First of all, tell us about yourself, who are you and what do you do?

I’m David Brewis. With my brother Peter, I make records as Field Music. We’ve worked out of some version of our own studio in Sunderland since 2001, and in that time we’ve made so many records it’s getting difficult to count them. We’ve toured around the UK, Europe and North America many times. As well as the Field Music albums, I’ve also made a few solo records as School of Language and I’ve produced, mixed or recorded for a bunch of other artists I like, such as Slug, The Futureheads, Maximo Park…

Why did you choose to become a musician/songwriter?

Whenever I have a stretch of time when I’m not writing or recording new songs, I feel dreadful. I became obsessed with playing in bands when I was about 13 or 14 and then became obsessed with record-making when I was 17 or 18. That feeling has never really gone away.

As a young musician/songwriter, who were some of your biggest inspirations?

The first bands who made me want to be in a band were Led Zeppelin and The Black Crowes. Then I started listening to the Beatles and that made me want to make records. Then when I went to university and we started playing in bands with Barry Hyde (who would soon start The Futureheads with my brother), that process of music discovery accelerated hugely – we’d be listening to the Velvet Underground one day, then Alex Chilton the next, then trying to frighten ourselves listening to Suicide or some really heavy free jazz.

What do you feel is your biggest achievement in music so far?

We’re still making music. We’ve developed as artists with every record and with every project we’ve done. We’ve never rested on our laurels. We haven’t repeated ourselves. We’ve never chased someone else’s idea of success. We’ve learned not to be lazy. We’re not in debt.

What are your biggest aspirations within the music industry?

If we can keep doing the things listed above, we’re doing fine.

If you could go back and give yourself one piece of advice as a young musician/songwriter, what would it be and why?

Don’t wait for someone else to do things for you. Better to write 100 terrible songs or make 100 terrible recordings than wait for someone to show you how to make a good one. That’s not to say you shouldn’t listen to whatever advice comes along, but that advice might not come, or it might not be the right advice for you at the moment. So work on it, don’t wait for it. By the time you write song number 101, I guarantee it will be loads better than song number 1.

Why is music education so important?

For me, music education was important because I met other musicians – people with different tastes and different record collections. Of course, I’m glad someone tried to explain to me what an in-line mixing desk was and how to use MIDI, but I could’ve learned those things from articles in Sound on Sound or wherever. But Sound on Sound wouldn’t have made me listen to the Jesus and Mary Chain.