Years before Streetlight Manifesto came into existence, way back in the year 2000, a (not so) small group of college students gathered in a dark basement in suburban NJ to record original music. A total of 16 musicians contributed to a 4 song EP, which was then released under the name BANDITS OF THE ACOUSTIC REVOLUTION (BOTAR, if you’re into the whole brevity bit). The group was made up of strictly acoustic instruments; acoustic guitars, an upright bass, violins, cellos, trumpets, saxes and more, but the music was decidedly fast tempoed and energetic, something of a contrast to the majority of the music traditionally played by said instruments. Because of limited resources and time, future plans for the project had to be put on ice for the next decade and a half or so. In its stead and from its bones, Streetlight Manifesto came screaming into this world and has been touring and releasing music since.

In 2018, BOTAR stormed the stages of NYC and Los Angeles with a 45 piece orchestra in tow. Now, they're back and ready to pick up where they left off-- currently hard at work preparing more mash-ups of punk rock energy and classical instruments.