Maxïmo Park formed in 2001 (with frontman Paul Smith coming from Billingham in Teesside). To Start off with, the four founding members played only a little amount small shows, with Archis Tiku on vocals, constantly switching the instruments he played. Almost about to split up, but instead they decided to look for somebody else to sing vocals. Singer Paul Smith was discovered by the then-girlfriend of drummer Tom English in a pub while he was singing along to a Stevie Wonder song. Having found someone with a stage presence, they started to write their first songs together, all despite the fact that the frontman never imagined himself as a frontman of a band. Paul Smith had never sung on stage before.