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| Neil Finn: 'Lorde should leave New Zealand' | Neil Finn: 'Lorde should leave New Zealand' |
| (about 2 months later) | |
| Neil Finn has some excellent advice for fellow New Zealander Lorde. And it’s this: get out of New Zealand. | Neil Finn has some excellent advice for fellow New Zealander Lorde. And it’s this: get out of New Zealand. |
| “Those news teams are idiots,” he sighs, referring to the media scrum that jostled her in the airport upon her recent return from the US. “New Zealand had, up until that moment, been quite a good environment [for her] because people are not super celebrity-oriented, they pretty much leave you alone. But it keeps reaching this new critical mass and now with winning two Grammys, I think it’s getting pretty intense.” | “Those news teams are idiots,” he sighs, referring to the media scrum that jostled her in the airport upon her recent return from the US. “New Zealand had, up until that moment, been quite a good environment [for her] because people are not super celebrity-oriented, they pretty much leave you alone. But it keeps reaching this new critical mass and now with winning two Grammys, I think it’s getting pretty intense.” |
| Finn is no stranger to life as a celebrity – first when roped into his brother Tim’s band Split Enz just as they were becoming an international concern, then enjoying even greater global success leading Crowded House. So, in Finn’s opinion, what should Lorde do? | Finn is no stranger to life as a celebrity – first when roped into his brother Tim’s band Split Enz just as they were becoming an international concern, then enjoying even greater global success leading Crowded House. So, in Finn’s opinion, what should Lorde do? |
| “I’d think she might go well moving to New York or something, where there are more famous people and less bother about it. It wouldn’t be a bad move to get among the centre of operations.” | “I’d think she might go well moving to New York or something, where there are more famous people and less bother about it. It wouldn’t be a bad move to get among the centre of operations.” |
| The reason Finn is discussing the minutia of fame is the imminent release of his third solo album, Dizzy Heights. Its predecessor, One Nil, was released in 2001 – but it’s not as though he’s been idle in the interim. | |
| He’s released two albums under 7 Worlds Collide (a charity collaboration with the likes of Johnny Marr, Eddie Vedder and pretty much all of Wilco), 2004’s Finn Brothers album Everyone is Here, two reunion albums with Crowded House and last year’s self-titled release with the indie band he formed with wife Sharon, the Pajama Club. | |
| Throw in tours with all of the above, plus his theatre tour with Paul Kelly, and a song for the first of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit films, and you can understand why he’s maybe had a few other things on his plate. And yet, “a lot of people are asking me why has it been over ten years since I’ve had a solo record,” he sighs. | |
| “And it’s obvious but it weirds me out a little bit because it doesn’t really feel like that in my head: you need to attach a name to something to give it a sense of identity, but it feels like one album after another in different contexts.” | “And it’s obvious but it weirds me out a little bit because it doesn’t really feel like that in my head: you need to attach a name to something to give it a sense of identity, but it feels like one album after another in different contexts.” |
| The distinctions between Finn’s projust are also far from clear cut. The Crowded House reunion album Time on Earth began life as a Finn solo disc with guest bass from Crowded House co-founder Nick Seymour. | |
| However, “it just got to the point with that record where Nick got so involved with it and we were enjoying each other’s company, and it we went ‘it feels like a Crowded House album’. Most of the music could have been almost exactly the same with my name on it. Well, it would have been the same album, essentially.” | However, “it just got to the point with that record where Nick got so involved with it and we were enjoying each other’s company, and it we went ‘it feels like a Crowded House album’. Most of the music could have been almost exactly the same with my name on it. Well, it would have been the same album, essentially.” |
| So there’s no distinction made when a song is written as to whether it’s a solo song or for some other project? | So there’s no distinction made when a song is written as to whether it’s a solo song or for some other project? |
| “No. Generally the pool is the pool and I’ll just draw from it. There is a few things that I park – for example, there are a few songs parked at the moment for a new Crowded House album, but for some reason I just didn’t feel like going the whole way with them at the moment.” | “No. Generally the pool is the pool and I’ll just draw from it. There is a few things that I park – for example, there are a few songs parked at the moment for a new Crowded House album, but for some reason I just didn’t feel like going the whole way with them at the moment.” |
| So there’s a new Crowded House album in the pipeline (“which I think will be really good,” he emphasises). In fact, Finn is thoroughly enjoying having a variety of options when it comes to writing. | So there’s a new Crowded House album in the pipeline (“which I think will be really good,” he emphasises). In fact, Finn is thoroughly enjoying having a variety of options when it comes to writing. |
| “I believe in bands,” he says simply. “In some ways it makes the process more continuous and easer because you establish a pattern: you go to rehearsal, you try the new songs, you go home and you know how to finish them now because you’ve just played them.” | “I believe in bands,” he says simply. “In some ways it makes the process more continuous and easer because you establish a pattern: you go to rehearsal, you try the new songs, you go home and you know how to finish them now because you’ve just played them.” |
| And how about solo? | And how about solo? |
| “In that environment there are any number of possibilities, so it’s actually trickier – but leaves you more free to push boundaries and explore.” | “In that environment there are any number of possibilities, so it’s actually trickier – but leaves you more free to push boundaries and explore.” |
| How does having these sorts of options compare with the process when Crowded House was the sole creative outlet for every song? | How does having these sorts of options compare with the process when Crowded House was the sole creative outlet for every song? |
| “Well, we tried everything,” he shrugs. “We didn’t set restrictions for ourselves that much, though there were songs that didn’t suit the band and we didn’t play them very well. Strangely enough, thinking back, the first few times we tried to play Don’t Dream it’s Over we were terrible. We played it really badly. | “Well, we tried everything,” he shrugs. “We didn’t set restrictions for ourselves that much, though there were songs that didn’t suit the band and we didn’t play them very well. Strangely enough, thinking back, the first few times we tried to play Don’t Dream it’s Over we were terrible. We played it really badly. |
| “It took Mitchell [Froom, producer] suggesting a new way of approaching the bassline. And he put the organ on there – that was a big revelation. But we had to really learn how to play that song, and in the end we had to learn how to play other kinds of songs as well.” | “It took Mitchell [Froom, producer] suggesting a new way of approaching the bassline. And he put the organ on there – that was a big revelation. But we had to really learn how to play that song, and in the end we had to learn how to play other kinds of songs as well.” |
| For Dizzy Heights Finn had the best of both worlds: a solo album with a core band, but one he knew extremely well. In fact, he was directly responsible for two of them: his sons Elroy and Liam Finn. | |
| “I spawned!” he laughs. “Breed your band! It was a nice opportunity that sprung up because they were available and keen. And we are aware that we can play together really well.” | “I spawned!” he laughs. “Breed your band! It was a nice opportunity that sprung up because they were available and keen. And we are aware that we can play together really well.” |
| With Sharon also in the core group that made the record, does this mean that the Good Time Finn Family Band and Medicine Show is on the horizon? | With Sharon also in the core group that made the record, does this mean that the Good Time Finn Family Band and Medicine Show is on the horizon? |
| “We haven’t done a lot together, and I would be wary of assuming that my view of what would be great would be the same as that of the boys,” he carefully replies, “but I think we’re working towards a meaningful collaboration at some point, where everyone’s writing as well.” | “We haven’t done a lot together, and I would be wary of assuming that my view of what would be great would be the same as that of the boys,” he carefully replies, “but I think we’re working towards a meaningful collaboration at some point, where everyone’s writing as well.” |
| It would seem that working with one’s kids clearly has some advantages (“we know we can get through any small family moments, any old sensitivities that crop up …”), but it raises some unique questions too. For example, how does one sit down with your sons and have them run through a song about their father’s eventual death, as with the new album’s In My Blood? | It would seem that working with one’s kids clearly has some advantages (“we know we can get through any small family moments, any old sensitivities that crop up …”), but it raises some unique questions too. For example, how does one sit down with your sons and have them run through a song about their father’s eventual death, as with the new album’s In My Blood? |
| Finn’s momentarily taken aback. “It’s not actually that dark, that song. There’s a heavy subtext but what I’m trying to say in that is that there are certain times when you feel something and unmistakable, and my theory is that you inherit memories from your ancestors: memories of feelings, pure feelings.” | Finn’s momentarily taken aback. “It’s not actually that dark, that song. There’s a heavy subtext but what I’m trying to say in that is that there are certain times when you feel something and unmistakable, and my theory is that you inherit memories from your ancestors: memories of feelings, pure feelings.” |
| Via the culture? | Via the culture? |
| “No no, in the DNA. Essentially I was thinking that if you have a really intense experience, you pass that on to your children and it’s responsible for certain ways that they respond to certain things, little mysterious elements of character. But what the boys think of it, I don’t know.” | “No no, in the DNA. Essentially I was thinking that if you have a really intense experience, you pass that on to your children and it’s responsible for certain ways that they respond to certain things, little mysterious elements of character. But what the boys think of it, I don’t know.” |
| Have there been moments when the subject matter is too raw, though? | Have there been moments when the subject matter is too raw, though? |
| “Actually, there was a moment on the last record, and it was a slightly distressing moment for me, where I realised I’d really laid myself open. The first track, Tell Me What You Want. To me it seemed to be a very playful, mischievous spin on saying ‘c’mon baby, this is what I like’ and your baby saying ‘yeah, tell me what you want’,” he sighs. | “Actually, there was a moment on the last record, and it was a slightly distressing moment for me, where I realised I’d really laid myself open. The first track, Tell Me What You Want. To me it seemed to be a very playful, mischievous spin on saying ‘c’mon baby, this is what I like’ and your baby saying ‘yeah, tell me what you want’,” he sighs. |
| “But because we’re a little older and have kids, people thought it was quite creepy. My nephew asked me about it one day – ‘eww, that was a bit saucy, isn’t it, that one?’ – and I just went ‘aww’. People do pore over things a little more than I may be comfortable with admitting.” | “But because we’re a little older and have kids, people thought it was quite creepy. My nephew asked me about it one day – ‘eww, that was a bit saucy, isn’t it, that one?’ – and I just went ‘aww’. People do pore over things a little more than I may be comfortable with admitting.” |
| He admits that he still finds the lyrics the most challenging thing (“There’s still a part of me that thinking I’m just getting by”), especially given those writers he particularly admires. “The guy from Arctic Monkeys [Alex Turner] is clearly a really good lyricist, of a style. He’s a very clever writer. | He admits that he still finds the lyrics the most challenging thing (“There’s still a part of me that thinking I’m just getting by”), especially given those writers he particularly admires. “The guy from Arctic Monkeys [Alex Turner] is clearly a really good lyricist, of a style. He’s a very clever writer. |
| “I actually think in places Lorde is a very impressive with her language. I hope she has something to write about now that her life’s been transformed to massive celebrity, because she certainly wrote about being a teenager quite well. And there are great lyrics in the rap world: there’s some great wordsmithery, albeit talking about things that I don’t necessarily relate to.” | “I actually think in places Lorde is a very impressive with her language. I hope she has something to write about now that her life’s been transformed to massive celebrity, because she certainly wrote about being a teenager quite well. And there are great lyrics in the rap world: there’s some great wordsmithery, albeit talking about things that I don’t necessarily relate to.” |
| He confesses that he doesn’t always recognise every pop culture reference in rap music, although Dizzy Heights has a surprising amount of them. Among the reflections in the album's most Crowded House-sounding moment, Recluse, are references to Howard Hughes, Sly Stone and Game of Thrones. | |
| “I threw a few references that were rolling around the house when I was writing the album. My wife got really into Game of Thrones for a while – I never got to watch it.” | |
| Well, with the upcoming tour schedule, maybe it’s worth downloading for the flights. | Well, with the upcoming tour schedule, maybe it’s worth downloading for the flights. |
| “To be honest, I don’t have much endurance with those series, even if they’re good," he says. "I didn’t even get to the end of Breaking Bad." |