It all started in the 4th year at Brentwood school in Essex. Guitarist and vocalist Arun Dhanapala expressed a wish to form a band to fellow guitarist Jon Watson Lee. The two started a search to find fellow musicians in the school who may be interested in playing in their group. In the early 5th year, 2000/1, Arun and Jon recruited Adam Dyer (Keyboards, Strings), Simon Hatton (Drums) and David Barclay (Bass). After a number of practice sessions on Saturday afternoons in the school's music block, it was clear that the line-up was not working. Drummer Simon Hatton was replaced by Albert Poon, who was then replaced by Dominic Kenewell. In the spring of 2001, the band, then known as "Essence of Five", were hit with the news that piano virtuoso Adam Dyer was leaving to pursue a career playing in the smokey jazz haunts of Devon. Despite this loss, the four remaining members carried on, changing their name to "Vanguard". Spurred on by quasi-hero's The Filaments success at amateur level, the band progressed, learning to work as a group by covering their favourite Tool songs.