The members of the band met in the residence halls of University College London in September 1996. Martin and Buckland were the first members of the band, having met one another during freshers' week. They spent the rest of the year planning a band; at one point Martin had considered forming a *NSYNC inspired boy band called Pectoralz. Eventually, Berryman joined the ranks, regardless of what musical direction the band was taking. On January 8, 1998, the band's line-up was complete when Champion joined the band to take up percussion duties. The multi-talented Champion had grown up playing piano, guitar, bass, and tin whistle; he quickly learned the drums, despite having no previous experience with that instrument. At the time, the band performed under the name Starfish. Eventually, they took the name Coldplay from a mutual friend, Tim who had his own band. According to Martin, "He (Tim) decided he didn't like the name anymore because it was too depressing."
In 1998, Coldplay was performing small club gigs for local Camden promoters. Wanting more creative freedom, Martin recruited fellow student and childhood friend Phil Harvey to act as band manager. Harvey helped the band raise money needed to record a demo. On May 18, 1998 the band released 500 copies of Safety EP. Most of the discs were given to record companies and friends; only 50 copies remained for sale to the public. In December, Coldplay was signed by indie label Fierce Panda, after founder Simon Williams had attended the band's gig that evening. The result was the three track EP Brothers And Sisters which was quickly recorded over four days in February 1999. The disc was released in April, only 2,500 copies were pressed in a very limited release. Buzz was slowly growing across the UK, helped by regular airplay from BBC Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq.
After completing their final examinations, Coldplay was signed to Parlophone for a five album contract in Spring 1999. After making their first appearance at Glastonbury, the band went into studio to record a third EP titled The Blue Room. The disc was released in October and 5,000 copies were made available to the public. The recording sessions for The Blue Room were tumultuous. Champion walked out for a week causing Martin, a self-proclaimed non-drinker and non-smoker to go on a drinking binge. Eventually, the band worked out their differences and placed a new set of rules to keep the group intact. First, the band declared an all-for-one approach; Coldplay was a democracy and profits were to be shared equally, taking a page from bands like U2 and R.E.M. Second, the band would fire anyone who used coke. In later years, Martin joked about the band's clean-cut image by saying "This (playing music) is better than doing coke off a hooker's back! Which we don't do!"
