LOS ANGELES (TNA) – Back in the old days of Hollywood, stars were discovered at the soda fountain.

These days, they’re discovered at Starbucks.

Case in point: the pop trio Until June, which is currently touring behind its self-titled debut CD.

Pianist Josh Ballard says he and his brother, Dan, worked for the coffee lords for many years and while he didn’t like the job “because it wasn’t music,” he admits he never would have received a record contract had he not worked at a Pasadena franchise.

Until June didn't get a record deal until they met a producer while working at Starbucks.

According to Ballard, that’s where he met producer Brian Garcia, who has also worked with Kelly Clarkson, Avril Lavigne and Our Lady Peace.

“Brian used to come in and order an Iced Venti Americano with, like, about 16 Equals,” Ballard remembered. “At one point, he told me I looked like a musician and asked for a demo.”

The rest, as the cliché goes, is history.

It’s a good thing Ballard met Garcia when he did. At the time, the two Ballard boys had spent nearly 3-and-a-half years in Los Angeles pursuing their dream of musical success – with no bites.

“We moved out from Phoenix in 2001,” Ballard said. “We didn’t know how hard it is. We thought we would just get a contract. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.”

Ballard says a few months before he met Garcia, he had made a pact with his brother to stay in L.A. until June and move back to Arizona if they didn’t get a contract.

“We met Brian in April, so it went up pretty close to the deadline,” Ballard said, adding that the pact inspired the band name. “It was fate for sure.”

Ballard admits that he didn’t always enjoy working at Starbucks, but that his stint there has paid off in musical dividends.

“Starbucks definitely influenced me musically. That’s where I got into Whiskeytown, Ryan Adams and Wilco. Bands that are both melodic and lyrical. I don’t know if I would have had that working at, say, Hot Topic,” he said.

Although Ballard never wrote anything while on the clock at Starbucks, he says that was more due to circumstances than because of his work ethic.

“I write at the piano, and they never had one. There were a couple of times where I would call myself on the phone and sing to my answering machine,” Ballard said.

Currently, Until June is touring the U.S., and fans are comparing the sound to Keane and The Fray.

Ballard is enjoying the crowd reaction, but jokes that he hasn’t attracted the same type of groupies who follow bands that play harder music like metal or hip-hop.

“We tend to attract women who want us to put their poems to music,” he laughed.

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