Box Set Authentic is a loosely-knit group of eight friends and longtime musical collaborators who really like one another’s songwriting. We record whenever enough of us get together in the same place. When we can’t, we record at home and share our work digitally. Our roots are in Chicago, but we have branches that span from Los Angeles to London.

Most of us played in and around Chicago in the bands Shovel Choir, Tart, and the Velmas. By 1999, all three had split and their members had relocat...