A resident of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, England, Wilkinson developed a passion for experimental music during his time at Middlesex University in London from 1999 to 2003, where he studied "sonic arts". His earliest songs were mainly layered guitar compositions inspired by Steve Reich's "Electric Counterpoint", one of his earliest being "Cantaloup Carousel", which was originally recorded in 1999 at his university residence. His recording equipment at the time consisted of a "plastic" microphone, a budget sampler, cassette deck, and a portable MiniDisc recorder.