Neil Finn |
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Mon. July 29.2002 3:30 PM EDT |
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Neil Finn: All for One and One for AllThe Crowded House singer comes back with two strong records, lots of famous (and not so famous) pals, and peace of mind. by C. Bottomley |
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Neil Finn ( ) |
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One of pop's most exquisite songwriters, Neil Finn is best remembered as the man behind Crowded House. In the mid-80s the New Zealand band made listeners swoon with “Don’t Dream It’s Over” and “Something So Strong,” two big chart scores that sounded
Whichever, during his 25-year career the New Zealand singer-songwriter has amassed quite a few celebrity admirers. Sheryl Crow sings on his new One All, and on the recent live disc 7 Worlds Collide, Finn is backed by a band made up of Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway, the Smiths’ Johnny Marr and even Soul Coughing’s Sebastian Steinberg. In 2001, Finn also invited his non-celebrity fans to play with him onstage on his Band of Strangers tour of New Zealand and Britain. In both instances, he made unlikely combinations sound perfect. What these people love about Finn is fully evident on One All. "Wherever You Are” proves his knack for a chorus is as keen as it ever was, while more intimate songs like "Anytime" are simultaneously personal, funny, and comforting. He told VH1 about how he shook up both his life and his art, and why his sense of adventure will never lead him too far from home. VH1: You did a lot of stuff in 2001 - released One All, played the 7 Worlds Collide concert, wrote a movie soundtrack, toured with the Band of Strangers and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and worked on a musical project called Parables, Lullabies and Secrets. What accounted for such productivity? Neil Finn: I came out of a period of difficult things going on with a lust for life, a thirst for experience and a lot of energy to make music. So I put myself in situations with a lot of different people. There was an element of struggle, but I haven’t stopped since! Every time you work with a musician whose playing has a lot of character, you come away with something new to add to your own inventory. When I write a song now, all these experiences are fresh in my mind. I feel like I can do anything I want to. VH1: How did that kind of resolve wind up influencing One All? Finn: I wanted to start this record off with a bunch of musicians in the room. I met Wendy & Lisa through Tchad Blake, the co-producer on the record and an old friend. I met [bassist/keyboardist] Wendy Melvoin in the studio, then the day after we were at Tchad’s place and we wrote a song. Sheryl Crow toured with Crowded House on her first record. It’s been a connection since, because Tchad’s been mixing her records. She just lived up the road, so it only took a call. As much as it worked fine on my first solo album Try Whistling This, it’s a lonely thing when you’re on your own in the studio. You want to have other people in there to perform for and to talk about music with. VH1: Is writing with other people a different process than you’re used to? Finn: It’s always different when somebody else is in the room. When you start playing something, it doesn’t always sound good straight away. So it’s about how relaxed you can be when not sounding very good for a while. You go through a period where it’s awkward and you think, “Oh sh*t, I wish I hadn’t just sung that.” I can do it with my brother [Tim Finn] pretty easy. We both know that we’re dorks! VH1: The songs on One All are very concerned with being a pop musician and having a family. Finn: There’s a lot of traveling and distance on the record. It’s a recurring theme, because I live on the other side of the world. In places like this, my brain is always partly thinking, “I wonder what’s going on over there.” VH1: A lot of musicians try to escape their roots. Why do you gravitate back to New Zealand? Finn: I can’t seem to live anywhere else. It seems to be the right place for me. It’s not very practical for engaging with the music industry, but in terms of who I am and how I relate to the world, it is a help because it’s my country. I love the land and the light and the people. My family is there. It all means a lot to me. There’s a lot of inspiration that comes out of living there. Maybe it’s good that you don’t always have to feel that you’re in the center of things. A lot of interesting things are happening in little isolated places. That’s my experience with life, anyway. Some of the greatest thinkers I’ve come across are people that live right out of public view. Nobody would even know they are there. VH1: Your wife and son both appear on One All. You’ve been married to the same woman for 21 years. What’s the secret in keeping the family together? Finn: Rules are not worth following unless they're your own, and I can only speak for myself. But for me the secret is involving your family in what you do. I love the fact that in my house I got a studio. When I make music in there, my son wanders in. My dog wanders through and smashes the [guitar] strings with his tail. It’s not a separate world. The kids see that part of my natural existence is making music. So they don’t feel that it’s a no-go zone or a difficult place or something. VH1: Is this record a more personal effort than the Crowded House records? Finn: I haven’t really approached what I’m writing about that differently. On this record, there’s more of a sense of resolve on my lyrics. A little bit less angst or confusion. I like that, because that’s partly the way I feel. Whenever you write a song, you always want it to be universal. Sometimes people latch on and the times are right. Sometimes they don’t. But they still have a life. People are playing the songs on this record in their bedrooms, restaurants and all sorts of places. They have a strange and mysterious life. People take comfort from them, so I’m happy for that process to go on without knowing what it is. It isn’t all measured by airplay charts. There are little strange journeys going on underneath that level that I trust. VH1: Why did you enlist your fans to perform with you at each stop of the Band of Strangers tour? Finn: I used to play at parties as a kid a lot, and I love what happens when you involve people in the room. It’s a special thing. Over the years I’ve let people come up on stage to sing with me or play with me in ones and twos. It occurred to me that in every town in New Zealand there’s a bunch of people who had played my songs in cover bands or at parties or in their bedrooms, and they would know the songs pretty well. If you did a little scouting, said, “Send in a tape of you playing a Crowded House or a Neil Finn song,” picked 12 people and put them into a band, you’d have a really rocking little line-up. It might not be perfect music, but it would have huge spirit because people would be having a peak moment. It turned out to be exactly that. For these people it was a very special thing. You can’t buy that enthusiasm or spirit with the best band of session players. It was hard work, but really rewarding. [Watch Clip] VH1: How did you assemble the line-up for the 7 Worlds Collide concert? Finn: The gestation of it was Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien coming to New Zealand for a holiday with his girlfriend Susan. We were just talking over a glass of wine about how great it would be to step outside our normal modes and put a little band together for a week of shows somewhere. I started to think about it and rang up a bunch of people that I know and put it to them. They all responded really positively. People like Eddie Vedder said yes immediately. It came at a good time for people, and it was an idea of stepping out of your normal life and making another band up of people you like and whose music you like. VH1: Many people might not associate Crowded House with Pearl Jam. What’s the connection? Finn: Most people wouldn’t! As life goes on, you become more aware that nothing is as simple as it seems and nobody is as one-dimensional as they seem. Eddie was listening to Split Enz when he was a young teenager in San Diego. I found that out years later when he came to Auckland. My son was into Pearl Jam in a big way. We got to go to the show and meet Eddie and found out that he was a fan. I’ve run into him a lot of times over the years now, and we really got on well. There’s a good friendship there. [Watch Clip] VH1: Fans, band, orchestras, the all-star group on 7 Worlds Collide … How do you switch mindsets between all these different outfits? Finn: It’s what you get used to. Now I’m used to being in different situations: Adapting, improvising, trying to spot what might spark something good, and being aware of where you are. A lot of people get caught up with putting on a show that’s scripted from night to night and can’t change. To me, the great thing about music is that it’s supposed to describe the moment you’re having. You have a favorite record, you put it on some days and it doesn’t work for you. You put it on at another time and suddenly it’s the most resonant, beautiful thing you can possibly be listening to. The music, the time of the day and the circumstance you’re in are in sync. At every show I’m trying to look for what are people feeling and who’s in the room and what’s possible, and I try and work the show around that. When you hit those moments, your audience goes to another level. They go, “Now I’m really on the edge of my seat. I’m paying attention, because this is happening now. If I blink I could miss something.” [Watch Clip] |
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