Prior to filming, only Billy Kay knew how to play the instrument his character plays. Aaron Himelstein (Dave the bass player) had only played a little guitar, Peter Brensinger (Lance the drummer) had played keyboard, and Kyle Gallner had never sung outside of karaoke. The band "John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives", a local Memphis, TN band who performed the songs on the film's soundtrack (with the exception of Kyle Gallner's singing) trained the cast for 2 weeks in instrument training. Though only Kyle Gallner's singing is on the soundtrack, all four members of the Fingers knew how to play their songs for the film's shoot.
Oregano was used in place of marijuana for the bong smoking. Tobacco was used for joints, and in Adam Herschman's (Greg Glaverman) cocaine scene, he is snorting flour.