The Format is an American indie-pop and power-pop band formed in Arizona in 2002 by childhood friends Nate Ruess and Sam Means. The two had actually met several years earlier, bonding over their shared enthusiasm for bands such as Weezer, and eventually began making music together. Before The Format, they were members of the emo-oriented group Nevergonnascore, but Ruess and Means eventually became dissatisfied with the limitations of that style and wanted to write more melodic, carefully arranged pop songs.