After moving from L.A. to New York about a year ago, nostalgic aesthete Noah Champ formed Field Trip, an indie rock band with a penchant for psychedelic textures and tape machine experiments. Although Champ credits old school hip-hop and jazz as being influences to his work, the sounds of the '60s hippie counterculture and neo-psych bands are immediately recognizable in the hazy and shoegazey atmosphere of Field Trip's tunes. Taking inspiration from both coasts, Field Trip sounds like what happens when memories of the dreamy, warm California sunset melt into the cold anxiety of lonesome New York City nights.
In this new visual for the b-side of their single "Never," Champ mouths along to slurred, pitched-down words under the shadow of a projector. While sometimes his lyrics are obscured by washy reverb and synth, they finally come to the forefront and reveal their haunting beauty as Champ beckons: We can dance around the silence/for so long, however long you'd like. The video ends with the droning echo of distant yells, as the word "Horror" flashes across the wall, signifying the unraveling of both the song and Champ's dread.
"I played with pitching 'Never' down on my tape machine, and this version somehow feels even more emotionally in tune with the lyrics than in its original incarnation," Champ told The FADER over email. "I made this video with my roommates at our apartment in Brooklyn. Its a series of overlaid projections, meant to represent the strangely ethereal vulnerability that comes with loving, leaving, and remembering."
Field Trip will be celebrating their 1st birthday at Baby's All Right on November 30th by giving away a limited run hand pressed tapes, which includes the rework of "Never," to the first 50 people. Tickets here.