Field Theory
So, our new album ‘Field Theory’ is 4 days away from release. We’re really, really proud of it, and now seems like a decent time to reflect on the process that’s brought it so close to fruition. Mark and I have learned so much from the multitude of people that have been involved in making this happen, and the first thing to acknowledge is that we would never have got to be involved with such a brilliant group of enthusiastic, talented and professional people were it not for the backing of Arts Council England and Norwich Arts Centre - their financial backing and support/advice along the way have been completely transformative to Field Theory as a record, and to us as a band. So thank you and much love to them.
There was always going to be a fourth LP, but being convinced by Pasco at NAC to apply for Arts Council funding focussed us on producing something much more ambitious than we’d done previously. The funding application process was mostly fairly simple, though the constant drafting and re-drafting of the application and budget section under Pasco (and Rosie)’s guidance was an incredibly helpful journey in itself - helping us to narrow down our ideas to what would really help us to grow the record the way we wanted to.
So, the writing phase went pretty smoothly... coming up with a set of songs that we were really excited about (including a few that didn’t make the final cut) by around May 2017, and it was an absolute privilege to spend 4 days at The Sickroom with Owen Turner in July recording overdubs (and ‘The Lecht’ almost in its entirety). We drafted in some folks we’d worked with before (Joe Bear and Milly Hirst) as well as a few we hadn’t (Stacy Gow, Connie Chatwin and Fifi Homan) and got to feel like a proper proper band spending a whole day with ‘our’ string section. It was incredible to see how committed to and excited about the album everyone was, and I honestly couldn’t wish to have worked with lovelier and more talented musicians (extra props to FMSAO for his remote contributions from Krasnodar on ‘Lund’). Mixing was spread over another 6 days or so, and left mostly in Owen’s hands - we popped in a few times to suggest ridiculous things and help ourselves to tea, but the transformation from home-recordings-with-nicely-miked-extra-bits to fully-fledged pieces was all his work. We’ve worked with OT for something like 18 years with various bands, and he’s as laid back, patient and innovative as ever. The Sickroom remains one of my very favourite places in the whole world.
Mastering remains a process of some mystery, but Eric James at Philosopher’s Barn in Norfolk was consistently enthusiastic about the album, and made sure we were kept updated about the process. Even if we still don’t fully understand what he did, the extra push that he gave the album was sensitive but really powerful.
We pressed the album through a company called Mobineko - we dealt with them entirely online which could have been weird, but it ended up being easy, efficient and friendly - there was a bit of stress about getting the artwork all formatted properly before our self-imposed deadline, but once that hurdle was crossed we just had to sit and wait for the boxes to arrive. And arrive they did, ahead of time and looking/sounding great. That moment of tearing open the first box of vinyl will live long in the memory - despite having been in bands for over 20 years, Field Theory is my first 12″ record - so pleased with the way it came out.
On the subject of artwork, we approached Paul Escott (aka Pushkin) after seeing his collage work on Instagram... He put so much thought, time and skill into coming up with designs for us, which were nothing like what we’d imagined at the outset, but suit the mood of the album perfectly. He also has a knack for getting me unreasonably drunk (usually at Norwich Playhouse), which I count as a positive. We also used one of Tristan Holden’s wonderful photos for the inner sleeve. Alongside Paul’s artwork, we also commissioned local animator Tara Jane Peak to create a video for ‘Climbs’... technical issues played havoc with timescales but what the hell. it’s mostly done and looking brilliant - really can’t wait to see the finished video and share it with the world (hopefully in advance of the album release!). Again, she’s been brilliant to work with - something which we would never have been able to do without ACE and NAC backing us.
T-Shirts and hand-screened posters were printed at Print To The People in Norwich by Jo Stafford (with a little help from Leo). She’s utterly magical too. Great to learn a bit about the screen printing process works and see things coming together, layer by layer.
We’ve leant on Shauna McLarnon and her PR outfit Shameless Promotion to get the word out about all of our happenings - again the first time that we’ve had the budget to get someone external to look after this side of things. Despite initial reservations about putting Field Theory in the hands of someone based so far away geographically, She’s done an amazing job of spreading us all over the internet, and getting ‘Climbs’ and ‘Let Me Take It From Here’ radio play across the globe - including stations in The Maldives, Nepal, Belize, Finland, Columbia... would not hesitate to recommend her to any bands looking for a pofessional, friendly and effective PR service. Together with the sterling work of Shellshock distribution (who have been equally enthusiastic about the record), Shauna has made sure that we’re pretty much in all of the faces, everywhere.
So now onto the Launch show... as I write it’s 3 days away, and learning/re-learning the songs in a format that we can play live has been a joy. a stressful joy at times, but a joy nonetheless. We’ve pushed the boat out and invited Stacy, Joe, Milly and our dear friend Christian from EPIA to help us out on various tracks, and rehearsing with those guys has been brilliant. Really can’t wait to get on stage and hit that first scene trigger. Mark’s been working on some visuals which look incredible, and we’ve never been as prepared for a show as we are for this one. Some of the personnel changeovers will doubtless be a bit seat-of-the-pants-ish, but we’ve got it covered. The setlist includes 8 songs from Field Theory (’Habitats’, ‘Mixed-Ability Sequencing’ and ‘Built Calypso’ just weren’t working), as well as some older stuff - including a live debut for an EISNIAIC track. Hoping that the whole thing will shimmer appropriately.
Thanks for being a part of the journey.