After witnessing a gig by the Australian rock band Airbourne in Manchester, guitarist Adam Thistlethwaite and vocalist Barry Mills broke away from their popular indie cover band Ace Face to write original hard rock music in 2009. Following a short period with another drummer and bass guitarist, the eventual line up was secured by recruiting Alex Thistlethwaite (brother of Adam) on drums and friends Carl Cochrane and Adam Bouskill on second guitar and bass respectively. In 2017, Carl Cochrane departed and Stephen Holl joined the band as second guitarist, this remains the only line-up change to date.