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"If You Fail, We All Fail"

When Fields recorded Everything Last Winter, they found a “haunted” spot in Dublin and “filled the whole place with candles and plastic crows” to set the right mood. Awesome. They started out in ’05 when Nick’s people knew Henry’s people… Basically, a few friends became acquainted through others and six weeks after their first rehearsal, they had their first gig.

Their sound? Coldplay comes to mind, sprinkled with some My Bloody Valentine, amplified by Wicker. Our compilation song, “If You Fail, We All Fail” was written about Nick’s selfless ex-girlfriend, natch. Oh yeah, they respond to their myspace messages too.


Two artists on the Billboard top 10 right now are American Idol musicians, we should be irritated… right?

Nick: If someone’s really talented and it’s a means to get noticed, then it’s like fairplay. It’s such a different thing to what we do that I can’t even begin to compare it. It depends on how they’re manufactured. I think some of those people are really talented at what they do. But it’s not very indie. If people have the talent and that’s there way of being able to nurture their talent then it’s good. Everyone kind of knows what they’re getting into if they buy those records. I certainly wouldn’t buy a record by anyone who came through that show.

How did you get your name?

Nick: I was driving past a field and I thought, ‘Oh fields would be quite nice!’ It has a rural quality to it and a kind of folkiness to the song writing, but I like to think of an electric field, magnetic field. It has other connotations as well.

Any awesome touring stories?

Nick: Last year we met Japanese record executives. There was about 20 of them standing in a line, then Matty, in an attempt to break the silence began break dancing! We all had to do it as well! [The record execs] were horrified; [they] didn’t know what the hell we were doing.