Kasabian, an English rock band from Leicester, started out under the name Saracuse and began recording at Leicester’s Bedrock Studios where bassist Chris Edwards worked as an engineer. Along with Edwards, the original line up included Tom Meighan (vocals), Sergio Pizzorno (guitar and vocals), Chris Karloff (keyboards and guitar) and Ash Hannis on drums. Their first demo EP, produced by Scott Gilbert and Mike Newitt, was handed to them on Xmas Eve 1999, and their first public appearance came at the Vipers Rugby Club (to celebrate Chris' 18th birthday). The band changed its name to Kasabian, after Linda Kasabian, a member of the Charles Manson cult (aka the Manson "family") famous for serving as his getaway driver - Edwards has explained how then band member Karloff picked the name whilst reading up on Charles Manson, saying "He just thought the word was cool, it literally took about a minute after the rest of us heard it... so it was decided”. Early in their career, Meighan used to post on the Libertines forum for short notice gigs and to promote the band.

During the recording of their first LP, the band had lived in a farmhouse at Rutland Water, so as not to be disturbed, however, drummer Hannis departed just prior to it’s release. The self titled debut was released in the UK in September 2004, and the band went on to perform on Glastonbury’s ‘Other Stage’ the following year.

Whilst working on material for their second album, the line up changed again, as Ian Matthews joined on drums, and Karloff experienced ‘artistic and creative differences’ (according to the band’s website), and was asked to leave the band. He had contributed to 3 songs on sophomore LP “Empire” (released in August 2006), including the title track, which was the first single from the album, reaching number 9 on the UK chart on downloads sales alone, backed by only 6 days’ airplay, and remaining there for 4 weeks. Second single “Shoot The Runner” peaked at number 17 in the UK.

An EP entitled "Fast Fuse" was released in late 2007, whilst the band were working on their third album. The EP features the tracks “Fast Fuse” (which is part of the soundtrack to “FIFA 09”) and “Thick As Thieves”, however it wasn’t given any promotion or advertisement. Also in late 2007, Kasabian recruited Jay Mehler as a permanent member, replacing Karloff.