About Me
The band the Playground Kings is made up of five members: George Glikman (lead vocalist), Mikey Martinez (lead guitarist), Andrew Hartzell (drummer), Brian Beckley (bassist) and Spenser Dill (rhythm guitarist). The five came together one week before their first show, which was a battle of the bands in San Francisco, held at the Rock-it Room. Originally Brian, Spenser and Andrew were in a trio called PKWY 51 and they had originally signed up for the battle months before. Brian and Spenser had been in PKWY 51 throughout high school, while George and Mikey had their own bands at the same high school, "Broke," and "Big Nick & the Leftovers." In fact both bands had a mutual member, Karl Rasmussen on drums, and bass. After high school, everyone went their separate ways attending various universities. PKWY 51 lost Karl and were in need of a drummer to fill the void. After many months of searching on Craigslist and making connections, it seemed as if the band would not continue unless they found a drummer. Months passed with no hope in sight, and the band temporarily stopped the search. However, they decided that the band was too important to them to give up, as they felt they had a message for the world. On a strange day in April of 2005, their dream was made true when a lonely drummer, age 17, in Concord, California was interested in the style and direction of the trio. After just the first practice they knew it was going to materialize into something. Two years later after many shows, the band could feel that something was missing. Although the trio had some minor success, this was not the point where they wanted to be. The band got into a funk and almost called it quits after an unfortunate Arena Football halftime show. Enter, George and Mikey. While the trio contemplated their fate, Brian and Spenser convinced George to join the band a month before the battle of the bands. George quickly retained all the material of the songs and the foursome began to jam. Mikey, a member of George’s former band, caught wind of the band jamming and wanted in. With one week to go, the band rehearsed acoustically endlessly during the nights they could. Without informing Andrew of the changes being made in the guitar section, Brian and Spenser coaxed Mikey into coming to the studio to see what would happen. Instant magic? Well, not quite that night, but three days later at the Rock-it Room they won the first round of the battle of the bands and solidified their place as a five piece. They continue to work hard practicing as much as possible and rack up wins at the battle of the bands. Five months later the band has continued to create new material, while keeping the older songs fresh. Their latest demo, recorded at Popsmear Records, will be released at the next round of the battle of the bands (see upcoming shows on myspace). Grab yourself a copy to see what they have been up to!
