While the band took a while to come into being, once formed British India hit the ground running, gaining managers from their first-ever gig who then booked them in to support the Hoodoo Gurus at their second.

Nic Wilson was the local guitar prodigy about school when he met Declan Melia. The two bonded musically and first played together acoustically in a friend's kitchen. A drunken fight on a beach resulted in them finding bass player Will Drummond and the three then sought a drummer by scouring Melbourne's music venues, eventually choosing Matt O'Gorman. Songs were forged over a year of playing together and once enough were written it was time to start gigging.