Diandra Interviews Field Medic: The Floral Prince of Chillsville

I love Field Medic’s sound. Floral Prince is an example of something most artists agree upon: you know genuine when you hear it. For some reason, your inner intuitions tells you, “This guy is being real!” Thus, Field Medic is authentically funny, smart, and trying to find some peace between his best and worst qualities though music. In our interview, Field Medic discusses how music helps him check up on himself and invent a town we all want to visit called Chillsville.

Diandra: What led you to the title “Floral Prince” and how do you see yourself as one?

Field Medic: I collect things with floral prints on them… Sheets specifically. I use them as backdrops in photoshoots & music videos. I decided one day that I’m the Floral Prince. That was originally going to be my cloud rap moniker, but when I finished the first draft of the record, I called the secret playlist “Floral Prince”. It slowly came to be the identity of the album.
Field Medic – older now (it hurts) mini lyric video

Diandra: Your songs are known for their wit and rawness. How do you see humor, as much as music, as a tool to battle sadness?

Field Medic: When I’m really down I’ll start saying my darkest thoughts out loud or singing them in song. Hearing how absurd they sound usually makes me laugh & begins to light a path towards feeling better.

Diandra: With your music feeling so rich and honest, what have your songs revealed to you about who you are as a person? Any specific patterns, behaviors, or traits?

Field Medic: When I was early in the recording sessions for this record I had a batch of songs that became the companion EP; ‘plunge deep golden knife’ which will come out at some point… All those songs were like: “I wake up every morning surrounded by empty cans… Can’t stop myself from drinking the poison every night… What’s the point of trying to change” etc etc. Not verbatim, but, listening back to those recordings, I realized I had been drinking way too much. The songs were my subconscious crying out to me for help.

Diandra: Going off the idea of literary, what books or philosophers do you feel are filled with ideas for songs, particularly of love? Why?

Field Medic: Murakami, Iris Murdoch, Hermann Hesse, Paul Auster… Their novels all inspire me in different ways. Murakami & Auster both work in a world of magical realism that’s so interesting & easy to read. Murdoch has two books where the characters are old, jaded artists that are really cynical, which is really amusing. Hesse is so philosophical & poetic in the way that writes his fiction… it’s like getting two books for the price of one.
field medic – bundle of hyacinths mini lyric video

Diandra: What is your favorite childhood memory with music?

Field Medic: The first music I ever recorded was a freestyle rap cassette… Acapella straight into a tape deck. I must have been 10 years old. I called the project “Dolla Fiddy Cent”. The cover was a photo from one of those mini poloroid i-zone cameras from the 2000s. One copy only.

Diandra: What is one fear and one love you have discovered through quarantine life?

Field Medic: My fears & loves have stayed mostly the same… I don’t wanna die & I like riding my bike in the early morning or when the sun is setting. I like to light three candles at once.

Diandra: Described as conversational, if you could go anywhere in time and space, who would you hold a conversation with and what would you discuss with them?

Field Medic: I think it’d be cool to talk to anyone from the early 1900’s. I want know what they do all day long.. If they’re happy.
the field medic show episode 5: HEADCASE/haiku/prologue

Diandra: If The Field Medic Show became an actual, full blown series. What sitcoms or tv shows do you feel it would be most akin?

Field Medic: I’m not sure… I don’t watch much TV unless it’s mafia/gang related dramas. So the FM show concept as it is comes straight from my head. I think from what I’ve seen online, it would be cool if it became similar to what the Johnny Cash show was back in the day.

Diandra: If Chillsville was an actual place, and you were the mayor, what are 3 laws you would make for that town?

Field Medic: In Chillsville, nobody is allowed to take their grouchiness out on anyone who’s not a direct cause of it. There would be a mandatory no phone/no internet day once a week. We’d also have a stage in the middle of town where we’d have improv & open mics frequently.

Diandra: What is the most spontaneous thing you have ever done versus one thing you wish you could do one day on the cuff?

Field Medic: Most spontaneous is probably falling for a con man’s lie walking down the street one day & cashing a stolen check for $4700. I’m not sure what I’d wish to do on the cuff… I’ll know when the time comes.

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