Founded by Conrad Wedde, Samuel Flynn Scott, and Luke Buda in 1997 while students at Wellington High School, they were joined by Tim Hansen (bass), Richie Singleton (drums) and Will Ricketts (percussion) in 2001. The band gets their name from a fictional organization on the popular television show "MacGyver."[citation needed] After playing for several years they released the China Cove EP. Their first full length album Horsepower was released by Capital Recordings in mid 2003 to critical acclaim, and was moderately successful. Horsepower included such singles as "This Charming Van" and "Let Me Die A Woman" which received extensive airplay on alternative radio stations such as 95bFM and RDU-FM. The Phoenix Foundation's second album Pegasus was released in early 2005 and again gathered further plaudits. The album was met with some commercial success, eventually obtaining Gold status in New Zealand. Warner Emery replaced Tim on bass before the recording of Pegasus.[citation needed] It had sold 1100 units by July 2006.[citation needed] It was released by Remote Control Records in Australia in October 2006. In 2005, the Phoenix Foundation toured with the Finn Brothers and put on their own theatre tour which included shows at the Wellington Opera House and Auckland's grand St James Theatre. In June 2005 producer Jet Jaguar released remixes of songs from Horsepower on his website which are available for download[1]. Luke Buda was the first of the group to release solo material. His 2003 EP The C-Sides met with unabashed critical acclaim in local music reviews. This recording features the long time live favourite from the early days of the Phoenix Foundation "Television Songs". Band members Luke Buda and Samuel Flynn Scott both released solo records in 2006. Luke's Special Surprise came out on Arch Hill Recordings, and showcases his love of synth pop and carefully crafted melody. Samuel's record The Hunt Brings Us Life was released on Loop. It has a more ramshackle feel than The Phoenix Foundation and delves deeper into the Americana that Samuel's songs on Pegasus hinted at. Warner Emery and Conrad Wedde also planned to release solo albums in 2006.[citation needed] The band recorded the original score to the Taika Waititi film Eagle vs Shark in early 2006. The film was released world-wide on Miramax at the Sundance Film Festival in 2007. The Phoenix Foundation signed a deal with US label Young American Recordings to release their records. The first American release was Horsepower, released March 13th 2007. The Phoenix Foundation released Happy Ending, their third album, in New Zealand in September 2007. This release was a switch from the Festival arm of Warner Music Group to Flying Nun, and features the single "Bright Grey". The Phoenix Foundation played support to the Split Enz tour of 2008. They have also been interviewed on television.......[Read Less]