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The Playing Fields
The Biography: from there to here
The germination of the band starts with Stephen Bland, from the graveyard suburb of Enfield, North London. As a teenager, he organized and performed with several group incarnations in Canterbury, while serving time at the university, booking bands and promoting clubs. Younger brother by seven years, Michael would join him for illicit drinking sprees. To make his scrawny younger brother look older, Steve would ensconce Mike's frame in many jumpers.
After many false starts with music and his degree, Steve finally graduated five years later none the wiser and decided on a whim to see the world and write a book of poetry.
In 1998, Steve returned to London, suffered post travel depression and pottered around organizing clubs. Directionless, he reluctantly turned to the city to fund another long journey and buy time to write a novel. Michael Bland is at this time living with Steve and is encouraged to pick up the guitar and sing.
By 2000, Steve has enough and leaves the UK, writing his poetic novel while journeying through nineteen countries, Mike sporadically joining him. But by 2002, the money runs out and London beckons Steve back to the city, doing an odious office job to clamber out of debt.
Mike returned, and Steve found his brother could now sing and play. Weekly meetings in a small flat with two guitars, bass and computer/keyboards ensued. Live gigs occurred, but there was reluctance to perform without a drummer.
2003/4 finds a shakeup of the lineup. Steve, Michael, and childhood friend to both, Jeff Baskett continued to forge a unique sound, dark, intense pieces fixed with beautifully melodious song-writing. Mike took the lead vocals, Steve harmonies, both brothers dueling on guitar while Jeff played bass, sorted computer samples, and ate sugary plastic on the side.
In 2005 the band honed their performance skills in live gigs with a new drummer. The songs developed in complexity and with a harder rythmic drive. An acoustic version of their song Valley of Salt was featured on BBC TV's Hustle. Orginally the lyrics came from Stephen's poetic prose, both brothers editing and splicing from this source, until Michael delved into his life experiences to create succinct emotional portraits, offsetting Steve's detached, literary style. Despite the differences, the brothers have a harmonious songwriting collaboration that forms the bulk of The Playing Fields catalogue.
2006 After reaching the glass ceiling of the music industry in Israel with the bands Music of Coincidence and The Following, Ron Rosenblum migrated to the UK. He joined The Playing Fields on drums and provided the missing link to solidify their sound. The final member to come on board is Hannah Sless on violin. A classically trained violinist, she has performed professionally with orchestras in Australia and Europe. After 3 years in the Adelaide Symphony, Hannah left Australia, to reinvent herself in pop/rock music. Her violin provides a graceful accompaniment to the more searing melancholic aspects of the music with the occasional backing vocals to add depth. With the completion of their line up, The Playing Fields defy comparison, and have invented a new genre for their sound: Urban Desert.
The band recorded their debut LP, Hello New World at SickRoom Studios with Owen Turner, mastered by Kramer (from Second Shimmy Label/Galaxie 500/Lou Reed/Yo La Tengo fame). The album is now available through CactiShed...Records on this page for only £9.99 inc. postage. The album will hit the shops in the UK and Eire through Shelback on February 26th 2007.
Enjoy.
Mariola Fiedorczuk
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