OR   Search for Artist/Title    Advanced Search
 
you are not logged in...  [login] 
All Chat    Back     
'DREAMFIELD'
'Interview (MARCH 2003)'   


-  Genre: 'Pop'

Despite the abundance of shouty guitar bands currently clogging up the stratosphere out there, cool Brighton-based trio DREAMFIELD are quietly showing us that there's always room for slow, sensual grooves with superb vocals and that all-important heady whiff of mystery. Their terrific, noir-ish second single "Christopher's Dream" is in the shops (and available from their website: www.dreamfield.co.uk ) while you read this and should be checked out at your earliest convenience. To find out more, TIM PEACOCK tracked down vocalist POPPY GONZALEZ in London after an unlikely Lemon Jelly gig. The ensuing chat touched on subjects as diverse as dub, mud spas and being big in Estonia. Intrigued? You will be...




Poppy's on her mobile, so we're fighting a little to hold onto the signal as we speak, but she's fascinating company and keen to offer insights into DREAMFIELD's world. Let's start with how the three of you got together. You're half-Venezuelan, Greg (McKella, instruments)'s from London and Amy (Tucker - co-vocalist/ guitar) is from Boston...how did your paths all cross?

"Ah, well, Greg and I lived in Boston for a year or so," replies Poppy.

"We wanted another girl to make DREAMFIELD really work, preferably one who could play an instrument too. In the end, Amy actually found us off the internet. When she came down the studio we knew she was perfect as soon as she opened her mouth."

"When we came back to England, she came with us to do a mini-tour we had lined up...then she fell in love at the same time and moved back to England with us. It all tied in very nicely really."

She hoots with laughter:

"She'll really want me to talk about her falling in love, of course!"

OK, perhaps let's not go there. Instead, tell me why you chose Brighton rather than London to set up a base for DREAMFIELD?

"Actually, Greg's still based in London," Poppy corrects.

"But I chose to go there purely because I'd always wanted to live there. It's such a cool town, there's always lots going on and it's usually extremely positive. I love living by the sea and I don't miss the chessboard of life in London. Besides, I can always come up like for the Lemon Jelly gig this morning. They were great fun, by the way!"

On a slightly more exotic note, meanwhile, I hear you've toured Estonia and played a prestige show at (I'm not making this up readers) the Charlie Chaplin Museum of Modern Art? What gives, Poppy?

"Yeah, it was a brilliant time," she enthuses.

"Our CD was released by a label based there and they cover the Baltic states. The label boss really loves us and the Charlie Chaplin museum was an amazing experience."

Really? I'm all ears!!

"Yeah, we practically lived there for two days," she continues, laughing.

"They have sculptures, paintings and all sorts of installations and we set up to play right there. The first night was pretty nerve-wracking, actually, because it was broadcast on live TV and the mayor of Tallin and these local dignitaries were all in attendance."

"You could hear a pin drop initially, but as we continued playing they got into it and finally the audience really woke up and lost their reserve. It was really great. The rest of the trip was memorable, too. We went to Tarttu and stayed in a mud spa! People joke about countries like Estonia here, but believe me - they really know their music!"

Without wanting to drag you down the obvious "musical influences" cul-de-sac, it has to be said that there's a very cinematic, soundtrack-y feel to the songs I've heard to date. How important is film to the DREAMFIELD sound?

"We don't really think consciously about anything like that," muses Poppy.

"On the whole, we'd love to make videos that suit our music, sure. I'd love to get involved in that side if I had more time. I mean, we're quite arts-y, although I think it's important to say that we're all really into headphone music, late night music and we're quite experimental...we like to not rehearse before we go into the studio, so what we come up with is often very spontaneous."

The other thing that struck me about your music was the undertow of dub that seems prevalent in the melodies. For instance, a lot of the great 70s Jamaican sounds also influenced the Bristol trip-hop people like Portishead, Massive Attack and -earlier- The Pop Group, so would this play a part in your make-up too?

"Yeah, certainly, for me especially," confirms Poppy.

"Also, with me being half-Venezuelan, a lot of Latin American stuff comes in. That said, it;s difficult to get these elements to work in English studios. I always want to get more of that bottom end. We all like slow, sensual music: you can still dance to it. Look at Bob Marley..."

Presumably in a live context DREAMFIELD expand with additional musicians?

"Yeah, there are currently five of us, but it's an expensive business if you have too many hired hands."

Poppy pauses and continues to underline her point.

"The thing is, we have to have our sound engineer otherwise it's a disaster as we're quite difficult to set up. Actually it's pretty tricky to get venues that work with our kind of music. I mean, a lot of the regular club venues woudn't be effective. Brighton has lots of cool venues, fortunately...I'm always on the look out for churches, art galleries etc for us to play our shows."

Meanwhile, the remixes of "Christopher's Dream" are actually really atmospheric and quite distinct in their own right. The one I particularly liked was the one turned in by DODGY'S DJ, H. How did that link come about?

"H lives locally, and he's responsible for getting me into breakbeat stuff!" giggles Poppy.

"Some of his creations are really amazing he's such a musical DJ. There again, Ink 1 who did the other remix designs our website and he's a really gifted guy too. Both of them started from scratch when they were remxing, which I encouraged. I asked them both because they're both great personalities."

Finally Poppy, before you get back to your garlic mushrooms, let's talk about the current state of independent labels. We're all reading about recession in the industry and the big labels making people redundant. As a result, is this a good time for independents to rise again? It seems healthy in terms of creativity, certainly, just at the moment...

"Yes, well, creatively it certainly is" replies Poppy.

"Especially now with the internet. That side is big for Dreamfield and it's a great tool if you use the internet to its' fullest potential. To be honest, the whole business has gone a bit dead at present, but (sighs) the financial side remains so hard. Beggars Banquet have helped us with costs, but I have been in situations when I've been up until 2AM many nights worrying and getting over-tired. That's anything but creative!"

DREAMFIELD - Interview (MARCH 2003)
DREAMFIELD - Interview (MARCH 2003)
  author: TIM PEACOCK

[Show all reviews for this Artist]

READERS COMMENTS    10 comments still available (max 10)    [Click here to add your own comments]

There are currently no comments...
----------