beach-oriented surfing/skateboarding subcultures. By 1990, the band had become a mainstay along the Southern California coast scene, and Nowell dropped out of California State University Long Beach one semester shy of graduating. The trio recorded their debut album, 40 Oz. to Freedom, in 1992, selling the independent release at live performances. Local radio station KROQ began spinning the single "Date Rape" two years following its release, and Sublime rose to fame. By this point, the band had dropped "Date Rape" from their setlists, but the ensuing success of the single led 40 Oz. to place on Soundscan's alternative chart for 70 straight weeks. MCA signed the group shortly thereafter, releasing their second album Robbin' the Hood in 1994. The record was nevertheless carried by various independent distributors, which placed it in independent record shops, surf/skate shops, and "head shops", in a marketing effort designed to appeal to the band's fan base. The band also adopted the Internet as a viable promotional tool, distributing their albums through early online music retailers. Despite this, Nowell had developed an addiction to heroin; at live performances, he would often be unable to make it through sets. On several occasions, he would steal the band's equipment for a night's performance to pawn for drug money, knowing band manager Michael "Miguel" Happoldt would find a way to re-acquire the equipment. He used clonidine patches in an attempt to quit, determined to do so both before signing to MCA and before the birth of his son the following year. Robbin' the Hood performed well on college radio, and Sublime continued to grow in popularity, largely "on the back of the California punk explosion engendered by Green Day and the Offspring." Nowell's addiction worsened over the course of 1995–96; on May 25, 1996, Nowell died at age 28 in a San Francisco hotel room of a heroin overdose. According to one report, Gaugh had raided Nowell's stash and shot up while he was away; he awoke hours later beside the deceased Nowell in bed. Gaugh later told a reporter that "I thought, 'That was probably supposed to be me.'" Recording and production Sublime was largely recorded at Willie Nelson's Pedernales Studio in Austin, Texas between February and May 1996. Although he had previously attempted to stay clean, Nowell returned to using heroin, "more vigorously than ever." According to Leary, on some days, the band would arrive at 9am