Shortly after the release of "When You Land Here", in 1999, Mercer formed The Shins in Albuquerque as a side project. Mercer named the band The Shins after the family in the musical "The Music Man", a favorite of Mercer's father. The project began as a way to explore three-minute pop songs with conventional chord structure. Mercer recruited Sandoval to play drums and the two began performing as a duo. The Shins played with Cibo Matto and the American Analog Set with Mercer serving as the primary songwriter for the band. As The Shins rose to popularity, Flake Music eventually disbanded in 1999, leaving Mercer, Sandoval, and Langford, who joined after Flake Music's disbanding to focus completely on The Shins. In 2002, the band relocated to Portland, Oregon.