by Jason Ankeny
Vancouver alternative pop quartet Stabilo formed in 2000. Singers/guitarists Jesse Dryfhout and Christopher John (who first teamed in the mid-'90s in a high school grunge band dubbed Molly), bassist Karl Williaume, and drummer Nathan Wylie borrowed their moniker from the Stabilo Boss highlighter used to scribble other potential band names, and under that name self-released their eponymous debut LP in 2001. When the track "Everybody" emerged as a grassroots favorite on radio station XFM, the disc sold in excess of 5,000 copies, and after abbreviating their name to simply Stabilo, the group signed to major label EMI to issue the 2004 EP Cupid? Their Brad Wood-produced LP Happiness and Disaster followed in the spring of 2006.