In the mid-1960s, Banks attended Charterhouse School in England, a "public school" (what Americans would call a private high school), at which he met Peter Gabriel, and the two formed an amateur band. At the time Banks, who was classically trained on the piano, played only that instrument and had little interest in other keyboard instruments. Eventually Banks and Gabriel became acquainted with Anthony Phillips and Mike Rutherford, who were a year behind them at Charterhouse and had their own band, and the two bands merged. They did some demo tapes which caught the interest of pop singer Johnathan King, who signed them to a contract. It was King who suggested the name "Genesis" to the band.