bio
‘from fall to fall’ finds 100 mile house at the end of a frantic year. Since releasing their debut EP ‘on that organ in the house by the field’ in November 2008 they have upped their roots in London, England and have moved to the more testing climate of Edmonton, Alberta. ‘Since last fall we’ve moved 6 times, but we’re finally more settled now’ says ex-pat Peter Stone, who along with Edmontonian Denise MacKay make up the husband and wife duo that founded 100 mile house.
After a period of hiding and recuperation just outside Edmonton they moved to the city at the start of 2009 and began to find their feet, ‘We didn’t have any equipment or instruments except our acoustic guitar, we had to leave everything else behind in London’.
But despite their unsettled life, 100 mile house seems to have found a home within their music throughout the last year, largely due to the meeting of an old friend, ‘We got back in touch with Scott Zubot who played on Denise’s debut EP (2003) and it worked straight away. After plugging away for a few years in London it was a little daunting returning to Edmonton to start again but once we’d played with Scott things began to flow naturally to where we are now.’ And where they are now is on the verge of releasing their debut album after a summer that has seen them begin to create a name for themselves in the Edmonton music scene and further a field.
With their first 2 performances selling out, followed by shows at a number of Edmonton’s more renowned venues, including a headline show at the Brixx and The Haven Social Club, recording an album was naturally the next step. ‘We weren’t even sure what was happening when we first started recording but the first few days went so well we didn’t really look back. There hasn’t been much discussion between the 3 of us, we all seemed to know where it was heading, and luckily that was in the same direction.’
‘from fall to fall’ has taken the intimacy and chemistry of ‘on that organ.. ’ and expanded it sonically and musically without losing that important personal feel. From the frantic opening track ‘Wolves’ it is apparent that this group of musicians has put everything they have into this album. ‘We did everything ourselves; the recording, mixing, mastering and artwork. Towards the end it pretty much consumed us.’ With layers of luscious strings (Songs We All Know) and pounding guitars (Murchison Road) to sparser moments where Peter and Denise join over a lonely acoustic (Spotted Dress) this album always has you enthralled. And at the root of these songs your attention is always drawn to the interplay and chemistry of these 2 voices, ‘we never had to work at it,’ says Peter, ‘we met at an open mic in Toronto 6 years ago and the first time we sat together I began to sing and Denise joined in. It was as simple as that.’
It’s impressive to see where 100 mile house have come in the last year, both personally and musically, and with the release of this album it seems like it might not slow down just yet. With shows confirmed for the New Year, including a performance at the Olympics in Vancouver in association with Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the festival circuit beckoning, these 3 musicians might find themselves in high demand in the near future.
