▁ ▁Following ▁the ▁August ▁ 1 4 , ▁ 2 0 0 1 ▁release ▁of ▁their ▁self - t itled ▁debut , ▁L ifer ▁tou red ▁with ▁like - mind ed ▁acts ▁such ▁as ▁Cold ▁and ▁Do pe . ▁By ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁ 2 0 0 1 , ▁L ifer ' s ▁found ing ▁guitar ist ▁and ▁bass ist ▁A aron ▁F ink ▁and ▁Mark ▁Kle p ask i ▁had ▁quit ▁due ▁to ▁internal ▁disag re ements ▁and ▁the ▁self - t itled ▁record ' s ▁lack ▁of ▁success . ▁F ink ▁re called ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 3 ▁" We ▁got ▁a ▁small ▁deal ▁on ▁Universal ▁and ▁they ▁are ▁so ▁huge . ▁They ' re ▁like ▁the ▁biggest ▁company . ▁Their ▁ro ster ▁is ▁so ▁huge . ▁We ▁wer en ' t ▁a ▁band ▁that ▁had ▁a ▁lot ▁of ▁hits ▁so , ▁there ▁were ▁obviously ▁more ▁important ▁things ▁for ▁the ▁label ▁to ▁do . ▁They ▁kind a ▁caught ▁wind ▁that ▁there ▁were ▁problems ▁in ▁the ▁band ▁so ▁they ▁didn ' t ▁want ▁to ▁push ▁it , ▁I ▁think . ▁It ' s ▁hard . ▁Our ▁first ▁single ▁didn ' t ▁hit . ▁LA ▁was ▁very ▁hit ▁orient ed . ▁If ▁you ▁didn ' t ▁have ▁a ▁hit ▁– ▁we ▁couldn ' t ▁even ▁get ▁our ▁manager ▁on ▁the ▁phone ▁and ▁you ▁know ▁that ' s ▁a ▁bad ▁sign . ▁So ▁Mark ▁[ James ▁Kle p ask i ▁– ▁the ▁bass ▁player ] ▁quit ." ▁F ink ▁and ▁Kle p ask