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On this day, 25 August 2007, The Streets headlined the Cardiff Calling Festival. Also featured on the day were Welsh bands Super Furry Animals and The Automatic,
The Streets had recently released their third studio album, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, In the UK it debuted the album chart at number one.
It is the shortest The Streets album released so far, with a running time of just 37 minutes and 12 seconds. The Mitchell Brothers and Ted Mayhem, two of Skinner's protégés, make guest appearances on the album.
Best known for the music project The Streets, leader Mike Skinner has also released music as a solo artist, as part of The D.O.T. with frequent collaborator Rob Harvey, and under the pseudonym The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light.
Skinner was born in Barnet, but grew up in West Heath, Birmingham. He started playing with keyboards at the age of five. When he was seven years old he began experiencing symptoms of epilepsy, which worsened in his early teens.
He began writing hip hop and garage music in his home in West Heath and later built a sound booth in his bedroom, using a cupboard and a mattress. He describes his background as "Barratt class: suburban estates, not poor but not much money about, really boring".
At age 19, Skinner moved to Australia with his girlfriend; the relationship quickly ended, but Skinner stayed in Australia for a year. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, Skinner moved to south London.
He sent a demo tape of an early version of what would become the song "Has It Come to This?" to a record shop run by A&R Nick Worthington.
The song was released as a single in 2001, through Locked On Records.
