Sisters Karen and Shellie Poole grew up in England's Essex County loving music. With aspirations to join the world of pop, the sisters began writing quirky, playful music and dubbed themselves Alisha's Attic, a reference to a fictional character they had imagined that was one-part Karen, one-part Shellie. A homemade demo of their Prince-meets-Kate Bush music was sent to the Mercury label and soon their dreams were becoming reality. Sessions with various producers were abandoned, but the talented duo marched on, writing and programming the foundation of their debut on their own. Dave Stewart was brought in as producer and with the finishing touches finished, Alisha Rules the World debuted the band in 1996. Promotional tours, opening for INXS, a slot on the Lilith Fair tour in America, and the successful "I Am, I Feel" single brought the sisters 600,000 in sales in the U.K. and an instant loyal fan base in the U.S. Released in 1998, their sophomore effort, Illumina, was more mature and supported by the faithful but failed to make much a dent in the charts minus the kickoff single, "The Incidentals," which reached a U.K. high of 13. The House We Built from 2001 saw the sisters getting deeper and more introspective with their writing. While it was a well-regarded release with critics and fans, Alisha's Attic soon fell victim to a large purge of Mercury's roster. The sisters decided to dissolve the band and carry on with solo careers. Karen went on to be a songwriter, writing hits for Kylie Minogue, Sugarbabes, and the Shapeshifters. Shellie changed the spelling of her name to Shelly to mark change and carried on as a solo act. She married Ally McErlaine from the Scottish band Texas in 2001 and released the album Hard Time for the Dreamer in 2005. Also in 2005 was a brief, live reunion of Alisha's Attic when Karen joined Shelly for two songs during a gig in Shepherd's Bush Green. ~ David Jeffries