My Life Story

My Life Story was one of many orchestral British pop groups that appeared in the wake of Pulp and Suede. Led by Jake Shillingford, who comes across as a low-rent Neil Hannon (the Divine Comedy), the group never won the critical respect of its influences -- or even contemporaries like the Divine Comedy -- but they won a hardcore following of die-hard Anglophiles. Jake Shillingford (b. May 15, 1966), for all intents and purposes, is My Life Story. Born in Southend-on-Sea, Shillingford formed his first band in 1980, but he didn't begin a career until the late '80s. During the mid-'80s, he briefly attended the Southend Art College, after which he held a job at Dingwalls in Camden. He worked during the day and ran the Panic Station club at night, often playing with his band, My Life Story. After a few years he grew bored and he departed to America in 1989 on a mission to find himself. He returned the following year, convinced that he would remodel My Life Story as a string-laden, orchestral pop band. Over the course of 1990, he assembled a new version of the band, re-hiring former MLS drummer Aaron Cahill as musical arranger, drummer Steave Searley, bassist Jon King, keyboardist Helen Caddick, violinists Alison Gabriel and Ellie Newton, cellist Judith Fleet, Rob Spriggs on viola and Rachel Simnett, who played various brass instruments. Playing concerts in underground London clubs, the band slowly built a small following, self-releasing their indie debut EP Big at the end of the year. By 1992, the band now consisted of a total of 11 musicians, and they were regualarly playing clubs like the 100 Club and the Marquee. During 1993, My Life Story's profile began to rise considerably, as they contributed strings to the Wonder Stuff's "Welcome to the Cheap Seats." That fall, they...