This is a transcript of an interview by Radio 1 FM and was broadcast on Wednesday March 19th 1997 just before the My Life Story concert from Exeter University was broadcast live.

Radio 1: You join us at Hanson Tea Rooms in Cathedral Close in Exeter, having a spot of afternoon cream tea with Jake Shillingford from My Life Story.
This is not your standard on-tour cuisine is it?
 Jake Shillingford: No, it's not, but it's rather nice, it really is.
R1: What do you usually thrive on, when you're on tour then?
 JS: Well, I suppose being an eleven piece band, you know, we sort of keep each other awake with our own body odour. I think it's about the only thing we live on, but no, I've always found it really strange.
The thing about touring is people often ask why bands sort of end up going down the toilet through alcoholism or drugs or whatever, and well it's no wonder that you know, you go on a four week tour and you're put in a room that's got absolutely nothing in it, apart from two white towels and a huge fridge of ice cold beer, and lots of flat surfaces everywhere.
I mean if they provided a television, maybe a Game Boy or something then perhaps we'd have a few more live musicians around.
R1: And some nibbles or something..
 JS: Yeah, cheesy nibbles, we always like a few cheesy nibbles.
R1: 'Cause I always think there should be some sort of Egon Ronay guide to the food that you get at some of the smaller venues, particularly the ones that make their own food. I think, isn't it Southampton's Joiners that do quite a fine pasta concoction and things like that?
 JS: Yeah, there's a few, you know, I can't afford that. My favourite one is the Colchester Arts Centre is really good, they do, there's this huge hippie guy there that sort of stirs up this sort of big, he just puts everything in there. You don't really know what it is 'cause all the lights are really dark, you know, he turns the lights out before he serves the food but it does taste good. Maybe he's got his beard in it or something, I don't know.
R1: Because you're on tour at the moment aren't you? you started last night?
 JS: Yeah, we started last night in Southampton, um not Southampton, where was it?, Sheffield!. I mean this is one of the things that happens when you go on tour. I mean, a couple of weeks ago, a couple of months ago, so you don't even know how the time goes, but er..
R1: What day is it?
 JS: Yeah, What day IS it? Wednesday? I dunno, is it Wednesday?
R1: Yeah, Well done, [laugh], it IS Wednesday, yes
 JS: Great, Thank you, God.
Yeah. I spent a whole day, I was in Edinburgh and I spent the whole day thinking I was in Aberdeen, until we actually got into the local radio station, yeah.
R1: Yeah, 'cause obviously going on stage and going, "Hello Aberdeen!"..
 JS: Oh well, No. I thought Bono had done that? Didn't he go into Coventry and said, "Leicester, you’re the best crowd we've ever had", you know
R1:[LAUGH]
 JS: [LAUGH]
R1: And where are you tomorrow, I bet you don't know now.
 JS: Er, Yeah Reading!
R1: Reading tomorrow, OK, and the places you're playing on this tour, are they places you've played before?
 JS: Yeah, I mean, obviously MLS have been going for seven years so we keep on sort of, you know, keep on playing at venues now that are next to the pubs that we played, sort of the year before, and the pubs are next to the, sort of, bicycle sheds that we played the year before that.
You know, we had to almost resemble a motorcycle display team on some stages, I mean, I kind of like that, when you've got a really big band, you know, what's really good is, especially when everyone's so frenetic on stage, is you know OK, you get the odd injury, I had my ear severed by a violin bow, and trumpets are the loudest instrument in the world.
One of my sort of main things about music, one of my main philosophies on it, especially with MLS is that, you know I look back to the gigs that I went to when I was younger. I used to go and see bands like the Psychedelic Furs, stuff like that, put on really good shows but their music wasn't necessarily, you know, it's not all sweetness and light, it's not all fun
And you know we really knuckle down when we write the albums and the singles and you know, that's two sides of pop music and people shouldn't necessarily put them in one bag.
R1: I mean, talking about recorded work, you've got an album out, this week I think, isn't it?, and er, it's called The Golden Mile and producing, er, extreme reactions, both negative and positive, I suppose...
 JS: Absolutely incredible isn't it?
R1:..I suppose that's something which.., has that always been the case? I guess it has been with yourselves.
 JS: It HAS been to a smaller degree, definitely. I mean, what happened with us is that all the bad ones came in first and now the good ones have come in, so sort of on the verge of committing suicide, but now the good ones are coming in.
But yeah, you're absolutely right, it's absolutely incredible that you can be described by one magazine as producing the worst album of all time, and in another magazine, you know creating a pop masterpiece. I mean, they're the two, I've quoted those literally.
And we had a small following when we started but it was very loyal. I mean it got to the point at one stage where Mornington Crescent, our first album's, now been deleted for two years. Fortunately, I got some good news the other week that our current record company have actually bought the rights to it, so hopefully that'll be released some time towards the end of next year, er, the end of THIS year hopefully.
But yeah, two young lads actually found my address, knocked on my door and said 'look we're not real sad, kind of perverted fans going through your bin, we just can't get hold of the album, have you got a spare one you can sell us?' , and it was like, well oh you cheeky little whippersnappers, here you go, off you go, here's an album.
R1:[laughs] How much did you charge them?
 JS: No, I gave them the album, you know invited them in for a cuppa.
R1: Oh, what a gent!
 JS: YEAH!
R1: It's the evening session, it's the show that wants jam on it, we'd better get the bill....
THE END

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