Mile was a showcase for the songs of singer/guitarist Noel Hartough. Born circa 1973, Hartough grew up in Houston where he bucked mainstream taste by listening to the music of such 1980s acts as Chameleons U.K., the Smiths, and Lloyd Cole. He persuaded his parents to buy him a guitar after hearing U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday." In his 20s, he moved to Tallahassee, FL, where he began performing and caught the attention of manager Jeff Hanson. But after a couple of years he gave up the music business and turned to medical school. He was persuaded to return by Hanson, who in the interim had become Creed's manager, and placed a song on a compilation by Aware Records before forming Mile with drummer Stan Turner, guitarist Marlin Clark, bassist Davy Mason, and guitarist/singer David Lareau. In the spring of 1999, a performance in New York brought them to the attention of Columbia Records, which signed them to its C2 subsidiary. Their debut album, Driving Under Stars, was released in late August 2000.