London's Portico Quartet came together in 2005. Duncan Bellamy (drums), Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass), Nick Mulvey (hang and percussion) and Jack Wyllie (soprano, tenor saxophones and electronics) started out busking on the South Bank of the River Thames. The Quartet's mélange of contemporary jazz, world music and electronica soon caught on. Their distinctive sonic palette owed much to the hang drum, a percussive instrument akin to the Caribbean steelpan. After self-producing a five-song demo, the group signed with Babel/Vortex before releasing Knee-Deep in the North Sea in 2007. Produced by John Leckie at Abbey Road Studios, Isla followed in 2009 on Real World Records. An eponymous LP came out three years later.