Like a lot of great bands, The High Life didn't begin in a huge studio or some perfectly planned scenario. They started in a spare room.

Dan and Zac were writing songs together from their DIY setup in Oxford, figuring things out as they went. At some point, it stopped feeling like a side project and started to feel like something bigger.

That's when the rest of the band came together.

Zac, Dan and James knew each other growing up around Oxford. Ben came on board later found through Vampr - a suitably modern end to an old fashioned tale; finding the right people to build something with.

And The High Life was born - a band built on friendship, chaos, ambition and a genuine love of creating music.

So many bands talk about success stories and celebrated moments. And this is where The High Life differ - they talk about losing.

Missing out in the quarter finals of the Isle of Wight competition hosted by HotVox became one of the biggest moments for the band (so far). Not because it broke them, but because it gave them clarity and opened their eyes to the standard they needed to be meeting.

Since then, the focus has been sharper, the direction clearer and the standard higher.

It's this mentality that sits at the core of the band and keeps things moving and improving.

Raw. electric. Anthemic.

The High Life sit in that sweet spot between modern indie chaos and massive live energy.

There's indie rock influence running through the core of the band, but what makes them really interesting is how different everyone's musical backgrounds are.

Zac grew up deep in indie music, while Dan came from R&B, grime and rap. James leans towards high-energy punk pop - proudly standing behind his love of 'classic white girl music'.

Ben just likes anything from before 1990 and is currently being force fed on a diet of new music. He'll admit to liking it, just not as much as the old stuff.

If you ask the band what The High Life really is, the answer probably lies somewhere on stage.

Their first proper gig was headlining Fiddler's Elbow in London in front of 200 people - a massive moment that reinforced the momentum behind the project.

Since then, they've continued building a reputation for live shows that feel loud, loose, sweaty and impossible not to get pulled into.

What's the standout moment so far? Playing the O2 Islington. According to the band:

"That one went off."

And that's exactly the kind of answer you'll come to expect from The High Life.