You think you've got it rough? Try driving a mile in Sense Field's tour bus. Between an ill-fated major label record deal, the loss of their drummer and even the recent terrorist attacks on the U.S. that resulted in a cancelled industry showcase and their new drummer having to head home to New York to tend to family matters, Sense Field's journey has been anything but an easy ride.
Troubles for the nine-year-old California-based emo-rock quintet began in 1996 after signing to Warner records. A year after re-releasing their Building disc, which six months earlier had been put out on the Revelation imprint, Warner sent them into the studio to record the follow-up, a then self-titled 11-track album. After an initial delay during which their drummer left the fold they were sent back to remix some of the songs and record three new tracks with a new line-up. The album was re-titled Under the Radar. After another delay they were dropped by Warner and the album was canned.
The end result? By the time their third full-length release hit record stores, it had been almost six years between records. The troubles would have been enough to crush a lesser band. "We've always had the resolve," guitarist Chris Evenson proudly proclaims. "We're a weird band in that way, I don't know if we don't know when to quit or we just love doing it but it's such a part of our lives that it's almost hard to comprehend not doing this and not having it for an outlet."
After a couple of short tours, a few months of sitting around contemplating the future and miscellaneous EP and seven-inch releases, Evenson decided to invest what little money he had banked in a home studio christened Dense Flies (an anagram of the band's name) and re-record the entire record. They kept four of the original 11 songs, re-wrote lyrics and vocal lines for three others and penned five new tracks. The 12 self-produced songs eventually became Tonight and Forever, released in North America by Vancouver-based Nettwerk records.
"We just decided to start from scratch, which was tough," recalls Evenson. "We didn't know who was going to put it out. We knew somebody would even if we went back to Revelation [which released three previous CDs]. But for us it was more about having fun and getting back to what we do, which is making music, and not thinking about the other stuff too much. It got to the point where it had been five years since the last record came out and we felt that if we're going to keep going out on the road we've got to get something new out. There are fans that want to hear it and if nothing else it at least gives us some closure."
Troubles for the nine-year-old California-based emo-rock quintet began in 1996 after signing to Warner records. A year after re-releasing their Building disc, which six months earlier had been put out on the Revelation imprint, Warner sent them into the studio to record the follow-up, a then self-titled 11-track album. After an initial delay during which their drummer left the fold they were sent back to remix some of the songs and record three new tracks with a new line-up. The album was re-titled Under the Radar. After another delay they were dropped by Warner and the album was canned.
The end result? By the time their third full-length release hit record stores, it had been almost six years between records. The troubles would have been enough to crush a lesser band. "We've always had the resolve," guitarist Chris Evenson proudly proclaims. "We're a weird band in that way, I don't know if we don't know when to quit or we just love doing it but it's such a part of our lives that it's almost hard to comprehend not doing this and not having it for an outlet."
After a couple of short tours, a few months of sitting around contemplating the future and miscellaneous EP and seven-inch releases, Evenson decided to invest what little money he had banked in a home studio christened Dense Flies (an anagram of the band's name) and re-record the entire record. They kept four of the original 11 songs, re-wrote lyrics and vocal lines for three others and penned five new tracks. The 12 self-produced songs eventually became Tonight and Forever, released in North America by Vancouver-based Nettwerk records.
"We just decided to start from scratch, which was tough," recalls Evenson. "We didn't know who was going to put it out. We knew somebody would even if we went back to Revelation [which released three previous CDs]. But for us it was more about having fun and getting back to what we do, which is making music, and not thinking about the other stuff too much. It got to the point where it had been five years since the last record came out and we felt that if we're going to keep going out on the road we've got to get something new out. There are fans that want to hear it and if nothing else it at least gives us some closure."