The Belton, Texas-based heavy rock quintet Flyleaf formed in 2002 when frontwoman Lacey Mosley played a string of the dark, hard-edged songs she consistently wrote as a brooding teen for drummer James Culpepper. After a brief period of playing together, they recruited guitarists Sameer Bhattacharya and Jared Hartmann, members of a local outfit that had recently called it quits. In July 2002, bassist Pat Seals joined, and the band, initially known as Passerby, was born.