 The band's first line-up consisted of Blaine Harrison on drums, William Rees on guitar and Henry Harrison (Blaine's father) on bass. Henry became a second guitarist in the band and they were joined by Kai Fish on bass and Tamara Pearce-Higgins on keyboards.[2] The band at this time recorded an eponymous EP with Aswad producer Nick Sykes. Blaine (whose voice had yet to break[3]) took lead vocals. Tamara left the band, and Blaine switched from Drums to Keyboards.[2] The band had a brief stint with a friend of Will (known only as Max) on drums, but he was unreliable and for a time a drum machine was used.[4] The band advertised on internet message boards for a drummer and found Kapil Trivedi.[5] The Eel Pie Island EP was recorded soon after by bishopdante at Rooster studios, from which it became obvious that a period of touring would be required to develop tightness and material, and so a white van with a trailer was bought, and the Mystery Jets set off. The band issued its first proper single, a limited edition 7" of "Zoo Time", on Transgressive Records. The Mystery Jets ran a series of illegal parties on Eel Pie Island, attracting large crowds, before being shut down by the police. They went on to sign to 679 Recordings. After 2005 saw a number of singles and their TV debut on MTV Two's Spanking New Music Week (alongside Editors, The Kooks, Clor and The Longcut), the start of 2006 saw the band gain their highest charting single with "The Boy Who Ran Away", play the ShockWaves NME Awards Tour and make their first appearance on Top of the Pops. |
