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MAXIMO PARK ARE PLAYING READING FESTIVAL 2008
The five-piece Maxïmo Park formed in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear in April 2003, their name adapted from Maximo Gomez Park, a Havana meeting place for Cuban revolutionaries. Initally, the four founding members were an avant-garde band without a singer who didn't play shows and rehearsed just for their own pleasure, frequently switching instruments. On the verge of splitting up, they instead decided to look for somebody to provide more of a focus – on stage and lyrically. Singer Paul Smith was discovered by the girlfriend of drummer Tom English in a pub while he was singing along to a Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition'. Having found someone with something of a stage presence, they started to write their first songs together, all despite the fact that the frontman never imagined himself as a frontman of a band. He'd never sung on stage beforehand, so it was a touch of luck that he turned out to be as well suited to the role that he has grown into over the past few years.
Around March 2004, a friend funded 300 copies of a 7’’ red vinyl single with two of their tracks (Graffiti/Going Missing) that they’d recorded in their house on it. After some time of doing gigs around their home town, Steve Beckett of the dance-electronic label Warp Records got hold of one of these records and decided to sign Maxïmo Park. In 2005 they have swiftly risen to indie fame and their debut album, A Certain Trigger, hailed by some critics as one of the best releases of the year, has led to an increasing devoted fanbase in the United Kingdom, re-enforced by a series of increasingly large tours and a support slot to the Kaiser Chiefs on the NME Rock & Roll Riot Tour. In July 2005 their debut album was nominated for the Mercury Prize. The band played Brixton Academy as part of Xfm'sNETQUOTEVAR:1 2005 Winter Wonderland show, which sold out in ten minutes, and were headliners for the NME Awards Tour in early 2006. They also contributed a song to the War Child compilation Help: A Day in the Life.
