Having intruded on his morning activities of fixing the merchandise stand for the upcoming UK tour, I thought I would give David the pleasure of explaining just what Field Music’s style is…”What I would generally say is we make weird pop music. We’re influenced by a huge range of music, but it comes out sounding like pop music. I’ve really got no idea how to describe it so I tend to try and avoid these questions. So it’s a funny one, I don’t really mind the art rock tag, but that’s about it really”. Fully satisfied that I could now use the tag ‘weird pop music’ without offending, I continued.
The new single (I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing boasts David’s impressive falsetto vocals coupled with the very sound the Field Music boys used to pride themselves on. Rather ironically it’s the last track on the album and the first to be released to the nation. “It’s generally the song that works best out of the context of the album, its sort of like an appendix so that’s why we put it at the end. Also because the rest of the album has a very definite flow and the tracks run into each other, so its quite difficult to take a song out from that and give it to radio stations because they generally don’t make that much sense on their own”. David also delves into the bits we don’t see here on the other side of the fence, such as the science behind picking the perfect singles, and why bands don’t utilise all the songs on an album.
“If when you go in to record an album you treat every song as if it could be a single or if you treat every song like it should be on the radio then the ones that arte best you might put at the front of the album and they will also be the singles, it kind of makes sense really. We don’t do that. When a bands done a new record you need at least three or four tracks that can be singles, so that means the rest of the songs can be anything, they don’t have to be three minutes long, they don’t have to have a chorus – they can be anything you want them to be. Also when you play live the chances are you’re only going to play three or four songs anyway, so the rest of the songs on the album don’t even have to be songs you can play live. I’m always surprised that bands don’t do more within their albums and do more exploring. For all those songs that you’ve created which are never going to get played again or heard on the radio, so you should really ditch the rules and do whatever you want”.
As the majority of bands will tell you – and it is glaringly obvious – the reason why they split is more often then not that they can’t stand the sight of each other for another second. However, in Field Music’s case it differs somewhat, because they haven’t started slanging matches or beating each other up simply because they’ve spent one to many days cooped up in a Ford Transit. Just a simple amicable parting, and nothings changed – in studio or out. “I mean I think we set ourselves a way of working for Measure where we didn’t try and pretend we were a band which I think were really good for us. So the big changes this time round are that we moved studio, because we’d been in the same studio for about 10 years, we recorded all of our records there and some of the Futureheads stuff was recorded there as well, so that was quite a big change. Also within the new space, because we’re not sharing it it’s a little bit more set up for how we like to work, so there were keyboards lining the walls in every free space, that type of thing. So I think it was a little bit easier to follow any creative ideas we might have had at the time because everything was already set up. There was no rooting in the back of store cupboards to find those instruments you were imagining – that’s the kind of thing that can put me off”.
So no more rooting aimlessly through cupboards for that desired instrument with a new studio in place, but for those of you who haven’t yet graced your ears with the beautiful new album, I can hear you saying ‘well, what does it sound like?’ It has been described by many as rousing, loveable, and nostalgic – however the rhythm section does well to receive such grand praise being likened to that of a ‘kitchen draw being emptied on the stairs’. “No I don’t mind that kind of thing actually. I think when somebody’s put some effort into coming up with a creative description then I’m happy to embrace it. Again with that I can kind of see what they mean. If you treat the rhythm as being not a standard drum beat then the rhythm section starts to sound quite odd. To me it sounds more like rustling in the cupboard of a music room at school. So sometimes it does sound like that and I’m kind of fine with that. Of all the descriptions I’ve heard I think that’s one of the better ones and I’m ok with it”.
With the current economic climate in such a dramatic state I wondered if, like all of us, musicians were also feeling the pinch and would this have a dramatic affect on the upcoming event of Valentines Day – so much so that the album would have to suffice for their WAGS? “The big thing which affected us from the current economic climate is the closing of the old studio space, which was reliant on voluntary organisations renting out its space, but obviously voluntary organisations don’t have any money at the moment so it was basically empty except for us there at the end. So it was one of the reasons we had to move in the end unfortunately. I really don’t think my wife would be incredibly happy if my present to her on Valentines was a copy of the Field Music album! I think she’d probably smash it in my face! And I think Pete’s wife probably would as well… I think we’re trying to make sure we’re not away for Valentines Day which is quite difficult, and unfortunately for me the album comes out the same week as Valentines Day and my wife’s birthday. So trying to be at home for both of those things is proving quite a challenge”.
Always willing to get their teeth into a challenge Field Music’s tour for previous album Measures was relentless and gruelling in every way, totalling ninety shows throughout the year of 2010. About to embark on a less intensive ten day tour of the UK I wondered how the new material would be received by the UK audience and crucially how David himself was feeling about the experience. “I’m quite excited about it. The rehearsals have been going really well and they’re sounding really good. I mean its quite different the live thing to how we go about making music in a studio but I think all of the lads who play in the band have really taken on the challenges of the new stuff. So yeah I’m really looking forward to it and it’s always interesting to see how people respond to the newer material. We’ve got about ten dates across the UK and we’ve got a few festivals kid of confirmed, it’ll certainly expand but there is no way we’ll do as many dates as we did for Measure. We’ve just been confirmed for Pimara Sounds as well so that’ll be good and give us a chance to go to Barcelona”.
With two of their UK shows completely sold out, an ever expanding tour, and a simply stunning and nostalgic album on the way a Brit nomination could well be on the cards for next year. More importantly who are Field Music themselves backing for the ice cool British Breakthrough Act award…” Who am I going to tip to win? Erm, I think Jessie J is the only one I’m quite confident is famous in a wider sense so I’m going to go for Jessie J. Ed Sheeran is quite famous but, (whispers) I don’t think he’s very good!!” So pleasantries aside with Ed Sheeran, would there be a Field Music collaboration on the horizon with any of the nominees? “No! (laughs) Because most of them I haven’t heard of, and what can we add to what they already do. So I would say that’s a definite no”.
Alas, I wondered with the recent death of a truly inspirational jazz and blues artist, Etta James, what legacy the Field Music boys would like to leave behind. “I’d like to leave behind a bunch of good records that people are interested in and will listen too a couple of decades down the line and hopefully a few really funny interviews which people smile at when they rediscover. I still find myself laughing out loud to some of the past interviews I’ve done, and I think I’d like to have a good back catalogue that people went back to and thought ‘yeah these guys did some amazing stuff’.
Well, ‘doing some amazing stuff’ is something Field Music need not worry about currently, but is there an explosive split on the cards, a Brit Award, or maybe a tour with Snow Patrol…“Probably more records but in the immediate future probably not another Field Music album, I think it’s probably time we tried a few other things. They may be releases from Field Music there may not be, but I think it’s good for me and Peter every now and again to take little breaks and do things in slightly different ways. The two of us will defiantly be very busy because that’s just what we like, so, more records some of which will be Field Music and some might not be”.
I’d best let David get back to repairing his Merchandise board…
