By the summer of 2000, Tom had started hanging around at Alienistic Studios in Bethnal Green, east London. He had got to know the band that ran it, Tidal Mind, through a mutual friend, Tony Latimer. Tidal Mind were planning Alienistic’s first birthday party that September, a gig that would feature some of the biggest names in the London’s underground rock scene. Tom, feeling worryingly brave, bet Tidal Mind’s lead singer Gary that he could form a band that could play a 15-minute set at that party. Gary, with bravery that surely bordered on masochism, agreed.

Tom had been brushing up on his dusty old bass in recent months and he and Tony, who played the guitar, started jamming. Soon Toby was drumming, Alan was noodling on his SG and, in a move that put four of the original five “musicians” in the same room with amps and thus flew in the face of numerous environmental health laws, Rich was drafted in to sing the three original songs and one cover that would form the set.

After barely two months of rehearsals it was showtime. The line-up included Tidal Mind, Redhed and Anti-Product. Even more disturbing for our young heroes, it was even advertised in UK rock bible Kerrang! Early versions of Agoraphobia, Take It Back, To Whom It May Concern and an inexplicable cover of Huey Lewis and the News’ Hip To Be Square all got their first ever airing to the small but perfectly formed crowd on that balmy September night. ‘L*K’ was the name they went under on the bill. Don’t ever, ever ask Alan, Toby or Rich how this name came about because they “don’t remember” and certainly don’t want to talk about it.

Unlike their name however, the gig went well. Being in a band wasn’t quite the menace to society that it was originally thought to be, so they our heroes decided to try and do it properly. It wasn’t to be easy as for no greater reason than Rich was going to university to study media, and thus lived during term time, on the other side of London. It didn’t take them too long to get a name though: Linus. Again, they don’t remember why other than Snoopy was, er, quite funny.