The High School Genesis & The 'MSK' Code
In late 2008 and early 2009, during their sophomore year at Saint Ignatius High School in Cleveland, Ohio, co-founders Myles Snider and Seamus Kelleher launched an underground music destination straight from their laptops: The MuSiK Box (themusikbox.com).
The publication's distinct capitalization was a subtle in-joke and personal signature: The MuSiK Box cleverly embedded the co-founders' initials — Myles Snider and Seamus Kelleher — spelling out MSK within MuSiK using lowercase "u" and "i".
Built on early WordPress architectures and powered by DatPiff mixtape rips, Mediafire downloads, and direct email submissions from hungry indie artists, the site stood at the vanguard of the burgeoning music-blog revolution.
“We Skip Study Hall For This...”
Mac Miller at The Grog Shop & The MGK Video
The MuSiK Box booked Mac Miller's first out-of-town headlining show at The Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights, held on August 21, 2010. Seamus and Myles worked with Cleveland promotion crew The Coventry Kids to bring the 18-year-old Pittsburgh rapper to the venue. Mac later recalled the show in the interview below.
Earlier that year, on April 22, 2010, the co-founders shot a now-legendary parking lot interview on an iPhone in the school lot with a 19-year-old Machine Gun Kelly (MGK), breaking down his breakout mixtape 100 Words and Running.
The 301 Rebrand to In Audio We Trust
As readership expanded beyond Ohio into a national footprint, the co-founders orchestrated a comprehensive brand evolution in early 2011, executing a 301 permanent redirect from themusikbox.com to inaudiowetrust.com.
"IAWT 2.0" introduced a sleek, high-contrast dark aesthetic, custom audio streaming players, categorized music channels, and the Thomas Jefferson in DJ headphones emblem that became the brand's signature seal.
To keep up with the unrelenting volume of PR submissions and exclusive premieres, the blog's circle grew the way so many 2009–2012 college-era sites did — friends pitching in between classes, guest writers dropping album reviews, and late-night track tips landing in the inbox. Core contributors included Matt, Ben, Helen, Pilo, Lesia, Tricia, Heather, and Tim, who helped review tracks, cover shows, and manage the daily premiere queue.
Confirmed Contributors & Writers
Matt · Ben · Helen · Pilo · Lesia · Tricia · Heather · Tim
…and other contributors we're surely forgetting. If you wrote for us, sent in music, or helped run the site during those years, please reach out so we can claim your byline and get your name properly added to the record.
Early Artist Coverage & The Final Posts
What made The MuSiK Box & IAWT unique was their track record of identifying future megastars months or years before mainstream recognition — tracking early mixtapes of Tyler, The Creator, A$AP Rocky, Macklemore, Skrillex, Avicii, Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, The Weeknd, Frank Ocean, and more.
Tyler, The Creator
Spring 2011 Goblin-era coverage with OFWGKTA.
A$AP Rocky
October 2011 Live. Love. A$AP debut wave.
Macklemore
August 2010 archive — two years before The Heist.
Skrillex
Electronic and dubstep selections from the blog years.
Avicii
Early progressive-house blog-era features.
Mike Posner
Final post: “Looks Like Sex,” January 25, 2012.
By early 2012, Seamus and Myles were college freshmen living in different cities. The publication had grown into a beast that demanded multiple posts daily, relentless track scouring, and constant coordination. Realizing they could not maintain the high editorial standards and hands-on curation they had established from separate college campuses, they made the decision to sell the blog in early 2012—officially concluding their authentic founder run on January 25, 2012.
For 15 years, until the compilation of this archive was established, they thought only their memories — and the still-regular reminders of its impact from some former readers via DM — would be all they had to remember this fun time from.