BALLAD OF A FINN MAN NEIL FINN

Rip It Up, Issue 79, 1 February 1984, Page 14

BALLAD OF A FINN MAN NEIL FINN

George Kay

"1 think it's crunch year actually," said Neil Finn buttering another piece of toast in his motel room in Dunedin's Leisure Lodge. "The band's at a crucial stage of its career. We've been going for a long time and we need new challenges and we need to arrive somewhere definite."

It was the morning after Split Enz's first Dunedin concert. Finn had slept in and had to phone room service for a late breakfast and so inbetween mouthfuls of tea and toast he unravelled the current state of Split Enz.

; "There's a strong feeling within the band for what we're doing but it's getting harder to keep committed to the unerring Split Enz trail. Tim going off to do his solo album sparked off thoughts from the others of what they could be doing without Split Enz. Eddie could write great music scores for films and sometimes I find the idea of being in a two guitar band appealing. And you become aware when you have a long history of, shit, what can we do now? We need unequivocal international success as that would be a real spur to us now and we'll re-evaluate our position when we come to record. We don't want, to spoil the memory of what we've had by continuing too long." ' Conflicting Ideas

Neil Finn.'s disillusionment with the band's present position sprang mainly from .his dissatisfaction with the latest album, Conflicting Emotions.

"The album was confusing because we hadn't communicated as we usually do before an album and we all had different ideas. So overall Conflicting Emotions hasn't got a band sound or feeling and, for me that was the biggest disappointment.

"It's important that on our next album we sound like a real live full of energy type band again. I like the songs on Conflicting Emotions but we re being very self-critical at the moment, analysing what we are, wanting to stay relevant.

We wanna put out a record that's up there with the best anywhere otherwise we don't want to bother. If we can achieve that then the future's assured. We don’t want to accept any compromise on that, we don't want to be confused again in the studio and we want to record the next album very soon around April or May." Conflicting Emotions concluded what had been a frustrating and comparatively fruitless year for Finn. "At first we thought we'd have about six months off, just long enough for Tim to do his solo album and then back into the studio. But as in all things it ended up being longer and I didn't adequately prepare myself to do enough things. So 1 sat around, did a bit of production for Karen Ansell who used to be in the Reels. Dance Exponents rang me up and asked me to produce their album and 1 might've if I'd known I was going to have so much time. So the only things 1 had were my songs so 1 was determined that they were getting on the album. Tim, on the other hand, had a very full year and although 1 don't like some aspects of his album, I can appreciate that it was great for him to do."

Live Ch-Ch-Changes • Not only is the band in a state of flux with its recording philosophy, but their live approach is also under revision. "We decided after the album that we needed more strength in the bottom end of the band. Noel did tremendously well on drums but he's really a percussionist and although he had a good feel, the rhythm section was on the light side. ■

All the best dance music these days has this very solid drum sound and, although we don't want to jump on that particular bandwagon, we felt that we weren't capable of doing that even if we wanted to. So we chose Paul Hester (from Australian band Deckchairs Overboard) because he was so simple and dynamic and he has an enthusiastic personality." The band's first Dunedin concert was played to a packed town hall. What was immediately obvious was Hester’s drum kick and the fact that the band was closer to a lean, tough rock n' roll sound than they'd ever been.

"That's a conscious movement. We are very conscious of breaking out of old patterns and we'd like to pare the sound down quite dramatically. So we are different but we'll be even more different once we record with Paul." The show was well received and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves on stage. But this wasn't the impression gained by the Otago Daily Times reviewer the morning after who believed 'Tim Finn seemed unhappy ... disinterested ... he wandered off stage at odd intervals' and who concluded 'Tim did earn something of a reprieve on standards such as 'Dirty Creatures', 'One Step Ahead' and 'My Mistake'." Whose mistake? Neil read the review and smiled.

"That faux pas undermines the reviewer's credibility a bit. Last night was pretty relaxed. As the guy said Tim felt relaxed enough to wander off stage. He was in a good mood last night so that was a misinterpretation. "Tim is moving into a stage where he wants to feel more relaxed on stage and so let the show flow more rather than jumping around like a maniac with over-the-top energy. It's great on some songs and great when he's iathe mood but he enjoys a balance more now." Do bad reviews annoy the band? "Tim and I tend to take more notice of everything probably because we write the songs and because we re a bunch of Irish whackers (laughs) from Te Awamutu whose family are pretty intense about various things. They always hurt, it's like being called names at school, but there's the occasional negative review that's quite justified where the person is making some constructive criticism."

The warmth of the Dunedin reception was typical of the response throughout Split Enz's whole tour.

"People are used to having a good time when they come to see us and the band does create a happy atmosphere. This is borne from the fact that we see ourselves as entertainers as important as anything else." Has the band ever thought about performing without costumes and props? "We've done it really. The costumes we're wearing at the moment are causing some controversy as not everybody likes them. I think they're good costumes but Tim feels more inclined to be dressed in casual clothes now on stage. And we've become more like that. These costumes are more extreme than anything we've had in years but there again there's a tradition of coming to see Split Enz which is that we're gonna look completely different from anybody else. At the moment, we can't make up our minds as to how we want to look."

• From conflicting costumes to covers! namely the airing of 'Dock of the Bay' as an encore. A fine treatment, but why bother? v. "It's always been one of Tim's favourite songs. He did a series of shows in Australia last , year playing his solo stuff and he did that song and he enjoyed it. It's quite a good song although it's a bit slow.-but we thought we'd chuck it in when we felt like it." .

On Conflicting Emotions, Neil Finn's songs are easily the best. 'Strait Old Line', Our Day', 'Message to My Girl' and the superb 'The Devil You Know' are proof enough of his growing craftsmanship. Yet 'The Devil You Know' never made the concert. How come?

"We haven't played it yet on stage as it's a difficult song to arrange live. We used a drum machine on record and we didn't want to use one on stage, we don't believe in that as drum machines are for solo artists not for bands where a drummer is still better. So when we tried to arrange it for stage it didn't have the same feel with real drums and it's always more difficult to fit slow numbers into a set as you’re always conscious of keeping things up and everybody bopping around.

> "It's a shame because as a song I think it's one of the best I've written. I wrote the whole song O in about half an hour and that's always a good sign because the lyrics are very focused and fit 5! the flow of the song." § - The Split Enz live performance centres around K brotherly sword-crossing. A series, of verbal X skirmishes that seem rehearsed. ~ 'They're never rehearsed. The verbal sparring is spontaneous. There's a tendency on stage for °Q things to go over the top but sometimes these O exchanges get out of hand when somebody q makes too smart a comment. It's ; amazing the g number of people who think we don't like each other as we can make it look quite real." • ' Has performing live been difficult? "No, but I found it difficult playing guitar as I'd never played electric guitar before I joined Split Enz which is crazy but at the time they couldn't find anybody else who had the right ideas. I'll never be a technical wizard on the guitar but I feel competent enough to relax. As a live entertainer I was naturally inclined to jump around a bit but sometimes that's my undoing as I topple over mike stands and things." When all's said and done it's the live Split Enz performance and the corresponding immediate positive feedback that has kept the band trucking. "As long as we're enjoying it and we feel united then there'll continue.to be a band. So we wanted to make sure with this tour that we did that and I think we've achieved a fair bit: We're much more in tune with each other now after a couple of months on the road. We wouldn't continue out of sheer stubborness or comfortableness. We don't want to be a cabaret version of what we used to be. That's why every time we come back we want it to appear that we've done something in the last year. Going For A Song

"I'm committed to being a songwriter the rest of my life, that's the most important thing for me. The band's right up there but my songs come first. I know when I really click that I'm capable of writing a damn good song and I wanna get better and better." On the tour Finn had been carrying a four track portable tape recorder which he'd been using to put down the bare outlines of songs. Does he find the process of songwriting a hard road?

"It comes in phases. It sounds corny but it's still a magical thing for me. I can't figure out where it comes from. Ideas come easily but I still find lyrics, finishing and arranging hard work. When I joined the band and started writing Tim initially helped me with the lyrics and I still find that the hardest part of songwriting."

Is there a brotherly rivalry in songwriting? "Yeah, a healthy rivalry. It's never been negative but there is rivalry. If Tim comes along to rehearsal after he's written a really good song and it clicks with the band, I think shit, I'll have to write something now. I think that's good," Finn's commercial baptism into the songwriting scene was the mighty 'I Got You', a great song in any year and the required confidence booster for the Judd replacement. "Back then I thought it wasn't an extraordinary song. We just did a good arrangement of it in the studio and it was right for the times. At the time I was a bit embarrassed by it because it was so basic but the band thought it was great. We feel now that it should've been a world-wide smash a la 'Who Can It Be Now?' as it was bigger than both Men At Work records in Australia and New Zealand."

As it was, that single and the album True Colours gave Split Enz the breakthrough that they had worked for during the 70s. Would the band have survived if True Colours had flopped? "That's hard to say as at the time we said to ourselves that this album had to do. it or that was it. Mind you, we said that a few times and still continued. It was a crucial point for us and we needed success. We had bloody credibility up to our ears, and that's the most important thing when it comes down to it, but ultimately your survival depends on selling a few records. "Alot of bands over here tend to justify the fact.that they're not commercial by saying that they don't want to be commercial. The art of making a good single, of connecting with everybody with something that's got quality, is one of the biggest challenges left." A quick scan of Neil Finn's lyrical slant reveals a victim frustrated with his lot. From I Got You' to The Devil You Know' he's been on the receiving end. Somebody's always kicking sand in his face.

"I'm a fairly reserved and conservative middleclass sort of guy because of the way we were brought up. So underneath me, like many other people in New Zealand, there's an undercurrent of frustration. I'm very aware of it so I'm trying to come up with a different angle for my next batch of songs. "But my songs are honest. For example some-

thing like 'The Devil you Know' is about what would've happened if ... It's conscience too. I envy people who don't have a conscience, who can just race through life and do whatever they like without feeling guilty about hurting people on the way. Because we grew up in a very close family and there was a religious thing there, no matter how much I rebel I'm still locked into that conscience thing. Most of the time I think having a conscience is pretty good but you get these'frustrations that I can get out through songs like 'No Mischief' and 'Bullet Brain and Cactus Head'.''

Both of those songs are about politics? - "Yeah, they're both general because I don't know enough about politics to be specific. I hate musicians who write about issues they don’t know enough about. I wanted to get an everyman. frustration across about politics. So there is a lot of frustration in my songs and one would ask. why I don't do something about it instead of whinging all the time." Would the Real Neil, Please Stand up? Introductions and personal assessments have been left till last. Neil Finn now twenty-five, joined Split Enz as a result of, "pure nepotism" (his words, he was joking) back in 1979. His songwriting talents have saved Split Enz'ssales although he couldn't salvage the wrecks of Waiatd and Time and Tide. Conflicting Emotions, by his own admission, was confused despite containing some of the best songs Split Enz has ever recorded. Just over eighteen months ago Finn was married and last year he became a father.’ Consequently 'Our Day'. ./"The song itself, like most things:, on 1 Conflicting Emotions, became something different in the studio. Originally it was quite up but we discovered that the verse had a really, unusual atmosphere by leaving it empty." Marriage must have restricted the freedom to tour? "No. I would resent it if it did. Sharon's very

understanding and she has no desire to come on the road and I don't want to have a traditional marriage in that respect. A lot of. bands break up when people get married but I was determined that wouldn't happen." ‘ ' What would Neil Finn have done without Split Enz? ’ "I would've been a musician. I've often wondered that. Joining Split Enz means I've learnt a lot of lessons that probably would've taken me years to learn otherwise. "I wonder, if it would be. good for me to do something else, to start something with my own stamp."