Transition from garage to big album success

The speaker started by recording an album outside of their garage, which turned out to be a big success. Prior to that, they had been playing live at small clubs between San Diego and Santa Barbara, mainly The Mint in LA. Initially, the audience consisted mostly of the band member's family, but as their popularity grew, the shows started selling out. Surprisingly, a slow and peaceful song from a surf film became the most requested song at their shows. Despite having only played at small clubs, they were invited to go on tour with Ben Harper after their album's success, even though the speaker initially felt unprepared for a real tour.