“By doing maybe one Doors show a month we can fill a hole in our dire finances”: Mercury-nominated UK band Field Music are working as a tribute act

UK band Field Music have revealed an unexpected side-hustle, going on to extensively explain why exactly the 20-year veterans and creators of the 2014 Mercury Award nominated 2012 album Plumb are now working as a Doors tribute act.

Field Music are a Sunderland-based English art-rock band formed by brothers Peter and David Brewis, who’ve garnered fans and plaudits over the years and who seemed to have been heading to the big leagues (if not already resident within them).

The news that they’re earning more money (and keeping the wolf from the door) by pretending to be the infamous Jim Morrison-fronted '60’s hippy rockers came as a shock to their fans, most specifically one named “Phil” who was successful in eliciting a lengthy explanation from the band’s David Brewis.

In the latest post – a series of eight images of text entitled "On tribute bands, creativity, novelty and surviving" – Brewis explains that: “Earlier today I mentioned on the Field Music Facebook that we'd started playing gigs as a Doors tribute band.

"A gentleman called Phil responded with a really interesting question, one which throws up loads of issues regarding creativity and the music industry at the present time."

“Please don't hassle Phil. He may be a bit disappointed in us and, more so, disappointed with the implications, but it is definitely a worthwhile question.

"He said, 'Genuine question, why would you do this? I mean, the Doors didn't become brilliant by being a tribute band, rather by exploring their own musical and spiritual dark corners. Seems odd, in some ways unconfident for a band I perceive as a popular act to spend their time performing as a tribute act'.

“The first stage in answering this question is the straightforward one. Why are we doing this? Making a living from making our own music has become increasingly difficult. We need other income streams.

"We have a lot of musical skill. We love The Doors. We became musicians by learning how to play this stuff when we were kids. Lots of venues put on tribute acts. Lots of people go to see tribute acts. We think that we could be really, really bloody good at doing this one. By doing maybe one show a month we can fill a hole in our dire finances.”

Brewis then goes on to explain how streaming culture has eliminated the phenomenon of (apparently lucrative) “casual record buying”, which, it seems, was the band’s lifeblood. “How many of you spent a tenner on a CD back in the 90s and only ever listened to it once?” he asks, outlining how streaming allows “casual listeners [to] get the same experience but without wasting that cash (which inadvertently subsided thousands of smaller artists.)”

And in the world of streaming, “the middle class of record makers either fights to get to the top table (by making music which fits the streaming paradigm) or gets a real job”, he explains before placing the band’s relative inability to make money on streaming squarely on them “sticking rigorously to making the kind of music we want to make with absolutely no regard to what might be popular…

"Without fitting into any playlistable genre, we have quietly passed into contemporary irrelevance, despite writing new songs and making new records which are, no false modesty here, as good as, or better than anything we've made before.”

“Basically worthless”

Brewis's explanation and summation makes for a depressing but thoroughly sympathy-evoking read, outlining how a band such as his has found their skills now “basically worthless”.

“The grassroots music industry is so on-its-arse, that no one has any money to pay us to employ those skills,” he explains.

“Wouldn't it be awesome if we could actually get paid (more than a fraction of minimum wage) for this level of musical expertise we have?”

That said Brewis is keen to amp up the level of fun (and money) his band enjoy pretending to be The Doors for a change: “Maybe we can let that go (and feel some joy) by lovingly playing someone else's music to entertain an audience,” he says. “Any embarrassment I might have felt about doing this has dissolved.

"Why the hell should I be embarrassed about devoting a chunk of time to music that I love, playing it with people I love, applying to it the same passion, dedication and care we take with all of our musical endeavours, and doing it all so that we still have time to make our own music, and as Phil puts it "exploring [our] own musical and spiritual dark corners?"

Brewis then signs off with a brilliant: “Peace, love and faux-leather trousers, David/Jim”.

Certainly, Field Music can’t be the only talented, loved but shamefully underpaid band in such a scenario and their openness and willingness to keep playing music, doing what they love, AND get paid for it has to be admired.

But in an age where streaming platforms only become more dominant and the wealth chasm between the platform’s owners and the musicians providing their fortunes only becomes wider, one has to wonder if (in the face of the ease at which anyone – huge corporations included – can make AI music) just how long musicians will exist and whether they’ll all soon simply “get a real job”.

In the meantime, Field Music have a new album Limits of Language out in October with in-store shows throughout the month and will be embarking on a series of 20th anniversary tour dates in November.