Jeff
Finlin Interview,
July
2000
Q: We're
looking forward to seeing you in the UK later in the year. What are
your
thoughts on sharing a stage with Robert Reynolds and Paul Deakin? Will
you survive the experience?
A: It
should be great - what a great section they are. I'll look forward to
seeing
what I can learn - life's all about learning, ya know. And I'm looking
forward to working with Paul. When I first saw him play he just blew my
mind: being a drummer myself I like that 'no bullshit - boom-whack'
kind
of drumming.
Q:
You've been Kevin Montgomery's drummer in the past: how did you two
meet?
Have you worked with Doug Pettibone before?
A: I've
known Kevin since he was about sixteen years old. I used to work in
this
little vegetarian restaurant that all the writers on the row would come
to. He'd come in there when he was just a kid trying to write with all
these people - he's still the same way now, just full of enthusiasm.
Years
later, after he went to L.A., he called me to play some drums with him.
I don't know if he even remembered that we'd met before. Kevin was also
the one that turned me on to Doug Pettibone: I started going to L.A. to
try and find some interest and he played with me the night I got signed
to Pete Anderson's label, Little Dog, who put out my album "Highway
Diaries".
Q: What
was your response to being asked to tour the UK with these guys?
A: Well
I've been a musician and an artist for twenty years now and we are
known
to start believing things are going to happen after they've already
happened
(like tours and records). Too many cracked and broken promises smashed
on the highway behind us. But after it sunk in I was nothing but moved.
Q: You
started off as a drummer in a band called The Thieves; what was the
catalyst
that made you make the move to singing? Were you a frustrated singer
all
along?
A: No,
not really - I liked being a drummer but eventually it just got old and
I felt I had something to say - and when I didn't say it I felt like a
prisoner in Shanghi in the dark with this slow drip, drip, drip,
splashing
on my head - it was torture. So finally I just decided that the
hardest
thing I could do was write and record a record on my own - so I did it.
Q: Have
you always been moved to write songs? Do you find it easy to write?
A: I
find it easy now because I just write when it comes. I used to spend
hours
and days slaving over a hot Underwood typewriter beating my head
against
the wall. I'd write for eight or nine hours every day and scour books,
poetry and cooking shows in hopes of finding something that would
inspire
me to scribble brilliance. But alas, like a great bird I sank from that
sky and came down to the grace of the day - and that is what I write
with
now.
Q: You
play some evocative piano on a couple of tracks on the album "Original
Fin". Do you compose on piano?
A: Yes
I do, I twinkle the keys - a friend gave me a turn-of-the-century
upright
and I just sat down and started with it. It expands the melodic
platform
tremendously, and when I get bored with guitar I can go with it.
Q: Describe
your piano-playing.
A: I
would describe it as minimalist; a wondrous scratching; a tinkering of
the tusk; a weeping of the hammers; the fondling of the black and
white;
a kiss and twinkling; a musical sort of making love.
Q: Which
of your songs would you urge people to listen to, and why?
A: That's
hard because so many different people like different songs for
different
reasons (that makes me feel good because it makes me feel like I'm
providing
depth), and I'm too close to them as well. But if I had to pick, I like
"Napoleon, Josephine and Me", "West of Rome", "The Perfect Mark of
Cain",
"Love and Happiness". OK I said it, are ya happy! I love to
complete
ideas and see how far I can meld and stretch them - and I love a
wacked-out
story - so I guess "Napoleon" and "Cain" on that level.
Q: You've
been compared to John Hiatt, John Prine, "Steve Earle with a thesaurus"
and Lou Reed. Any thoughts on that?
A: No,
not really.
Q: Who
would you prefer to be compared to?
A: I
hate comparisons because most people who compare have about a ten-year
history for their comparisons - or they base their comparison on
someone
they know who made a lot of money. I think Mark Twain would be
nice
– or even Huck Finn himself.
Q: Any
amusing stories to tell us about life on the road?
A: Most
of my road experience has been awful – lots of driving and sleeping,
days
off in crack motels with five dollars a day to eat on, waiting for a
gig
to happen. Hard, hard traveling and dreaming. In Florida you get
tired of shuffleboard and rum; in Seattle the salmon goes stale; in
L.A.
the glitter fades and falls to endless freeways. The best parts are
those
times when the magic happens and you feel after all the shit you've
gone
through you get a chance to connect with someone - you look out there
and
you actually see in someone's eyes you’re getting through.
That's when it all seems worthwhile.
Q: Richard
McLaurin (Farmer Not So John and occasional 'guest' in SWAG) plays
slide
on "Waiting on a Flood". How did you meet him, and what is the
possibility
of you ever being a guest in SWAG?
A: I
don't know. I guess that's up to Jerry Dale. Jerry used to be in
my band before he joined the Mavericks. He is actually the wacked-out
piano
player on the track "The Hard Way" which you can listen to on
http://www.mp3.com/jefffinlin.
Anyway, Richard was in Jerry's band at the time - and that's how I
originally
met him. We then played in Mathew Ryan's band for a while together.
Q: You
have two albums out, Highway Diaries (1997) and Original Fin (1999) and
there's a third on the way. Is the music in your newest album shifting
focus or carrying along in the same vein?
A: It's
similar - thematic with my lyrical twist but we did things like brought
in horns – including Randy Leago and Jim Hoke (a guest in SWAG) - and I
used some players who have played with me forever - like Dave Jaques
(John
Prine) and Doug Lansio (Patty Griffin and Nancy Griffith). We all piled
in there and clocked like 85 hours in six days. We had a guy come over
and barbecue for us - the studio was literally filled with smoke and we
were all rolling around on the floor laughing and the stories started
flying.
When we were done, we had like twelve songs and I'm real excited about
it. It's going to be called "Somewhere South of Wonder".
Q: Do
you have a release date for the new album?
A: No,
not yet, we are still tweaking on it.
Original
Fin available from http://www.cdbaby.com or
http://www.hmv.co.uk
Tracklisting:
Love
and Happiness/June/The Perfect Mark of Cain/Waiting on a Flood/
She's
a Mama Now/Kisses From A Train/Weight of the Flame/Eighteen Tons/
Moonlight
Becomes the Dawn
Highway
Diaries available from
http://www.littledogrecords.com/
Tracklisting:
Napoleon,
Josephine & Me/West of Rome/Lovers in the Street/Sunday's Forgivin'/
The
Promised Land/Hammer Down/Only An Immigrant/Come On Annie/Idaho/
For
The Life In Me
Producers:
Laron Pendergrass, Jeff Finlin
