Though based in Brighton, all five members of the Maccabees grew up in South London, where singer Orlando Weeks and drummer Robert Dylan Thomas attended school together. Though the friends would often write songs in Weeks bedroom, it wasnt until 2003, when they were introduced to guitarist Hugo White, that the band began to take shape. Soon bassist Rupert Jarvis joined on, as well as Hugos brother and fellow guitarist Felix. A relocation to Brighton occurred when Weeks went there to study art, but after only a year he dropped out to fully concentrate on the Maccabees and their music. The groups first single, X-Ray, was released on Promise Records in November of 2005, and thanks to a strong XFM-Radio showing, the Maccabees were able to garner opening spots on an Arctic Monkeys tour. Fierce Panda picked up the second single, Latchmere, issuing it in the spring of 2006. The bands full-length debut, Colour It In, came out on Fiction Records a year later.