Biography
Formed in Bristol during 2001, friends Aaron Dewey, who handled vocals and cornet while also proving an accomplished drummer, and Benjamin Shillabeer, responsible for guitar and songwriting, established the Playwrights. The pair specialized in angular post-punk modeled on Gang of Four and later embraced by acts such as Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinand. After capturing several demos as a duo, they expanded the lineup by adding guitarist Nathan Edmunds, drummer Maff Rigby, and bassist Andrew Smith. Their first full-length, Good Beneath the Radar, appeared in 2003 through Shillabeer’s own Sink & Stove imprint, earning notice on both sides of the Atlantic once John Peel named it among his favorite records of May 2003. The next year brought the three-song Guy Debord Is Really Dead EP, though the period also witnessed the exits of Smith and Rigby. Hector Peebles joined on bass by late 2004, with Tom Mills taking over drums several months afterward. In mid-2005 the band tracked English Self Storage, which surfaced in March 2006. Soon thereafter Edmunds and Mills departed, reducing the Playwrights to a trio.