At some point in 2013, everything changed for American Authors.
The band's four members, who had spent the previous few years crammed into a small Brooklyn apartment writing songs, started seeing their efforts pay off.
Their song "Best Day of My Life" became not only ubiquitous in pop culture, but almost unavoidable.
The catchy tune, with its soaring verses and choppy, chanted chorus was featured on commercials, video games, movie trailers and as theme music during TV sports broadcasts.
Meanwhile, the song shot up a variety of charts, reaching the top of the Adult Top 40 list by April 2014.
American Authors singer Zac Barnett knew it had officially gone viral when the band heard from a friend in Asia.
"We got an email from an acquaintance in Thailand," Barnett said. "He said, 'Someone has done a blatant ripoff (of the song).' Oh my gosh, it was exactly the same thing. It was pretty jarring but pretty funny."
While the song gave the group worldwide exposure, Barnett said it was just the culmination of a songwriting process the band has been crafting since meeting at Boston's Berklee School of Music in 2007.
Most of the sessions saw the Barnett with fellow band members Dave Rublin, Matt Sanchez and James Adam Shelley huddled in their apartment, spitballing ideas, experimenting with instrumentation and tweaking lyrics and hooks.
"It can be tough," Barnett said. "It can be time consuming. We maybe take a little more time to finish songs but I think that's a good thing. We spend the time to edit and make changes and make songs as good as we can and special to us and as unique as we can. We were sharing this tiny apartment and working these pretty bad jobs. But we just kept grinding it out until we had the right music to share with the world."
The band formed when Barnett, who was president of the Berklee songwriters club, met guitarist Shelley after a club writing session.
"He was too shy to play any of his songs in front of the class," Barnett recalled. "He stayed after class and showed me some of them. We started jamming and writing together."
Bass player Rublin connected with Barnett on Facebook and Sanchez, a drummer, solidified the lineup.
The band formed as the Blue Pages, playing gigs on the East Coast and recording a pair of albums under that moniker. By 2010, with Barnett taking the lead, the band members dropped out of Berklee and relocated to Brooklyn.
"We were traveling back and forth," Barnett said. "We were doing a majority of our recording (in Brooklyn). We were meeting so many people in the New York City music scene. It was one of the best moves we could have made as a band."
But failing to connect with audiences en masse, the band decided another change was in order. In 2012, the group changed its name to American Authors, which Barnett said is a nod to the members' many influences and their varied backgrounds. Barnett hails from Minnesota and Rublin from New Jersey, while Shelley (Florida) and Sanchez (Texas) give the band a dose of Southern and border influences.
"Before we met in college, we're from all different parts of the country," he said. "We have all different upbringings. It was time for a change. When we made a switch, we were in a new place. Our music was being inspired by new things. It was time for a fresh start."
While the name and location had changed, the band didn't take off until it quit trying to develop a sound and let the sound develop around the songs.
"We didn't find our sound until we let everything go instead of trying to be in one sound," Barnett said. " 'Believer' and 'Best Day of My Life,' that's when it finally clicked. Taking those risks and twists and turns and not trying to conform to one form or genre gave us our most cohesive sound."
"Believer" was released as a single in 2012 and re-released as part of the 2014 album "Oh, What a Life," which housed "Best Day of My Life."
It also charted in the top 20 and earned the band the Overall Grand Prize in the 18th annual USA Songwriting Competition.
The band's breakout didn't come without uncertainty, but Barnett said no one seriously considered quitting or dissolving the band.
"Definitely there were moments of doubt where we didn't know if it would take off," he said. "None of us had any backup plans so we didn't have anything else to jump into. We had each other pushing each other and challenging each other. Our thought was 'This sucks, but why don't we keep writing better songs and push forward on it.' "
Some of American Authors' biggest hits have been anthems, begging for listeners to sing along.
"We aren't necessarily (trying to write those types of songs)," Barnett said. "We just write songs we'd like. What comes out, comes out. Some are more anthemic. We write what we feel naturally. It'd be really difficult for me to write a shoe-gazer indie-rock album. That's not where my head's at."
Barnett said Shelley has climbed Mount McKinley, and his stories of Alaska have the band excited to visit the state.
"It's pretty incredible," he said. "We've been to Australia, South Africa and Europe. We're super excited to be in Alaska."
Humpys Big Spawn -- American Authors and Kongos
When: 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: On F Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues downtown
Tickets: $50 in advance at etix.com, $60 day of
All-ages show with full bar with valid ID