Gene are a British rock band that rose to prominence in the mid-1990s. Formed in 1993, they were categorised by the UK music press as a Britpop band and were often drawn comparisons to the Smiths because of the similarities to Morrissey in the demeanour and lyrical style of lead singer Martin Rossiter. Gene's music was influenced by The Jam, The Smiths, The Style Council, Faces and The Clash. The band split at the end of 2004.

Gene's origins lie in a previous band which was first called The Go Hole, named after a fictional "Beat" club in John Clellon Holmes' novel Go. They released the single "Flight of Angels" on Big Pop Records in 1987. They were later renamed to Sp!n when they became a four-piece. The band was formed in 1987 by Lee Clark (vocals/guitar) and Darryl James Walton (bass). However, their collaboration was short-lived as Walton was soon replaced by John Mason on bass, with Matt James (Wrigley) joining soon afterwards on drums. Walton would then take on the role of band manager. Their first single, recorded in the same studios as The Ruts' "In a Rut", appeared on Walton's Big Pop Record label. A John Peel session fuelled their early success, where they mixed with the music and artistic community in Camberwell mingling with members of The House of Love, My White Bedroom, and Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. Walton would organize and negotiate many of the group's gigs, contracts and press especially later when they were a four-piece. After 18 months, Clark, Mason and James invited John's brother Steve Mason to play lead/rhythm guitar and thereby freeing Clark to focus on vocals.

Two singles, "Scratches (In the Sand)" and "Let's Pretend" were released in 1990 and 1991 respectively as an album had been recorded with Stephen Street as producer.

Then, Sp!n were involved in a car accident. John Mason suffered a head injury and went into an 11-day coma. Walton was also hurt. The day prior to the accident, Clark had offered his resignation in a letter to the rest of the band, due to his dissatisfaction with the way that Walton, and their record label Foundation, were guiding its course. "The final straw for me," stated Clark, "was calling the Sp!n album In Motion - a play on word-association which was so naff, that it beggared belief." A further EP, titled Hot Blood, was released in late 1991. The music press ceased to portray the band as new and vibrant, instead substituting headlines of car crashes and injuries, necessitating an overhaul of the band.

John Mason, disappointed with the music business, went on to become a writer. Clark briefly recorded demos with Andrew "Snake" Newton, who had been the live sound engineer for Sp!n, then gave up music to become a primary school teacher. Clark felt he was increasingly too old to become a rock star and decided to play and record only in his own bedroom and indeed returned to this after a hiatus of about ten years.

Wanting to continue together in a band, Steve Mason and James recruited bass player Kevin Miles, who had a long association with the band. After seeing Watford based Welshman Martin Rossiter cross the floor of a club, Mason approached him, and they began to talk. Their meeting ended with Rossiter handing out his business card and Mason asking Rossiter if he would like to audition with the band. Rossiter appeared on Sp!n's last demos as "Martin T. Falls" (a nod to the Mancunian band The Fall) shortly before the band decided to adopt the name Gene.

By the time NME ... journalists Keith Cameron and Roy Wilkinson encountered Gene, the band had already gained some live experience and had written several songs. Cameron and Wilkinson were impressed enough to form an independent record label called Costermonger with the sole purpose of promoting Gene to a wider audience. Their double A-sided debut single "For The Dead" / "Child's Body" was released on Costermonger in May 1994. The single received a great deal of attention from the music press: Select named it "Single Of The Month", whilst NME made it their "Single of the Week".

The limited edition of 1,994 copies sold out in two days. Numerous live shows followed. Gene's performance in support of Pulp at London's The Forum was hailed by the NME as a breakthrough performance. "Gene have just played third on the bill and willed the crowd into treating them like headliners who are very, very big indeed", said NME. "He [Martin] has made people love him, and now he's loving every minute of it."^{[This quote needs a citation]}