My Life Story were a 1990s pop group regarded as part of the britpop movement. Fronted by singer/songwriter Jake Shillingford, the group was formed in London c.1991 and inherited the name from an earlier group in which Shillingford had appeared. A cross between a pop group and a chamber orchestra, the band’s sound was heavily oriented toward orchestral instruments.
At the time of their debut single, Girl A, Girl B, Boy C (1994), the group had a regular line-up of twelve members. Though the membership fluctuated continually, it rarely dipped into single figures until 1999, when their third and final album credited just four regular members, though most of the former line-up were still used as session players.
The group released three albums: Mornington Crescent (1995), The Golden Mile (1996) and Joined Up Talking (1999). They enjoyed the most success at the time of their second album, which spawned four singles that entered the lower half of the UK top 40.
The spirit of the band lives on in Shillingford’s current project, Exileinside, which draws its influences from 1980s electronica, thus replacing the lush orchestral sounds of My Life Story with a quirky retro synth based sound. Former members of My Life Story Aaron Cahill and Mal Campbell appear in the line up, and the material is engineered by George Shilling. Shilling also produced many My Life Story tracks, including most of the Golden Mile album.
