Conversation so far:
Who was in the band Future Islands originally?
Future Islands was formed in early 2006 with an original line-up consisting of Cashion, Herring, Welmers and Erick Murillo, bassist for The Kickass, who played an electronic drum kit.
Did the original members of Future Islands know each other before forming the band?
Sam Herring and Gerrit Welmers attended the same middle school in Newport, North Carolina. William Cashion had classes with Sam Herring at ECU in 2002. They formed a band together.

Question: When did they form the band?
Self-contained rewrite: When did the members of Future Islands form the band?