Peter Brewis Interview

Ben Lowes-Smith speaks to ex-Field Music main man Peter Brewis about his ambitious new noir-pop album, ‘The Week That Was’


Q: Peter, I understand that you subjected yourself to some rather unorthodox conditions when writing the album...
A: Ah, that press release...I wish I’d never written it in a way. I think it blows things out of proportion to catch your attention. There was nothing that romantic about it. The thing is, I never owned a television anyway, and basically, I just shut myself in the house for a week to write it. A week in my dressing gown at the piano...and that was ‘The Week That Was’, if you like.


Q: I feel the lyrics on the record are a little misanthropic , particularly in regard to modern life, do you think the process of shutting yourself away for a while influenced that aspect?
A: I know what you mean, to an extent, but it was never really my intention to complain about modern life or technology or anything. I’m not very cool or clued up on technology, I probably don’t know as much about politics as I should...but the stuff that seeps through that I register on my radar I find....fascinating.


Q: All of the records post Field Music’s hiatus are coming out unser the ‘Field Music Production’ moniker...
A: Ha, yeah...that’s quite pretentious really isn’t it? We stole the idea from heaven 17. When Field Music went on hiatus, it wasn’t that we were bored of Field Music as such..not at all..I think we were bored of the idea of being an ‘indie band’. You see so many bands get trapped into the process of writing and touring, and gradually wallowing in mediocrity. I never wanted that to happen to Field Music, so it was a process of breathing new life into it.