THE long-awaited debut EP from Whitehaven indie band Springfield arrives next month, and should mark a turning point for the young band.

Until now, the four-piece have been concentrating all their efforts on establishing themselves on the West Coast and around Cumbria – with this release out of the way, they aim to take their brand of modern indie rock to audiences much further afield.

“All we want to do is play music for anyone that will listen, and hopefully pick up some fans along the way,” says guitarist and vocalist Rhys Pritchard.

“Our plan once the EP is out is to promote it as much as possible to people around the UK, and hopefully get some gigs in different places.”

The five-track record, Inside Jokes, lands on Saturday September 8, and marks Springfield’s first ‘proper’ release, having put out a number of demo tracks as singles over the past two years.

One of the songs included is a re-recording of their first track that emerged online, called December, and fans will notice the improvement with this professional version.

Rhys continues: “We have been working on this EP for about nine months, and it’s taken longer than anticipated but it needed to be exactly what we wanted.

“This is our first time releasing music we wouldn't consider as a demo, and we all enjoyed the recording process - it was different to anything we have done before.

“This isn't our first time in the studio, but it was our first time spending so long on something. We were used to making demos so booking the studio for a few hours and leaving with a song, this time took us weeks of recording and weeks of editing.”
Springfield

One of the bright lights on the West Cumbrian scene right now, Springfield – completed by Rhys’ twin brother Lewis on guitar, bassist Ben Tucker, and drummer Mitchell Sloan – have become one of the go-to bands for festivals around the county.

Rhys says: “Everyone is pleased with the progress we have made over the past 12 months; we have played for This Felling in Carlisle, the biggest promoter for new bands in the UK, we have upcoming dates in Manchester supporting a band called Palava, and London performing as part of Loud In London festival. The EP and direction we are going in will hopefully get us more gigs like these.”

The next local headline show, however, will be the launch night for the EP, at the Yellow Earl, in Whitehaven, on Saturday 8. It has become their ‘home’ venue, drawing big crowds whenever they play.

The free show starts at 9pm, and support comes from Goosey Tyson.