You were never supposed to hear the Field Hospitals EP Ethel Green. At least not like this.
“We recorded it, initially, as a demo,” says lead guitarist Dan Ganin. “We didn’t anticipate releasing it. We wanted a good-sounding demo that we could send to radio stations and labels.”
“I mean, the sessions were like three days,” adds bassist Matt Helgeson.
But Ganin (formerly of Minneapolis hardcore band Charle De Gaulle) and Helgeson (Maps of Norway), along with singer-guitarist Hank Henry (Chicago’s Stillwell) and drummer Jeff Ball (also of Maps of Norway), are old pros. They hit their takes quickly, recorded six songs instead of the three they went in to record, and sent the resulting tracks around to a few blogs—which is how the South Africa-based label Subjangle came to hear it, and how the EP came to be released earlier this year.
Field Hospitals’ origins stretch back years, when Henry and Ganin started a home recording project together. Eventually, they added Helgeson and Ball into the mix. Each member of the quartet has a background in Midwest postpunk or hardcore, but Ethel Green is an indie-pop collection more reminiscent of the Thermals or Teenage Fanclub.
“The songs, I thought, were just really strong, really good in a classic indie jangle kind of sense,” Helgeson says. “They had bridges, which I really liked—I feel like people don’t have bridges enough anymore.”
Henry explains that unlike in their previous projects, which tended toward the more ambient or experimental, the songwriting for Field Hospitals is more structured. “It kind of keeps things moving a bit more,” he says.
The challenge (and the fun) with this project became writing well-constructed, catchy indie songs that weren’t boring—that still managed to feel a little weird or off-kilter. There’s a dark unease at the edge of songs like “Passion Play,” and “A Broken Polaroid (Two Lovers)” is steeped in a riffy, sepia-toned nostalgia that punches like when you encounter an unexpected photo in a box of old memories.
“I think there’s a challenge to make something that’s melodic but also feels interesting. It’s really easy to make something weird,” he says. “But after being in different bands, I find it a challenge … writing something that feels melodic, and voice-chorus-verse-bridge, but then it also has some interesting elements.”
And hey, maybe it’s because they’re fellas of a certain age, but at this point in their lives it feels good to be in a band that’s just a little bit more hooky and accessible.
“It’s kind of nice—like, you could invite somebody that you worked with to the show and not be like, ‘Oh, god, I hope they don’t show up, because they’re gonna hate this,’” Helgeson says.
“I wouldn’t tell people, when I was in Charle De Gaulle,” Ganin laughs. “I would be like, ‘I’m gonna get fired.’”
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