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Liam Finn: 'I'll be agonising over music for the rest of my life' Liam Finn: 'I'll be agonising over music for the rest of my life'
(5 months later)
Liam Finn was home in New Zealand this summer for a family holiday. Liam Finn was home in New Zealand this summer for a family holiday. The Finns kept being interrupted by calls from journalists asking his father Neil for his views on Lorde's success. “He thinks that it’s great," Finn says, nonplussed. "Why would he be, ‘My songs should be still the best’?”
The Finns kept being interrupted by calls from journalists asking his father Sitting near to a Lorde display at Wellington’s National Library, Finn says that he is also a fan. “There is something really amazing about being 17 and going ‘this is what I think’. I think it’s brilliant that Lorde’s outspoken and standing up for what she thinks and is unafraid to respond to haters, and go ‘fuck off’.”
Neil for his views on Lorde's success. “He thinks that it’s great," Finn Is the final track, Wrestle With Dad, autobiographical? “Yes and no," says Finn. “It’s more about the assumptions about what it is to be in a family of musicians. It’s more autobiographical in a literal sense. Like being sweaty and actually wrestling your dad, rather than any kind of metaphor for me struggling to take him down. Because by no means is there any real competitiveness between us. We both just want to see each other succeed in what we’re trying to do.”
says, nonplussed. "Why would he be, ‘My songs should be still the best’?” To that end, Finn reckons his father needs a collaborator like director Michel Gondry. “He tries to do everything. He makes his own videos and they’re awesome, but every time he sends it to someone to pick it up a bit, it comes back a bit shitter and loses the essence of his DIY aesthetic. So it’s like he needs some really great collaborator that knows how to implement his ideas.” He finds journalists still raising his father's shadow frustrating. “To be honest, most people in America under the age of 30 probably don’t have a clue who Neil Finn is. But until I win two Grammys, they’ll be mentioning him. The one thing I can take from watching Dad experience 35 years of being a musician is that it never gets any easier and that I’m going to be agonising over this for the rest of my life.”
Sitting near to a Lorde display at Wellington’s Liam first left New Zealand in 2003 because Betchadupa wanted to focus on the Australian market for their second record. Following a year in Melbourne and four more in London, in 2011 he moved to New York. “There’s a competitiveness purely because there is some of the most amazing art and music being made in New York, and to be noticed you better be on top of your game. It also dishes up extremities, which is what I think a creative person needs to feel something new all the time. Because you can’t keep on having break-ups to make records" – as on his first album, I'll Be Lightning – "you’ve got to find something you feel strongly about.”
National Library, Finn says that he is also a fan. “There is something really amazing about being 17 and going ‘this That same excitingly edgy tension one feels talking to Finn is palpable during two gigs at Wellington bar Puppies later in the week. New tunes 4 Track Stomper and Burn Up the Road are incendiary, with the atmospheric Neurotic World another highlight. The most emotional song is Gather to the Chapel, his beautiful tribute to Crowded House drummer Paul Hester — who took his own life in a Melbourne park in 2005 — and those affected by suicide generally. “It was definitely cathartic to write, and still is to perform. I’ve always felt it important to put yourself back inside how you felt writing the song when performing them. The song evolves with your perspective, and it keeps you engaged with the audience on an emotional level every time."
is what I think’. I think it’s brilliant that Lorde’s outspoken and Finn’s enduring connection with listeners showed once more at Auckland’s 2014 Big Day Out, where he performed an energetic version of Habit with Pearl Jam. When he was living with Betchadupa in Melbourne, he says Habit was inspirational. “That’s what we were really into, heavy riffs that are a little bit evil but actually sound like pop melodies ... Eddie [Vedder]’s vocal performance on that recording is so amazing, the amount of growl and intensity. It sounds really warm and organic, but also just grunty as fuck.”
standing up for what she thinks and is unafraid to respond to haters, and go Finn has toured a lot with Wilco and Pearl Jam. “Eddie’s so compassionate and thoughtful, and fulfils the cliche that he created of the deep-thinking, philosophical, kind, intense, angry guy.” With them and his family, Finn is not short of supportive mentors.
‘fuck off’.” His father Neil once said: “I do have regrets, there are people you hurt, things you didn’t pay attention to, things you can’t change, there will always be painful things.” Liam’s thoughts?
Is the final track, Wrestle With Dad, autobiographical? “Yes and “Wow that’s heavy, Dad! Well, he’s completely right.” He then makes a Kanye-esque jest, laughing: “But I would say that I don’t have any regrets and I haven’t hurt anyone – so fuck off, Dad.”
no," says Finn. “It’s more about the assumptions about what it is to be in a family of musicians. It’s more
autobiographical in a literal sense. Like being
sweaty and actually wrestling your dad, rather than any kind of metaphor for me
struggling to take him down. Because by no means is
there any real competitiveness between us. We both just want to see
each other succeed in what we’re trying to do.”
To that end, Finn reckons his father needs a collaborator like director Michel Gondry. “He tries to do
everything. He makes his own videos and they’re awesome, but every time he
sends it to someone to pick it up a bit, it comes back a bit shitter and loses
the essence of his DIY aesthetic. So it’s like he needs some really great collaborator
that knows how to implement his ideas.”
He finds journalists still raising his father's shadow frustrating. “To be honest,
most people in America under the age of 30 probably don’t have a clue who Neil
Finn is. But until I win two Grammys, they’ll be mentioning him. The one thing I can take from watching Dad experience 35 years of
being a musician is that it never gets any easier and that I’m going to be
agonising over this for the rest of my life.”
Liam first left New Zealand in 2003 because
Betchadupa wanted to focus on the Australian market for their second record. Following a year in Melbourne and four more in London, in 2011 he moved to New York. “There’s a competitiveness
purely because there is some of the most amazing art and music being made in
New York, and to be noticed you better be on top of
your game. It also dishes up extremities, which is what I think a creative
person needs to feel something new all the time. Because you can’t keep on
having break-ups to make records" – as on his first album, I'll Be Lightning – "you’ve got
to find something you feel strongly about.”
That same excitingly edgy tension one
feels talking to Finn is palpable during two gigs at Wellington bar Puppies
later in the week. New tunes 4 Track Stomper and Burn Up the Road are incendiary, with the atmospheric Neurotic World another highlight. The most emotional song is Gather to the Chapel, his beautiful tribute to Crowded
House drummer Paul Hester — who took his own life in a Melbourne park in
2005 — and those affected by suicide generally. “It was definitely cathartic to
write, and still is to perform. I’ve always felt it important to put yourself
back inside how you felt writing the song when performing them. The song
evolves with your perspective, and it keeps you engaged with the audience on an
emotional level every time."
Finn’s enduring connection with
listeners showed once more at Auckland’s 2014 Big Day Out, where he performed
an energetic version of Habit with Pearl Jam. When he was living with
Betchadupa in Melbourne, he says Habit was inspirational. “That’s what we were really
into, heavy riffs that are a little bit evil but actually sound like pop
melodies ... Eddie [Vedder]’s vocal performance on that recording is so amazing,
the amount of growl and intensity. It sounds really warm and organic, but also
just grunty as fuck.”
Finn has toured a lot with Wilco and
Pearl Jam. “Eddie’s so
compassionate and thoughtful, and fulfils the cliche that he created of the
deep-thinking, philosophical, kind, intense, angry guy.” With them and his family, Finn is not short of supportive mentors.
His father Neil once said: “I do have regrets,
there are people you hurt, things you didn’t pay attention to, things you can’t
change, there will always be painful things.” Liam’s thoughts?
“Wow that’s
heavy, Dad! Well, he’s completely right.” He then makes a Kanye-esque jest,
laughing: “But I would say that I don’t have any regrets and I haven’t hurt
anyone – so fuck off, Dad.”