had recently signed a deal with Columbia Records, included the band on the label's annual compilation of unsigned bands, Aware 5 (1997). The track chosen for the compilation was a demo version of "This is My Home," produced by Scott Tallarida. In February 1998, Aware and manager Roger Jansen convinced the group to sign a publishing deal with EMI, and soon after the band began working with producer John Fields. During this time, Scott Tallarida was still playing bass, but indicated that he wanted to pursue his own musical aspirations. The second replacement was Mick Vaughn, producer of early Dovetail Joint recordings. Vaughn only performed one Joint show and then moved to North Carolina. However, in January 1998 he played bass for the first John Fields session at his Minneapolis studio Funkytown, where the band wrote the song "Level on the Inside." Kooker began rehearsing on bass with the band in 1998, joining officially in the fall of that year. The band soon signed with Columbia Records and continued working with Fields. In the spring of 1998, Jansen and Latterman worked out an arrangement with Columbia Records where the band would release an EP exclusively with Aware prior to their major label debut on Columbia/Aware. That May, Chicago alternative radio station Q101 sought submissions from local bands for their first annual compilation CD: Local 101. "Level on the Inside" was chosen to be the first track of 18 songs on the disc and would receive hundreds of spins at Q101 that summer. The song was soon picked up by other radio stations in the Midwest, and led to the band selling out shows at Chicago venues House of Blues and Metro. Aware pushed forward the EP's release to respond to the growing interest; the six-track Level EP was released by Aware in September 1998. On January 26, 1999, Columbia Records/Aware Records released Dovetail Joint's major label debut, 001. The album, produced by Fields and mixed by Jack