Problem Child 
announce spring 2002 mini-tour

Local band Problem Child have announced a series of Spring gigs in Yorkshire to support the Summer release of their new CD. The first show is on May 1st at Break for the Border in Leeds, with further shows in Wakefield (The Jockey, May 4), Pontefract (May 7) and Yeadon (Unit IV, May 14). The band polish off their mini-tour back at Break for the Border (June 3). Other gigs are TBC.

Problem Child is four-piece rock outfit featuring Rachel Evans (keys/vox), Rick Jones (bass), John McLeod (guitars/vox) and Martin Rushworth (drums). It emerged from the ashes of Seismic Loveshift, a Leeds-based band which became very popular on the local gigging circuit. Seismic Loveshift split last November. ‘We’d taken Loveshift as far as we could go’, remarks John McLeod. ‘We’d exhausted what we could do musically, and as a group of individuals. We’d become stale and some of us felt that it was time to move on.’ So how different is Problem Child? ‘We’ve continued with some old Loveshift favourites— "Romeo on a Windowledge", "Sam", "Midnight"—but shaken them up a bit; we felt that Loveshift was becoming a little too pop-oriented. Our new material is more ambitous and in touch with our prog- and alternative-influences. We feel we’ve matured a lot as musicians over the last couple of years and creatively we’ve never been in better shape. We’ve spent most of this year writing and are very excited about the new direction in which we’re heading.’

Problem Child played their first gig at Terry Airth’s Memorial Show at the Royal Park Cellars in January, and recently headlined at the RPC’s popular Panama Nights weekly show (also featuring Jacob and Last Night’s TV). ‘We thought it fitting that our debut was made in honour of Terry’, says McLeod. ‘He was a great supporter of Loveshift and, like most bands in Leeds, we loved working with him. We hope he’d be impressed with Problem Child. Our first headline gig went really well too, better than expected actually. Our new material was wonderfully received and it gave us a lot of confidence to continue down the avenue we’ve been exploring.’

So when is the new CD available? ‘Give us a chance!’, smiles McLeod. ‘Our spring gigs will help us develop our new songs’, he continues, ‘and we’ll be going into the studio immediately after the mini-tour to finish the recording. We’re looking at a local summer release, with the possibility of a national release also in the wings. We may have a short EP CD with a couple of new songs available at the spring shows. So you’ll have to come and see us to get your hands on it!’