by Ashley Parker-Roman
A quiet band with a strong message, it is very safe to say that Field Report is well on their way to doing greatness. The band was featured as an act at SXSW this year, has garnered recognition from Spin Magazine, Rolling Stone Magazine, and NPR, and was named one of Wisconsin’s Top 10 bands to watch. After listening to their album three times, I was definitely excited to get to chat with the band’s front man and lead singer, Chris Porterfield, to learn more about Field Report.
You may be asking, who is Field Report? Chris Porterfield says, “We are definitely not a rock band, we tend to move a little slowly, we tend to be a little quieter, we are a folk band … we are lyric driven, atmospheric, American folk music. We just want to be honest, we want to soundtrack these uncertain times that we live in- climate and financial change, and times of peace and war and unrest.”
After taking a break from music for a while, Porterfield decided to try it out a second time, and put together what is now known as Field Report last fall. Shortly after, the band got to work recording their debut self-titled album, which was released in September and included 10 of 15 tracks recorded in six days.
My first thought when listening to any album is the inspiration behind certain pieces of music. Porterfield gave me some insight into the inspiration for his bands’ record. “We wanted to make a real honest document of these songs as sort of a snapshot of a band in a place and time. It speaks to a sort of restlessness in spirit, a reckoning with choices and decisions, a sense of isolation and wondering what the next step is. The record can be kind of bleak, but I think there is a lot of hopefulness in it, and I think we want to provide a little bit of that hopefulness.”
When asked what the experience of playing SXSW, Porterfield said, “It was absolutely insane, that was really the first time we had taken Field Report on the road, we played 10 shows in 3 days … the whole city is crawling with people and there are shows every 10 feet and bands everywhere, it was sort of our first experience getting out with this project … it was a lot of fun, we learned a lot about ourselves on that trip, and we got to get out in front of a lot of people who wouldn’t have seen us before.
What is next for Field Report? Field Report’s journey is far from over and while 2012 was a great year for them, 2013 holds new and exciting ventures for the band Next year, they will be touring and will begin working on their new record, which is already in the works.
Porterfield’s stance on what’s next for Field Report is, “We just try to take it day by day. We try to stay patient, we try to stay hungry too. What’s next is we want to keep building relationships and trusts and try to make good choices and not do anything that feels gross. Do things that feel right- that has gotten us to the point where we’re at and hopefully that will take us down our path to making this a real career.”
Music can be many things- simplicity, beauty, complexity, or anything the listener wants it to be. It can be good, mediocre or great depending on the band. As far as Field Report is concerned, I would place them in that great category. Don’t take my word for it- although you just missed them at their World Café Live concert this past weekend, Field Report maintains that Philadelphia has been good to them. Check the record out, keep listening, and be sure to see them next time they are in the City of Brotherly Love.
