Guards was formed in New York City when Richie James Follin returned from a European tour to a recording studio with nothing in it but a broken electric 12 string guitar and an omnichord. He wrote and recorded a few songs for his little sister to sing on ,but ended up singing on the songs himself. He enlisted the help of his friends (Caroline Polachek of Chairlift, James Richardson of MGMT, Loren Shane Humphrey of Willowz) and family (Madeline Follin of Cults) to guest on some songs and they spread the word without his knowledge via twitter and the internet. Then, he decided to give the songs away for free.

Richie James Follin is 27 and he is originally from southern California. He started the Willowz (lead singer and guitarist) when he was 19 in 2002 and has released 4 records with them as well as a solo record and multiple other projects.