|
|
 |
Finn Brothers.
"Alright," I tell myself, "I'm going to interview Neil Finn. It's okay. He's not, you know, really a God or anything. He's just written a few good songs, that's all. Just calm down." Of course, when the phone did ring, I got a mighty fright. But luckily Finn, being a fairly affable chap, didn't seem to mind my initial hyperventilating - in fact, he may not have even realised.
I tell him that I'm actually younger than his eldest son, Betchadupa frontman Liam, yet I've been a fan for - well, since I can remember, really. "That's pretty good to know," Finn says. "And that's one of the bonuses of being around for a while; we're starting to get inter-generational. People are coming along with their kids. But it's great, when young people are starting to click into the songs; it's a great feeling. And we're starting to see a lot of young faces in the crowd again! So bring it on, we love it all!
"The great mystery of music is that it influences and inspires and comforts and entertains people in ways you would never have imagined. I'm just grateful that people want to come out."
The aforementioned touring is in support of 'Everyone Is Here,' the second Finn Brothers album. As musicians who have now been in the business for around three decades (Tim's coming into his fourth), I wonder whether they still have the same level of ambition as their younger contemporaries for each new release. "Well, I mean, you still have ambition for the songs, because you believe in them and you won't them to go out there and find an audience. It isn't necessary for them to reach everybody at once, as long as you get a bunch of people who seem to tune in, and then you get great stories about how these songs helped them get through a certain time, or were the soundtrack to some wedding or funeral. Just being of service to people, really, it's a great feeling."
Since joining Tim in Split Enz in the late 'seventies, Finn has weathered many musical phases - grunge all but killed the reception of Crowded House's 'Woodface' in America in 1991, just as this new-rock movement now is overshadowing other great releases.
"Well we have seen a few things come and go in our time," Finn reminisces. "I guess you just accept that you're not always going to be part of what's happening at the time, but if you just keep your head down and concentrate on your core values, as they say, then your music generally tends to survive those shifts. I guess with Split Enz there was a time when we suddenly were a part of the zeitgeist, although we didn't regard ourselves as a new-wave band, but generally speaking the music has just existed off the side of whatever's been going on, but people find their way to it. And those kinds of monumental shifts really only apply to young bands, in the beginning, and then they have to find their way through it as well."
A lot of younger indie bands seemed to take Crowded House as inspiration for their more acoustic, far less tackily synthesised pop throughout the 'nineties.
"Actually, when I listen back to some of the Crowded House records, I think they were a little over-produced. They had a few too many reverbs flying around, the snare sound was a little crappy at times, but I don't think it was defined by that, whereas some of the sounds of that period sound so dated now. I think a simple pop song presented in a fairly unadorned way is a pretty timeless thing, and if what you say is true about the young indie bands, maybe that's all they're connecting with."
So, does Neil Finn still feel the same way about music he did as a fresh-faced teenager in the early '80s?
"I'm excited and inspired and compelled to play music stronger than ever, really. More and more as time goes on. And I think there's fantastic music out there, but it's a struggle for a lot of it to reach the mainstream. The system has, to a large degree, decided it can manufacture, and that takes up a lot of space on the charts. But I believe that a lot of people find it, and that the good stuff rises to the top. So I'm very optimistic."
Ben Revi
 |
The Finn Brothers play at the Entertainment Centre on Mon 22 Nov. 'Everyone Is Here' is out now through EMI.
|
|
|
The latest issue
available now!
|
