What's He Building in There?

History

What's He Building in There? was formed in 2006 in Waterloo, Ontario by drummer Liam Epps, vocalist Chris Schroeder, bassist Hal Jaques, and guitarists David Halk and Chris Cookson. All members except Cookson had previously played in Abacus, which disbanded in 2006 after their 2005 EP release when founding member Darren Hartley left to be with his wife and kids. The band released their debut, self-titled album under Year of the Sun Records in May 2007; it was released on a Canadian independent label and distributed in the US by The End Records.

Darren Hartley's oldest child, Xander Hartley, appeared as the main character, and Hartley himself dressed as a bear. The video premiered on the frontpage of Heavy.com, with Heavy Canada's vice president David U.K. stating the company was committed to supporting the Canadian indie music scene. After tours supporting the debut album, David Halk and Chris Cookson left to continue their education; Halk later resurfaced as Hollywood Halk but has not released an album.

Mason Tikl (guitar) and Aiden Stevenson (bass) joined in March 2008, and Hal Jaques switched to guitar. The new lineup wrote three songs and toured western Canada in July 2008. In September 2008, Aiden Stevenson left to continue his education. The band toured eastern Canada in October 2008 with Fredericton's We, the Undersigned, then moved to Montreal.

In February 2009, the band announced a permanent switch to a four-piece: Hal Jaques returned to bass, and Mason Tikl remained sole guitarist. They toured coast to coast on the 'Is That Eh? Canadian tour from late February to mid April 2009, and from March to April 2009 toured cross-Canada with We, the Undersigned. In October 2009, the band toured eastern Canada including Newfoundland for the first time, and with tour-mates Ninjaspy recorded the first episode of MTV's Metal vs. Metal.