Long Island-bred Frank W. Torres (vocals) met native San Diegan Ian Alexander (guitarist) in late 2002. Alexander brought in a former bandmate, bassist Chris Coulson, and the trio was joined by former Festerbilt drummer Kurt Otto. They became a five-piece when joined by second guitarist Steve Gilliland, who was only 17 years old at the time.

In March 2006, the band was notified by Verizon Wireless that they’d been selected as a finalist in a corporation contest.

“I was on MySpace and saw the ‘Calling All Bands’ contest,” says vocalist Frank Torres. “I’m a skeptic, and I don’t join contests or the whole battle-of-the-bands thing...and I’m not a big fan of corporate America either. I figured, what the hell, we’ll never get picked, so I nominated myself and totally forgot about the contest, and the next thing you know, someone hits us up and says, ‘You’re in the top 15.’“

Unset’s song, “The Wait Is Over,” was selected from more than 4000 submissions. Judges narrowed that number down to 15 bands and posted their songs on MySpace so listeners could vote on their favorite.

“[We were one of] the top five bands that received the most votes, then corporate people came in and decided which song was most viable,” says Torres.

In 2008, Unset released a new album on Gridiron Records, a label founded by guitarist Mikey Doling (Snot, Soulfly) and NFL player Kyle Turley.

Ian Alexander later co-founded the L.A. band Beauty In the Breakdown, formed in 2014 featuring his wife, Duran Duran percussionist/singer Chastity Ashley.