Music

No one could accuse Tom Baker of lacking in dedication. In preparation for Field Day, the ‘psychedelic summer fête’ he stages for the second year running in Victoria Park this weekend, the 30 year old promoter is about to take delivery from Hackney City Farm of hundreds of straw bales. Straw, mind, not hay – straw bales are dearer but considerably softer to sit on. But first, each will need to be sprayed with fireproofing.

His hallway is already stacked with hessian for the sack race, and his girlfriend, Natalie, is busy sewing together 400 metres-worth of tea towels embroidered with various rural sayings to decorate the site. ‘I’m not entirely sure why I have this,’ Baker says, retrieving from his record bag a small blue triangle of cloth which turns out to be bunting.

Baker is, quite simply, London’s best promoter. Setting up his own company, Eat Your Own Ears, six years ago, he was one of the first to work with the likes of Anthony And The Johnsons, Franz Ferdinand and Danger Mouse, once interrupting a shadowy conversation at the Scala between the latter and Damon Albarn and thus inadvertently witnessing the birth of Gorillaz. Feature continues

He is the man behind some fantastic series (Domino’s tenth birthday gigs, IndigO2’s recent leftfield programme) and some stunning one-offs, like the Syd Barrett tribute he turned around in a matter of days, which saw the likes of Kate Nash, Mystery Jets and Graham Coxon cover songs by the departed legend. Most excitingly, he is programming Concrete & Glass, an audacious new music and art festival which will take place in the East End during October and is shaping up as London’s answer to SXSW.

Baker has also been known to programme Jack Peñate, but we point this out merely to prove that he is, in fact, human. There is, however, a good reason why he should be breaking his back over Field Day this year. Put simply, 2007 went tits up. The line-up was brilliant but, for reasons Baker puts down to ‘first-time mistakes and some very bad advice’; sets by the likes of Bat For Lashes and Justice became barely audible accompaniments to the seemingly infinite activity of queuing. ‘It was,’ he says, ‘a dark day.’ This year Baker has made several big changes to ensure Field Day is as successful as its sister event, the Underage Festival for 14-18 year olds, which takes place the day before, and which he co-curates with its 16-year-old originator, Sam Kilcoyne.

‘The Underage audience are upbeat and know all the words to the B-sides of the limited edition download remixes,’ laughs Baker. ‘Gallows have invited their little brothers and sisters and Dizzee’s got all his nephews coming.’ At 11 and 12 years old, squeaky punks Care Bears On Fire are the youngest on the bill, though they aren’t old enough to be in the audience.

Field Day’s bill is a satisfyingly savvy mix, from the nu-folk of Laura Marling to abrasive rockers Les Savy Fav and a DJ set from Detroit techno legend Richie Hawtin. The sack race takes place in the new Village Mentality area, along with competitive carrot eating, rat whacking and bowling for bacon. ‘We’re determined to make Field Day brilliant this year,’ explains Baker. If he doesn’t pull it off this time, let’s all eat our own ears.

Underage Festival is on Aug 8; Field Day is on Aug 9. Both at Victoria Park, E2.