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Thursday, December 07, 2006

Introducing...Fields

In 2005, Nick Peill was hardly living the rock star dream. He was a primary school teacher by day, but during the holidays and whenever else he could find the time, he retreated to his Warwickshire studio, located in his very own garden shed. This DIY, stripped ethic translates itself into the music of his band, who go under the appropriately organic name of 'Fields'.

Nick left the shed for the city and moved to London, where he met four individuals aiming for careers in music. Their background sounds like the plot of an indie-folk storybook. Keyboardist/vocalist Thorunn Antonia's father composed the Icelandic national anthem, but she found herself doing voiceover work. Drummer/vocalist Henry Spenner also had music in his blood: his father performed at the original Woodstock Festival. Guitarist Jamie Putnam was a music journalist and bassist/vocalist/keyboardist Matty Derham had been working as a hairstylist. Before Fields, Matty's best known contribution to the music world was perhaps Russell Lissack's infamous fringe, the 'Blochead'!

Straddling folk and electronica, pop and left-field, Fields caused a frenzy amongst eager record labels. Eventually, Atlantic snatched them up with the deal of allowing them to release material through their own Black Lab label. Fields' first single with Atlantic, 'If You Fail We All Fail', was released on 20th November, and they've recently been busy recording their debut album with legendary producer Michael Beinhorn.

Fields have outgrown the garden shed and are hotly tipped as one of the acts to look out for in 2007. They provide support for half of Bloc Party's UK tour next year (Metric provide the other half) so make sure to turn up early for a dose of rustic, occasionally creepy, songsmithery.