Church attended film school at NYU and was a founding member of a group called Irving in 1998. Many of the songs he wrote as a member of Irving didn't fit the group's style, so Church began performing as Sea Wolf with a rotating ensemble of backing musicians, playing locally in Los Angeles and recording demos in Seattle with producer Phil Ek.[ Biography], AllMusic Sea Wolf signed to Dangerbird Records in 2007 and released the Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low EP and a full-length titled Leaves In The River. The latter hit No. 24 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Church named the band after Jack London's novel The Sea-Wolf, saying that he identifies with the main character, a sea captain who is a "self-taught, blue-collar intellectual guy."Coleman, Judy. "Sea Wolf Embraces the Music, Not Necessarily LA." The Boston Globe. Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC, 6 Nov. 2007. Web
