The Maccabees started out in Brighton, East Sussex, England. Vocalist Orlando Weeks, guitarist Hugo White, guitarist Felix White, bassist Rupert Jarvis and Robert Dylan Thomas grew up near Clapham Common. During their school years Orlando and Robert would watch TV in Orlando's bedroom while they wrote songs. They were joined by Rupert and Hugo during the summer of 2003. At that time Felix was a part of the band Jacks Basement, which broke up not too long afterward.

The group found their name by flipping through the Bible, which was the biggest book in Orlando's house. They found their inspiration in the Apocrypha, when they stumbled across the story of a group of guys who were Jewish rebels, fighting against the rule of the Greeks and were able to establish their independence during the second century BC. Despite the fact that the band is not a religious one, they knew that this was the name that they wanted.

With their new-found name in hand the group entered themselves in the Battle of the Bands. Unfortunately they lost to a girl-band with big afros and mini-skirts. The group relocated to Brighton when Weeks decided to move there and study art. His art career was short-lived, as he dropped it after one year to focus on the band and their music. They released their first single "X-Ray" with Promise Records, then arranged to open for an Arctic Monkeys tour. Next "Latchmere" was released as a single in 2006. Finally their first full-length debut Color It In was released with fiction records in 2007. The album began to show the group as going someplace, and shows how much the band has connected with the world that they live in, giving their fans what they need.