For Springfield rock band Flock and Field, playing shows in Northampton was like being a youngster transplanted to a new town. "We felt like the new kid in school who doesn't know his place," says guitarist, singer, and main songwriter D.A. Bassett. "We didn't know who was who, and didn't want to step on anyone's toes. It was strange."
"When you're up there in the scene, everyone is pretty to themselves," adds bassist E. Edward Beaudry. "We were kind of off in our own corner."
"We initially put our guard up. We felt defensive," says Bassett. "Even though nobody was outright doing anything."
The band quickly got over those first-day jitters and ingratiated themselves, a process assisted mightily by winning this year's inaugural Happy Valley Showdown, a battle of the bands that featured all of the heavy hitters and indie darlings of the traditionally insular Northampton rockosphere.
"I think people were real surprised we kept winning the rounds," Bassett says. "After both shows and we won, people were like, 'What?' They didn't know who we were."
"It was us and the Novels left in the end," says Beaudry. "And they're a real good band, but after we were announced the winners it was like, whoa."
Flock and Field is a trio comprised of Bassett, Beaudry, and the usually shirtless-while-drumming Paul W. Preston. The three Springfield residents have known each other for well over a decade, and fell into their current lineup from a larger group of musical compatriots through attrition. The band creates heavy, layered psychedelic compositions infused by punk, with elements from garage rock and the early '90s college music scene thrown in for good measure.
The three musicians claim to have no limits to their inspirations, from '60s pop to jazz fusion to Tropic?lia. You can hear elements of The Stranglers, early Sebadoh, and even Frank Zappa poking through the songs on their latest recordings. The band has also just discovered the joys of the seven-inch single format. "I've recently found 45s—they're awesome. Totally better than CDs," says Bassett. "They have a totally different power. It's like, I recently heard [The Beatles'] 'Paperback Writer' for the first time on 45. What was like a really lame song when I was nine is now like a really scary rock and roll song, you know?"
For years, Flock and Field staunchly refused to cover other artists' songs. Bassett lays out the rationale: "For the longest time, we had a rule of not doing covers. Once in a while, we'd jam on something by accident. Until the Happy Valley Showdown, where we had to do a cover. I think over the last couple of years I've discovered some tunes, some older tunes, that are like, hey, it's 2008, there's room for improvement. Well, not like you can improve on the Beatles, but it's 40 years later, it's time for the next version, a different version."
"And we don't like cover bands, bands strictly doing other people's songs," adds Beaudry.
"No, but we take songs and we totally 'Flock' 'em," answers Bassett. "They become one of our songs. We Flock it. It's a lot looser and—I don't know—we don't sit down and get into the what goes where and all that shit, we just sort of like don't even listen to it, we just play it the way we remember it."
"Flocking" is a term the band uses to describe its originals, as well. "The first 50 times we run through a song, we're just learning how to wear it," Bassett says. "After that, you don't even have to think about the notes, you're thinking about the notes between the notes and, like, new ideas."
"I don't think we ever play a song the same way twice," says Preston, "At practice, no one stops and says that that's supposed to be that, and that's supposed to go there."
Flock and Field has been recording—primarily home recording—its tunes for many years, and most recently self-released a nine-song EP called Free Drugs that it give away free at its shows. After they aggressively promoted the CD release party via posters and online, the EP's title caused minor bewilderment the night of the actual event.
"Yeah, there were a few confused people who showed up looking for actual free drugs, definitely," Bassett says. "But once they got the CD home and took a look they realized that 'free drugs' isn't exactly what it appears to be."
Winning the Happy Valley Showdown has provided Flock and Field more than just greater name recognition. According to Bassett, one of the contest's prizes was free studio time at Greenfield's Bank Row Studios: "Bank Row was awesome. [Studio co-owner/engineer] Justin [Pizzoferrato] was great, a super nice guy."
Preston adds, "He was into trying anything."
"He hooked us up with the best sound," says Bassett. "I was ready to just start recording and he's like, 'Let's get a sound.' We did 20 tracks in one day—the basics for 20 tracks. Ten of which are going towards the new LP."
The new record, which the band hopes to release by the end of the year, is a concept album—tentatively titled The Video Store LP—based on the trio's experiences working in, hanging around, and seeking revenge against a certain video rental store. Bassett explains: "It's an interesting story, and it's gonna be ingrained in the LP. We'd rather not go into which store it is, because we don't want to give him any business."
Simply put, there were some hard feelings. "The owner fucked people over," says Beaudry. "I was just like, fuck this guy, I'm gonna take a soda."
"Yeah, you know, I'd just piss on the toilet, rather than in the toilet, leave stuff in it, don't flush," adds Bassett. "We worked on most of the songs for the album while working there. Sometimes after work, pumping out some shit, sometimes months later."
The band believes the upcoming year will be a great one for them, particularly with the new LP and the fact that they have stepped into the Northampton music scene and carved out some space for themselves. "We think we'll have a better time of it going forward," says Bassett. "Sometimes people like to see people coming in from the outside. Plus we've got a product we really believe in. We're laying down the foundation for the next few years to come."
Don't get Flock and Field wrong: the Springfield group plays a lot of shows in Northampton, but its members long for a thriving scene in their hometown. "We wish there was more stuff going on around Springfield," Preston says. "We'd love to have an art community going on, with a vibrant music scene happening around it. Northampton has that, and we'd like to see that happening here, closer to home. We're always trying to think of ways to get more stuff going on around here, even if it's on a smaller stage.""
