All tracks improvised/composed collectively by Playgrounds.
Percussion | Chloe Kim Trombone | Callum Mintzis Double Bass | Helen Svoboda
Recorded by Jem Savage at Rolling Stock Studios. Mixed by Theo Carbo. Mastered by Joe Talia. Artwork by Sydney Farey. Cover design by Jacques Emery.
π£πππ¬ππ₯π’π¨π‘ππ¦ is the latest collaborative musical adventure from Chloe Kim (percussion), Helen Svoboda (double bass), and Callum Mintzis (trombone). Three friends (who happen to be some of Australiaβs most in-demand improvising musicians) decided to start a band. When their first sessions were punctuated by bursts of laughter and the music carried an organic sense of playful joy, they decided to record an album.
The tracks on their self-titled debut are tributes to totems of childhood, like the Seesaw, the Monkey Bars and the Playground Bully. The playground itself is a place of improvisation, where children explore their environment, navigate the playground equipment, and learn to socialise.
The parallels with improvised music are ripe for the picking, and across this albumβs seven tracks Kim, Mintzis and Svoboda explore the limits of their own instruments, make up musical games on the spot, and collectively steer the direction of their group play.
This is a band that reminds us that we π±ππ’πΊ music.