Shaggy-haired and scruffy looking, Longwave is a punk-rock group from New York.

All four members hail from all ends of the spectrum. Singer and guitarist Steve Schiltz grew up in Rochester and immersed himself in everything music, from U2 to Nirvana. Teaching himself to play guitar, he wound up joining a cover band that performed Motown. Drummer Mike James found inspiration in The Doors and David Bowie and knew Schiltz from high school. Guitarist Shannon Ferguson, from California, loved jamming to Michael Jackson and was expelled from school at eight-years-old. He formed a band early on whose lyrics focused on ridiculing a fellow classmate. Bassist Dave Marchese grew up in Queens and soaked in The Clash, Ramones and The Sex Pistols while starting fights in school. Needless to say, this group has an edge to their sound.

They formed in 1999 in a New York studio. Schiltz had been sitting on some melodies for a while, so after he put out an advertisement and found bassist Marchese through an advertisement, the group was formed. At Ferguson's own recording studio, Longwave created their first few demos and found Rob Sacher, the owner of Luna Sea Records, to produce their work. Together they created Endsongs, their first full-length debut album that was released in 2000. The boys started seeing acclaim from all directions, and when The Strokes' manager called them to do a support slot on their tour, the boys didn't hesitate about joining one of their idols. The boys performed so well during their slot that The Strokes' asked them to be a permanent member of the tour.

Their confidence boosted, and they created their 2002 EP, Day Sleeper. With a larger fan base, RCA approached the group about signing the band. The Strangest Things followed in 2003, with the EP Life of the Party in 2004. After that, Marchese and James left the band to be replaced by drummer Nic Brown and bassist Christian Bongers. There's a Fire was released in 2005 with the help of producer John Leckie.