Interview: Karmen Field (Written)
UK prog grunge quartet, Karmen Field, charge on with the release of their mesmerising new track and video, Sticky Jam. The song is available to stream here, and the accompanying video can be viewed below.
Ever since their formation at the end of 2019, Karmen Field have worked tirelessly to stretch, shake, and shift their deeply alluring sound. Unleashing a formidable blend of progressive grunge that draws from the likes of Alice In Chains, Muse, Tool, and Audioslave, the four piece have deftly managed to craft music that is diverse and unique, but also massively appealing.
The Cardiff based progsters feature Molly McBreen (vocals), Will Bird (lead guitar and backing vocals), Lewis Goold (bass), and Joe Roper (drums), and have created a hefty live reputation by widely touring across England and Wales. Sharing the stages with Pulverise, Mother Vulture, Haxan, Pearler, King Kraken, and many others, has all helped to increase their stature. So too has the release of their captivating debut album, Black Star Emperor, which greatly assisted with their build.
Now loaded with the release of their brand new single and video, Sticky Jam, and soon to be stacked with a slew of live shows, Karmen Field’s draw is just too strong to resist.
1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.
We are Karmen Field! A heavy alternative four piece rock band based in Penarth, South Wales. We love to juxtapose our passionately angry sound with colourful and playful performances. Our songs have themes of dystopian Over Lords, broken relationships, adventure and escapism. Each band member has been in other bands pre KF, we started jamming with a few other guys back in 2017. We actually started out as a core foursome during lockdown, rehearsing together in a bubble. This not only kept us sane while the world was being painfully unpredictable, but also allowed us to focus more on song writing than we ever had before. We emerged post lockdown, aspirational and super keen to gig, and have been chasing that gig dragon ever since.
2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?
Our individual origins are blues, soul, folk and metal, so the Karmen Field sound is a sort of delicious fusion of all that, plus a heavy dosage of 90s grunge. We’ve been likened to Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Muse, A Perfect Circle and Audioslave.
3. What’s currently going on in your camp? New releases? Tours? Etc.
We dropped an absolutely wild music video on June 14th, for our newest fan favourite release, “Sticky Jam”. The song is totally provocative, extremely rambunctious, with a touch of the obscure, riding the wave of a solid groove. Recorded live in the studio, so the track has that electric feeling you get from a performance. We also have a few battle of the bands tournaments happening this year in Cardiff and Swansea, with some more gigs and recording sessions on the horizon. Our main focus now is finishing the last songs for our next album.
4. What has been the most positive experience of making music to date for you?
When the inspiration strikes in rehearsals, and we get a spark of that magic that reminds us why we are so passionate about music, that’s what good song writing is all about for us. An example of a specific moment that was pure magic, was writing and then piecing together the many layers of “Breaking the Cycle”, a track from our debut album, “Black Star Emperor”.
5. Likewise, what has been some of the more challenging aspects and how have you overcome them?
Our ideas don’t always sync up, as together we have so many influences from different genres, that we don’t always agree on which direction the song should take. So to overcome this, usually one of us will take the lead in the song writing session. Whoevers vision is the strongest shines through.
6. How do you handle the modern expectations of being in a band? Always online, having to put out content constantly, your success measured in likes and follows?
We want to entertain our fans, with our music but also in any little way we can, so being able to communicate with them at the touch of a button is really cool. Making and keeping connections with other musicians and people in the industry we’ve met along the way is awesome. Social Media is an amazing tool for reaching out to an even wider audience than our usual gig capacity. Keeping fans up to date with what we are up to, the occasional silly video, a sexy poster, but it can be exhausting keeping up with it all. We recognise that these days playing live is just a small part of the modern music industry, however our craft has always been trying to become better musicians by performing live. In our opinion, statistics are only one way to measure how good a band is.
7. What’s something that really ‘grinds your gears’ about the industry/business these days and what would you propose is done to combat it?
As an original band, we have little to no hope for gigs in our home town. The Local pubs and clubs seem to only want to promote cover bands, discouraging anything unique or new. It also feels like we are constantly having to defend our right to receive a fee, which can knock the wind out of your sails when you want to get further in your musical career. To combat it, we’d suggest more grassroots venues with more access to funding in towns outside of the big cities, more funding for live music in already established venues, and more public community events that showcase musicians in the local areas, across the UK.
8. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support your music?
For emotional support, come along to our live performances! Introduce our music to your friends, family and Co workers and bring them along to our shows as well. For financial support, buying merchandise, buying the album on hard copy, and buying tickets to our events is the best way of funding the band. We actually used the money from our single launch for Sticky Jam, to fund the music video, something we are extremely grateful for.
9. Outside of the music, what’s do you do to relax?
We are all addicted to live music and festivals, so we do live and breathe the gig life. Besides that though, we all love to go camping, exploring nature, cooking, gaming, watching thriller movies, old British comedies, long walks on the beach…
10. Where can people find you?
We gig in South Wales mainly, but we are always striving to reach new audiences in new places. We will find a way to play almost anywhere! The best way to stay up to date with what we have going on, is through our social media:
Karmen Field are coming to a venue near you. Until then, check out our tracks on your favourite streaming site!
