In mid 1996, All began working on their next, then untitled, studio album. At the same time, Milo Aukerman was considering to permanently reunite the Descendents, and was beginning sessions for the band's next album Everything Sucks. All joined Aukerman on the sessions, where they played demos of the Descendants' songs. Price and Aukerman then split the album in two and took turns picking songs for Everything Sucks or Mass Nerder. The band recorded a total of 18 tracks for the new album, of which only four ("Vida Blue," "Silence," "Until Then" and "Good As My Word") would make it onto Mass Nerder. Nine other tracks ("Everything Sux," "I'm the One," "Sick-O-Me," "Caught," "When I Get Old," "She Loves Me," "Hateful Notebook," "I Won't Let Me" and "Thank You") were covers of songs from Everything Sucks, while the remaining five were left off Mass Nerder. As a result, Price wrote twelve completely new songs in 1996–97. "Silence," originally chosen by Aukerman, was intended to be sung as a duet with Price, but was ultimately given to All before Everything Sucks was finished.
Mass Nerder was finally recorded at The Blasting Room, in Fort Collins, Colorado between December 1997 and January 1998.[3] Producer duties were handled by drummer Bill Stevenson, guitarist Stephen Egerton and Jason Livermore, all of whom would engineer and mix the sessions.[3]
