As Tall as Lionswas anIndie Rockband fromLong Island, New York.High school friends Dan Nigro (vocals, guitar), Saen Fitzgerald (guitar, drums), Brian Fortune (guitar) and Cliff Sarcona (drums) founded the band in December 2001 as they were looking to continue the momentum of a previous project."Blood and Aphorisms" was released in July 2002 at local venue Backstreet Blues. Upon its release, vocalist Dan Nigro sent the EP to some websites, which caught the attention of then-influential "thescout.net". The EP garnered the band local radio airplay and the attention of the local music scene. Without a permanent live bassist however, the band used studio engineer Rich Leigey, who had worked on the EP, and friend Julio Tavarez, before Dan Nigro began auditioning and recruiting bassists. It wasn't until October 2002 that the band brought on board bassist Brian Caesar. A few months later the band signed a joint development deal with Island Records and Triple Crown Records.