They later changed their name to Platypus, and began to tour small, local venues, such as The Square in Harlow, Essex.
Their first gig was at a Battle Of The Bands competition. Billy was set to play a cover of “Rape Me” By Nirvana on his own. But he realised why have one bloke with a guitar when you could have a three-piece? Josh and Charlotte learned the song quickly, and they entered the competition – finishing second.
As their fame grew, Billy in particular became uncomfortable with and unsure of all the different names the band were coming up with. He came up with The Subways, apparently from his days hanging out. "One of the only places where I felt I could refuge and find peace in my old town of Welwyn Garden City was in a subway under the roads and pavements. I would haunt there in between breaks at work and college." Feeling the most free at that time underneath the rat-race of economic town life, he thought it only appropriate to divulge this "free essence" he felt in that subway to the band, where he felt he could truly escape from the drudgery of everyday life.
The band was drawn to the attention of Britain's media and public first after playing relentlessly in front of crowds "as often as we could" on the London circuit, and then after entering, and eventually winning, the Glastonbury Festival, Glastonbury New Bands competition. Glastonbury Festival organiser Michael Eavis was so impressed by them that he moved them up from the New Bands stage, where they were originally slated to play, to the Other Stage, where they played to a crowd of thousands on the Saturday afternoon.
After Glastonbury, The Subways went on to play The Carling Weekend 2004 in both Reading and Leeds, attracting yet more media and public attention.
The band's music caught the attention of many DJs, including the late John Peel, who was the first DJ to play single 1am on National Radio, and more recently Zane Lowe. Unfortunately, some members of the British press, such as journalists at The Sun, only seem to notice the band because of Charlotte's excellent dress sense -- though The Sun did manage to stab the single of the week with 5 stars out of 5, beating the likes of 50 Cent, Jamelia, Estelle and Natalie Imbruglia to the top spot and being described as :
"Star quality, the next big thing? Oh Yeah! So prepare yourself for the awesome power of The Subways..."
The band signed to City Pavement & Infectious Records in late 2004. Their first album, Young For Eternity, which was released on the 4th July 2005 was produced by Lightning Seeds frontman Ian Broudie, with their debut single 'Oh Yeah' reaching number 25 in the UK Music Chart in its release week 21 March 2005.