Sublime began recording its big label bow in Redondo Beach, Calif., with Grammy-winning producer David Kahne. "I was trying to get the band out of Long Beach because there were distractions here," reveals Phillips, citing wild social lives and substance abuse issues already causing Nowell legal trouble. Jon Phillips, the A&R executive who signed and managed Sublime, knew his imprint sat on the chopping block so he wrote a letter to leadership at the major label, imploring them to spend money getting his band in the studio – preferably not in Southern California. The still-underground trio had signed to Gasoline Alley, whose parent company, MCA Records, underwent a regime change in late 1995. "When I got the call from my agent, asking if I wanted to produce Sublime's record, it freaked me out." "I had a rental car and was listening to their local punk rock AM radio station and they were playing 'Date Rape' probably 100 times a day, and I just loved it," recalls Leary. Leary first heard Sublime while recording with the Meat Puppets in Tempe, Ariz. Nowell's closest friend who co-produced, played on, and put out the band's first two albums, Happoldt says Too High to Die reflected their aspiration: "Make a record that presented the most polished version of our true selves." The guitarist landed on the SoCal trio's radar after producing Too High to Die for the Meat Puppets, a group the Left Coasters adored. San Antonio-hatched hallucinatory punk insurgents and Austin touchstone, the Surfers spawned their own universe of influence, including spinning off guitarist Paul Leary into a cottage production industry. "So when we finally had the opportunity to get a producer, we decided on Paul Leary." "We were Butthole Surfers fans," Sublime bassist Eric Wilson recalls. “So when we finally had the opportunity to get a producer, we decided on Paul Leary.” “We were Butthole Surfers fans,” Sublime bassist Eric Wilson recalls.
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