Redwood Fields is saying “in with the new” by welcoming a female band member and working to refine their sound.
Heather Ogilvie, the group’s bass player, is the most recent addition to the band. She is only one show deep with Redwood Fields since joining last month, but she’s had experience in the Fredericton music scene.
Ogilvie has played with local bands Slate Pacific and Names and Faces. When the opportunity presented itself, she was very open to the idea of performing with Redwood Fields.
“I’m like the mother hen,” she said. “I’m the seasoned veteran in relation to these guys. It’s the first band for Brendan [Magee] and Bruce [Duval]. I’ve been there, and I kind of know what to expect and what to focus on, I guess, and give some advice when necessary.
“I think we have a good dynamic too, where it’s really comfortable.”
The band came together in October of last year, consisting of singer-songwriter Cedric Noël, Magee on the keys and Duval on drums. Since then, the original bassist moved away and a guitarist left the group.
“We got rid of a heavy electric lead guitar which made it more ambient. I don’t really know how to explain it, but less fluff,” said Magee.
Noël said there have been changes to the songs from last year, and their new songs have a different sound. He knows the direction he wants Redwood Fields’ music to go in, he said, and it requires patience.
“I find it really easy to write catchy songs,” he said. “It takes longer to write dense songs, but I’m always impatient because I always want to do another song,” said Noël.
Noël referenced Halifax-based group Paper Beat Scissors when describing how he wants the crowd to feel after a Redwood Fields show.
“You feel sort of out of it but not really out of it,” said Noël. “Like you’re kind of on a weird high.”
“Yeah, like a strange haze,” Magee added. “A warm haze.”
Ogilvie said she draws from slightly different influences, but when the band comes together to work on a song they have similar ideas of how it should sound.
“I’m not so much into the acoustic-driven folk sound. That hasn’t really been my influence ever, so I’m kind of coming from a darker indie rock perspective.”
Redwood Fields said they’re eager to start recording, but because of the members’ busy schedules, the album has to wait.
Noël and Magee are students at St. Thomas University, Duval works full-time, and Ogilvie owns Fredericton’s Reneu Boutique.
In the meantime, local filmmaker Ryan O’Toole shot a couple of videos for the band, and they plan on doing a Maritime tour at the end of April.
“I feel like I’m in the state of mind where this sound is what I think could work with this time period,” said Noël. “I feel in six months it could be something different, and I don’t want that. I want it to be really good. I want people to listen to it and be like, ‘Wow that blew my mind,’ and not like, ‘Yeah, that was good.’”
Catch Redwood Fields at the Capital Complex with Paper Beat Scissors on March 3.
