FSN 2014: Field Studies

Field Studies

How did you guys get together?
We all met at school, and have been friends for ages. Each of us had played music together in different capacities; Chris and Andrew for example had been jamming as a duo for a while and Kasper and Chris had also performed together in other makeshift bands in the past. Summer 2012 was the first time we all took the initiative to perform together though (other than perhaps for a GCSE music performance of a Radiohead song) and Chris, Kasper and Andrew started rehearsing together, with Charlie joining very soon after when we asked him to play bass.

How would you describe your music?
It’s always been quite hard for us to describe it whenever people ask, so normally we just say “ambient alt-rock” or “ambient rock” or something like that. It’s a mixture of post-rock (inspired by bands like Sigur Ros) and the more experimental alt-rock (e.g. Radiohead post-The Bends).

What was your reaction to the news that you’d be playing the FSN final?
It was totally surprising to us really, especially to get through the first round and go straight to the final without needing a public vote. We were very happy that the judges reacted to our music so positively and to get through on our music alone was a great feeling for us, especially because we worked so hard writing it and recording it. It sort of validated the music a little bit more to ourselves as well because we started to think, “Hey, people actually like us!” which is a nice feeling when you’re a small band.

What can the Rock City crowd expect from your performance?
We always try and create an atmosphere with our music as much as possible, so I guess people should expect…that? It’ll probably be slower than a lot of the other finalists too. This is a hard question to answer.

Why did you enter FSN?
On the off chance that we might actually get through. We entered on a whim really because we knew if we didn’t enter we’d definitely regret at least not having tried. FSN is a great competition that keeps Nottingham’s music scene healthy and competitive and innovative, so it was a no-brainer to enter and at least give ourselves a chance.

Who are your biggest musical influences?
We all like a ton of different things that we all try and incorporate into the music if we can, from rock to electronic music, but in terms of influences on the music we make together, the most clear is probably Radiohead. We’re all huge fans and we’re all in love with their whole discography. We also love and are influenced by a whole lot of post-rock like This Will Destroy You, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and particularly Sigur Ros. Also Grizzly Bear, Tame Impala, The National and Battles (to name a few more).

What are your biggest non-musical influences?
Lots of stuff probably impacts our music that we’re not even that aware of, but in terms of the music we’ve made so far, we reference Aldous Huxley on our song Blomst, and other writers like John Steinbeck and Kurt Vonnegut are favourites of ours. Charlie and Chris are super good artists as well - they both painted the cover for our EP Celestial - inspired by the work of Peter Doig and Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh.

What other Nottingham artists do you love at the moment?
Josh Wheatley is a good friend of ours who we’ve played alongside in the past; he’s a really unique songwriter with a beautiful voice. Baybo Squaybo are also a great bunch of guys (who are really great live) and we also dig Kappa Gamma and Kagoule a lot.

What's been the highlight of your career as a band so far?
I guess after we’ve played Rock City for FSN it’ll probably be that. So far though, probably recording our EP in Northampton. We’d been writing the songs on Celestial for over a year, so to go to a studio and have almost complete creative freedom and spend five days realising them and making them a reality was one of the best experiences we’ve ever had.

How can people find out more about you?
They can find us on Facebook. They can also listen to our EP for free on Soundcloud.

Any last words for LeftLion?
Keep doing what you're doing. We love the paper and it's such a great resource for the more underground local artists looking to make a name for themselves.