the band was formed in 2005, when christopher dresden styles was offered the chance to play a gig at an unsigned band night at retro bar in manchester on monday 11 july. at the time, the imogen styles consisted solely of christopher as frontman, along with a music stand, which was used to display the title of the song he was singing at the time. all the music was supplied as a backing track from an ipod. after the success of this first gig, other gig offers followed.