Hailing from the Midwestern college town of Columbia, Missouri, The Foundry Field Recordings have been perfecting their shoe gaze indie-pop craft and meticulously gathering underground acclaim, since late 2002. [They are also one of the founding bands of the Emergency Umbrella Collective.] Originally, the project started out as a platform for songwriter Billy Schuh to present his musical exploits with a revolving cast of characters, known simply as The Foundry. [Hence the original Billy Schuh and the Foundry ... moniker.]
Surprisingly, up until college Billy had never picked up a guitar or sung before, and his musings on the Cold War, lost love, robots, and isolation were reserved only for his private notebooks. Percussionist Benjamin Hook of the band Firefly Alliance became the first permanent member of the group in 2003, with original Kingdom Flying Club members, Becky Baxter and Daniel Stegall following soon after. Late that same year the group released their self-recorded debut, Fathers As Robots EP, and supported it throughout 2004, DIY Touring and playing local opening spots for the likes of Super Furry Animals, Dressy Bessy and Spoon.
As it became obvious that the group was evolving into a true collaboration between all members, in 2005 they took on a new name, The Foundry Field Recordings. The band celebrated it with the release of the Battle Brigades 7" and another tour, which lead to the recording of, The Foundry Field Recordings Live at Schubas digital album for emusic. After three full years of painstakingly collecting binaural recordings, conducting visceral field experiments, and many late nights in the studio ... all this hard work finally brought to fruition the amazing concept album, Prompts/Miscues in 2006.
This lead to three different DIY national tours, an in-studio at the awesome WOXY.COM and a featured spot on a KEXP - Music That Matters Podcast hosted by John Richards. [As well as a showcase and 3 different day parties for The Tripwire, WOXY, and Brooklyn Vegan at the 2006 CMJ Music Marathon.] The band also had a strong presence at 2007's SXSW Music Festival, playing live on XMU, recording for a recent feature on Daytrotter.com and again playing at a few more industry day parties.
Most recently, FFR put out the limited edition Fallout Stations EP, an extension to Prompts/Miscues that was released in June 2007. The band then signed with The Nicodemus Agency for booking and went out all summer on another full US tour to support the new EP.
The Foundry Field Recordings are currently in the studio working on their sophomore full-length, which they hope to release Spring 2008.
Recent ffr press for prompts/miscues and fallout stations
"The EP's closing track, "Transistor Kids,†shows great musical range for the Missouri foursome. Following one minute of a beautiful and delicate piano solo, the song moves into indie rock haven territory talking of transistor kids contemplating the personalities of electric harmonies. Stepping into stride, the tune closes out with the inviting fuzzed out guitars of shoegaze-pop."
- Filtermag.com
"For all their smolder, it's fitting that this Columbia, MO quartet chose the name The Foundry Field Recordings: just as a foundry uses furnaces to melt metal, these CMJ favorites bring an orange molten glow to their music."
- Spin.com
"The Foundry Field Recordings' debut is the form that indie rock will take when the government androids move in next door. Prompts/Miscues is a unified piece wired directly into the timeless sound of lovesickness. If Big Brother is listening atleast he is tapping his foot." - CMJ Music Monthly "Best New Music"
"It’s always exciting when musicians from a town that isn’t known for its scene come out of nowhere with a bunch of songs that would make the “Next Big Thing†blush with inadequacy. Consider Foundry Field Recordings a much-needed antidote to all the bands out their playing to a full room at their first show. Its refreshing." - The L Magazine, NYC
"Tired of un-ambitious copycats? Columbia, MO's FFR may have released only one 7 single since 2003s debut EP, Fathers as Robots, but they worked those 36 months meticulously writing and building this epic, impressive shoegaze-pop concept album (roughly, mans response to the speed of modern life)." - Jack Rabid - The Big Takeover
"[Prompts/Miscues] could be the sleeper you won't want to miss out on." - thetripwire.com
"Missouri's Foundry Field Recordings are a four-piece that play sweet shoegazing guitar pop that sounds like Grandaddy (a lot) meets Nada Surf meets Flaming Lips at their most normal. These are really good lo-fi songs, featuring lyrics full of sci-fi stuff, like robots, clones, the future, technology etc." - Oh My Rockness
"I am obsessed with The Foundry Field Recordings. If you haven't checked them out yet, there are a couple of MP3's on The Test Pilot." - Brooklyn Vegan
"Schuh floats words on a disfigured sine wave through the air, with all the crests and troughs you remember from physics plus all of the emotion you don't. The driving guitar fuzz in "Buried Beneath the Winter Frames" and Schuh's repetition of "All those crates / All those graves" in "Circuits on Board" may lull you to rest, but something less tangible will hold you alert." - PopMatters
"There are great spatial soundscapes that come out of nowhere and bounce around your skull as though it is as empty as the sky above. It is all about using the sound and space cooperatively, making the sound as big as it can be made. The FFR have the unique ability to fill the space they create with ambient, yet loud, guitar washes and string arrangements." - Daytrotter.com
""The Foundry aren't taking their cues from Clap Your Hands' measured irThe correspondence between thrumming heart and racing mind, the verses being the latter and the visceral, winning chorus being the former. It's a feat to capture such instinctiveness and translate to a language of cymbals and strings, and The Foundry succeed brilliantly." - Bows + Arrows
"More importantly, every note seems to be preordained. Not predictable, mind you, just played as if there was no other place to be. The other, more important distinction is that this album is well-produced, which could not be said about any Columbia outfit from back in the day. This album sounds so, so pretty." - Aiding & Abetting
"The Foundry Field Recording play it kind of Grandaddy with a sci-fi Album construct, a focus on strong melodies, and some familiar keyboard flourishes; meanwhile, they indulge a noisy edge ..." - Cokemachineglow.com
"A brilliant beacon shining out to those of us who quickly tire of the cookie-cutter pop that's easy on the ears but lacking in lyrical substance. Prompts/Miscues is a thought provoking, stunning debut that comes highly recommended." - Strawberry Fire
""Spirited songs that are delivered with a superb appreciation of sonic textures that add each new instrument or part with the affection and depth a new character is presented by a good author." - Ampcamp.com
""Straightforward melodic sojourns that infiltrate your brain like a gorgeous musical sedative" - Cincinnati City Beat
"Combining the Low school of meditation with Feelies-like expansive elements of My Bloody Valentine's shoegazing feedback, the band perseveres through patches of gloom and despair into a meadow of sunlight." - The Onion
"With Prompts/Miscues, Billy Schuh earns his union card with loosely constructed, nostalgic melodies that coalesce beautifully into fitful dream-core that warns of the End of Days while reminiscing about little triumphs and quickly dissipating happiness." - Lost at Sea
"The Foundry Field Recordings play lo-fi guitar based indie rock that dips into pop melody without being overwhelmed by the sweetness. Singer Billy Schuh's wan, boyish vocals are likely to snag some influential listeners in the future." - Isthmus Daily Page
"We really like The Foundry Field Recordings. This Emergency Umbrella band from Missouri has been compared to bands such as Built To Spill, Mogwai, and My Morning Jacket. “Transistor Kids†off of their limited Fallout Stations EP sounds almost like a more shoe-gazey Pavement with a really great guitar buildup." - Insound
"Prompts/Miscues is an impressive, thought-provoking album that explores the chaos of our modern world through its haunting, poignant tracks. The perfect album to soothe a broken heart, get through a rough day, or smooth over a rough patch in life without becoming overly sentimental or sugary sweet." - Spill Magazine
"The story being told is a bleak one, and shoegaze comes in pretty handy for such occasions. At one moment there's a wall of sound built by fuzzy guitars; soon after the doors fly open to expose a winter of lo-fi guitar with a sparer sound. Who knew that the post-apocalyptic Midwest would sound so relaxing?" - CD Snobs
