Given the band's earlier connection with Drive-Thru Records, Halifax opened on various Drive-Thru bands' tours, before getting signed by the Thousand Oaks-based record label in July 2004. Simultaneously, bassist Donlon was asked to leave the band. While Chlowitz was initially rumored to return, the vacant position on the bass was instead filled by temporary members or Hunau. A permanent replacement was not found until Doug Peyton joined the band in late 2005. Drive-Thru re-released "A Writer's Reference", which had only been sporadically available in record stores, to the general public in January 2005, with new artwork and a bonus track. International tours followed, including the Dead by Dawn Tour (with From First to Last, Emanuel and He Is Legend) and the Warped Tour in the United States, as well as the Drive-Thru Invasion Tours in Europe and Japan. In between, Halifax appeared on MTV's "" alongside hellogoodbye in a series of episodes about the South by Southwest music festival. The band was unhappy that they had been depicted in the episodes as a group of mindless drunks, but the exposure certainly helped spread the word about the band; it resulted in over one million plays on PureVolume. In December 2005, the group went on a headlining tour with support from Punchline, I Am the Avalanche and The Fully Down.