We all know that Liam Finn is the son of Neil Finn, front man of both Crowded House and Split Enz. Liam has even occasionally formed part of Crowded House’s touring band rather than shying away from the association with his father. But to place any more emphasis on the younger Finn’s lineage would be to ignore the fact that he is a talented and considered musician in his own right. So Tone Deaf’s Dunja Nedic instead chatted to him about his new album, the internet’s influence on the music industry, and his time on earth.
After releasing his debut solo album, I’ll Be Lightning, in 2007 to much critical acclaim, Finn was determined not to stick to a formula for his second offering, FOMO, fearing that he would fall into the trap of a typical and repetitive singer songwriter.
‘My preference is just to keep things changing and whatever seems like is going to be the most exciting or challenging or different, that’s quite often…going to be the most inspiring because it feels new,’ says Finn. ‘As soon as you start feeling like you’re retracing over old steps, that’s when you question what the hell music is, if it’s art or if it’s a job or something, so that’s why I keep changing things up.
‘Obviously it’s bad to generalise but I guess the singer songwriter kind of name is sort of a cringeworthy term really in my eyes anyway, and I probably shouldn’t be so afraid of it because it’s actually what I am,’ he laughs. ‘The idea of someone crying with their acoustic guitar is not very attractive, but people that are having fun with it, that’s really exciting and interesting to me.
‘A lot of people kind of keep making the same songs or get pigeonholed and for a good reason, they just do one thing….but I really like as a solo artist, the ones that keep things changing and make different records each time, like Beck or David Bowie or even Neil Young, [who] just kept on mixing things up, throwing themselves in the deep end and I think that makes them a more interesting listen.’
This goes some way in explaining why Finn chose to work with Burke Reed on FOMO. Finn describes Reed as both a kindred spirit, and as someone with a completely different style of working to his own; the two terms seemingly incompatible, and yet this was the perfect mélange for Finn and Reed to co-produce the album.
‘I was in desperate search of an ally, someone to bounce off and after doing it on my own for so long, I needed that person to make it feel new for me again. I think when I met Burke…we had different ideas of how to go about making music but ultimately we had the same goal in mind of wanting to make classic pop songs.
‘He opened my eyes to a lot of different techniques and ways of going about it and that’s exactly what I needed to make that difficult second record because I otherwise would have probably sat on it myself for about eight months.’
The album itself is the acronym for ‘Fear of Missing Out’, something that Finn feels has been propelled by social media, and the constant bombardment of all the things you coulda/woulda/shoulda done.
‘I think anyone would be a liar to say that they don’t feel FOMO at different points in time…people are almost quite gleefully uploading photos of what a great time they had that you missed out [on] so I think there’s this perpetual FOMO generating in the world and it’s obviously not a positive thing but I think it’s just [a] natural human state of being.
‘It felt relevant to the world but…obviously it’s tongue in cheek, and it’s a great way of passing it off without taking yourself too seriously. There’s nothing worse than someone who wishes they were somewhere they’re not, but obviously [when] you’re missing out on a family birthday or something like that, you ring them up and your whole family’s together and you get that little pang of anxiety, that’s the feeling and it’s not a bad thing but you don’t want to wallow in it.’
A more obvious impact propelled by social media has been that on the music industry. But perhaps because he is a Generation Y-er, in spite of his decade long career, he doesn’t express any disdain for or resistance to the dramatic shift caused by the internet in the last few years.
‘At the beginning when I was releasing stuff with Betchadupa, it was still very much a kind of old school business and people were still throwing exorbitant amounts of money around and wooing bands and taking you out for lunches and there was still this weird 80s sort of mentality of what rock ‘n’ roll was. We got a very little taste of the end of that but also very quickly realised that there was nothing real inside that and that’s not actually a way of building a career.
‘I think that was when things started turning with the internet…it was a good thing and a bad thing because I think it meant that all of a sudden, anyone could have a band. These people who hadn’t ever played a show all of a sudden had more fans than you on myspace. I think that’s what opened everyone’s eyes to the possibilities.
‘I’m really excited about the way the industry is going and I know a lot of people are really afraid of it but I’ve never made any money out of record sales. If people are downloading music for free, if it’s getting your music out there…I think it’s great and power to it. I think the more people that hear it, hopefully if it’s good music, more people like it and come to your shows.
‘It pays to be optimistic I think!’
Thu 18 Aug (Solo performance) The Workers Club Melbourne VIC 18+
Strictly Limited Tix www.moshtix.com.au
Fri 19 Aug Corner Hotel, Melbourne, VIC 18+
Corner Hotel 9427 9198 or www.cornerhotel.com **SOLD OUT***
Sat 20 Aug Jive Bar, Adelaide, SA 18+
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Wed 24 Aug Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, NSW 18+
Moshtix: 1300 GET TIX (438 849); www.moshtix.com.au
Thur 25 Aug ANU Bar, Canberra, ACT 18+
www.ticketek.com.au
Fri 26 Aug Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, NSW 18+
Moshtix: 1300 GET TIX (438 849); www.moshtix.com.au
Sat 27 Aug The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD 18+
www.oztix.com.au and 1300 762 545
