Bands:

Disco:

The Coalfield

holger lüken - drums
christian stoll - guitar
marco hanneken - vocals
stefan kloskowski - bass
marc richter - guitar,vocals,keyboards,samples


contact

the coalfield
c/o holger lüken
mühlenstraße 163
26810 wol
phone: 0173/4296653
www.thecoalfield.de

Biography

Summer of 1999 – 5 young men, all in their early and mid-twenties, find each other in the small north German town of Papenburg to form THE COALFIELD. From day one, the direction of Holger Lüken (drums), Marco Hanneken (singing and screaming), Christian Stoll (guitar), Stefan Kloskowski (bass) und Marc Richter (guitar, samples, vocals) has been right before their eyes: to stray from the established and pave a new way.

Though all bandmembers hail from a hardcore background and each have had experience in typical hardcore bands, they now, with The Coalfield, refuse to confine themselves within the established structures of music, of the scene, or of any case where norms prevail.

“We try to approach music as open mindedly as possible and by this constantly strive to reach new ground,” says guitarist Christian Stoll referring to an approach to music, that in Europe has always been impressivly demonstrated by bands from Scandinavia. It's no wonder then that when singer Marco Hanneken lists some of the band's very own favourites, Scandinavian (post)hardcore and independent bands top the list. "Bands like Breach, Refused, Nine, Spiritual Beggars, Abhinanda, Isolation Years and especially, above all else, Motorpsycho for sure have left a deep impact on our style as they proved more than once, that as a band you can develop from song to song, from album to album and from show to show without being boring.” Like their unique sound, The Coalfield's inspirations are far from limited. Bands such as Botch, Converge, The Queens of the Stone Age and The Notwist have also served to inspire the sounds of this quintet. As band members have recently sought the bright lights of city life, moving from their hometown to larger cities across Germany, so too has the musical horizon of The Coalfield expanded. Never before heard nuances are now apparent in the songwriting. The growing complexity of the songs as well as the self-imposed demand for professionalism, especiallly when it comes to live performances, has required the addition of a sixth band member. Nils Kempen joined The Coalfield in early 2003, supporting the band on the stage and in the studio with his keyboards and percussion. The Coalfield released their debut album “Transmitter” in summer 2002 on Defiance Records, followed by a still-growing number of live shows with bands such as Converge, Lack, JR Ewing and Yage. The band played their first headlining tour in the fall of 2002 and will hit the road once again in April 2003 for several German dates. While the British press has quite a reputation for their critical take on most German music, The Coalfield has been embraced with overwhelming reviews in the UK and have now accepted an invitation offered by the British magazine, Rocksound, to tour the UK with three up and coming British acts. After some festival appearances this summer, The Coalfield will concentrate on completing the follow up to

“Transmitter” which can be expected later this year and with which they will once again justify their image as one of the most innovative and demanding German hardcore bands of today.


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