Soccer Team is comprised of Ryan Nelson & Melissa Quinley, friends who met years ago when working together at Dischord Records in Washington, DC. Slowly discovering numerous shared tastes in music, art and popular culture, the two would occasionally retreat to Ryan’s house in southeast DC to record sounds on Ryan’s 4-track, and then, a 1/4” 8-track machine that Ryan acquired in 2004.

Slowly, a collection of songs that Ryan recorded both on his own and with Melissa was amassed, and Ryan proposed the notion of putting them out as a record. Dischord was kind enough to facilitate the idea, and "Volunteered" Civility & Professionalism was released in 2006.

With the record “dropping” and suddenly throngs of fans essentially demanding public performances, Soccer Team was compelled to “hit the road” (i.e. “gig” or “play shows”). They did just that, including one particularly epic tour with fellow Dischord recording-artists Antelope, in which North Carolina was entered not once but two times in the span of five days. The grueling schedule was taxing and certainly put Ryan & Melissa to the test, but as anyone who experienced their live performances can attest, the duo certainly delivered and their “show chops” were “honed”.

Road weary after all of their many public performances in 2006, it was then that Soccer Team retreated into Ryan’s basement once again (now called “The Studio”) and laid to tape the framework for three sizzling tracks that would lie dormant for the ensuing four years. Alas, the call of higher education beckoned to Ryan, and he left the greater Washington, DC area soon after. Soccer Team was - quite unexpectedly - on “temporary hiatus”.

Seasons passed, and life went on -- but Ryan and Melissa, now residing in different parts of the country, would often recall fondly the former “rock-n-roll lifestyle” of their time in Soccer Team.

In 2010, in a fit of nostalgia, Ryan flew to DC to meet up with Melissa, and Soccer Team magic prevailed once again: together, they finally completed the earlier recordings with Melissa’s husband Dennis Kane. One year later, these songs were then released on a 7" on Lovitt Records, right at the time that Ryan returned to Washington DC.

Now living in the same city once again, Melissa & Ryan have resumed their old practice schedule, have begun writing new material, and will be playing shows once again as Soccer Team in 2012.