In the summer of 1998, Fleet were formed by then 15 year old school mates, Luke Holloway, Nick Long and Alex Reeve in the town of Billericay, Essex. The three had broken away from a bigger band of friends who were looking for a different destination with their music, and so realising each other's potential, the three had plotted their own direction.

A drummer was found in the shape of Rebecca Searle-Jones, who studied music with Nick at the time. They began to rehearse and quickly created a handful of their own songs, and months later played their first gig at a local venue in Chelmsford. The band began to evolve over the next two years as the practices and gigs continued and in 2000 set to playing the London circuit with a gig at the New Cross venue, The Amersham Arms. This was all to be put on hold, however, by Nick Long's decision to leave the group, but he returned three months later and Fleet were reformed.

In 2002 as Fleet were looking to further their sound, guitarist Mike Rowe was looking for a new band after the collapse of his previous group and began to jam with the four piece, which inevitably soon became five. Headline shows at The Bull and Gate, The Barfly, The Garage and The Borderline soon followed, along with demo EPs, 'This Burning Light' and 'Signs'.