NZ MUSIC 1977 TO 85

Rip It Up, Issue 100, 1 November 1985, Page 1

NZ MUSIC 1977 TO 85

Duncan Campbell

neil f inn the prodigal perspective

“New Zealand doesn’t tolerate mediocrity very well. It might tolerate appallingness!” Thus speaks Neil Mullane Finn, former Split Enz lieutenant (described in RIU when he joined the band in 1977 as “a talent still to evolve”), now about to embark on his new venture, the Mullanes. With eight years in our foremost popular culture collective under his belt, he’s well qualified to speak on the state of the art here, coinciding with RlU’s centennial issue and

the imminent departure for the UK of our next bright hope, the Chills. Having Been There and Done That, Finn finds New Zealand attitudes defensive and precious. "I’d have to say I’m ignorant of the day-to-day problems facing bands here. I couldn’t express my opinion on that. It seems a shame New Zealand doesn't get any flow going, it always hiccups, it has an odd peak when it seems something is really happening, then falls into a trough. “I’m just longing for some sort of centralising figure in New Zealand to come along and unite

things. That has to happen in a small country like New Zealand, you have to unite to make something work. Perhaps we need something like a good (trade) union that would look out for opportunities. “There's a lot of bitchiness in bands, about the industry and from the industry. It happens everywhere, but in other places the minorities are strong enough to look after themselves. Here, it seems that everybody needs everybody else. There should be less dissension, more overall cooperation.

"The worst thing, it seems to me, is that when bands are at their creative peak, there's very little support available. Things like Rip It Up are probably one of the very few consistently supportive areas of the industry. You’ve managed to walk a thin line between being objective about quality and keeping everybody happy. It’s a tribute to Murray in that respect." While our charming, generous and appallingly handsome editor goes to buy himself a new hat, Finn reflects on another of our sins: insular attitudes. “Musicians here are able to convince themselves that their idea is everything. Isolation creates that view. You’re convinced that your idea is ‘it; but there’s no contrary opinions, so you just carry on, feeling you don’t have to do any more. It seems people are more concerned about what their friends think here than trying to get any overview of what everybody thinks. It’s a shame that bands don’t want to get better, or that they don’t want to learn from other people, they feel it’s OK to keep within the same garage level.” “Garage" being the operative word, when talking of the current obsession. “It seems very regressive, in a way. I reckon it’s good for a band to have that mentality when they start off. It’s healthy to hate everything else and think that what you’re doing is divine (tiny smile), because it gives you that impetus to get over the real problems of getting your first gigs and stuff. But pretty soon you've got to start accepting that you’re not the cat’s whiskers. “The standard of production of records here is never going to be anything that makes an impact overseas, as shoddy as it is. That’s a source of great disappointment. "Having said that, it’s not the band’s fault. It’s lack of direction, there are no managers, maybe one or two. But generally speaking, the management here is terrible. It’s a really important area. Managers can supply direction to a band and keep them aware of wanting their music to reach people. “I think it’s a rare musician that doesn’t want his music to be embraced by a lot of people. I’m a bit suspicious of people who say they never want to be commercial. Because I know deep down that when they’re in front of an audience that’s going nuts... it’s a brilliant feeling. It’s what you’re there for” Finn feels “nervous" for the Chills as they head off on their Great Adventure. Speaking from personal experience, he says Britain is likely to be a foggy road. “It’s almost constantly in a state of flux, it seems. There’s a constant turnover of people who dominate or manipulate the fashion world, and occasionally they do it well enough for the whole country to go that way for a while. Like Adam and the Ants (who?), everyone was King of

the Wild Frontier for a while, then dumped it like a hot potato. "Occasionally there's a general Swing To Good. I think punk was the last time something healthy happened. The constant irony of England is that some of the best emotional music comes out of there and yet when it's bad, it's the worst! “I wish the Chills good luck. I think it'll be very good experience for them, and they'll be shocked by what they see. I’m looking forward to hearing them produced well. It'll be good for them to record in England, because a song like 'Kaleidoscope World’ or ‘Pink Frost' would sound a hundred times better if it was produced properly."

The Mullanes, despite the collective title, are very much Neil Finn's band, with his material and personality upfront. The four-piece which toured for a month in Australia earlier this year is now down to three, guitarist Craig Flooper having departed at the end of that tour (“Just didn't work out”). Still there are ex-Enz drummer Paul Hester and bassist Nick Seymour, a Melbournite whose brother Mark is a Hunter and Collector (“He'd probably prefer I hadn't said that”). “There is a vacancy to fill, but well probably end up recording as a three-piece,” says Finn. “I don't mind that, because I want a fair bit of flexibility to force my own ideas on the whole thing.” There is some ironic laughter in the wake of that remark, but Finn is deadly serious about being a leader this time. “Split Enz was an incredibly democratic band and everybody had to have their say, which was great, but I’m looking forward to getting a few more of my own ideas on vinyl. “I don't want to just have a band lineup for the sake of it. I’m enjoying having no rules for a change. Ideally, I would like to have a permanent fourth person, but I have a picture in my mind of what that person is going to be like. I haven't found him, or her, yet.” The Mullanes, whatever shape they might take, have about 20 songs to work with right now, Finn having been through a lengthy burst of songwriting. By the time you read this, Finn will probably have signed with Capitol USA, and the trio will be recording in LA. David Tickle, producer of True Colours and Waiata, looks set to work on this one. Finn admits there was a falling out with Tickle during the Waiata sessions, but he still regards the man as a genius, despite a“huge ego”. Tickle has recently been live mixing for Prince, so he may have met his match in the ego stakes. Signing with an American label rather than on Downunder has distinct advantages. “It cuts out a lot more middlemen. I'm a great believer that the more middlemen there are, the harder it is to get to the bloke who’s going to buy your record. If you've got an American record company dealing with an Australian manager, an Australian company dealing with an American firm, and so on, you just end up with a great big hotchpotch. You also tend to lack identity. “I think a lack of management experience cost us some success with True Colours. ‘I Got You' would probably have been a hit in America, had certain things been done. The record company also blew it in America. A&M just didn’t feel like they were involved. They were always dealing with Mushroom or dealing with Nathan (Brenner, former Enz manager), they were just getting a slab of vinyl, but they didn't really know what to do with it, they didn’t feel like they were getting any input.

“It’s bad to get too tied up down here. It’s good to get a start and work out all your problems, because you’re out of view of the world. A lot of bands make the mistake of allowing themselves to be swallowed up in an organisation down here. That’s very restrictive overseas. It’s easy for me to say that because I’ve got no organisation at all at the moment. I’m floating free and trying to cover everything at once. But I sort of prefer it, in a way, making my own decisions. I’m happy without a manager at present, but I don’t want that to continue forever. It distracts me too much from music.”

So how will the Mullanes sound? Probably like Neil Finn is the simple answer, reached in a roundabout way. Finn only knows the songs himself as rough demos right now, and is keeping an open mind about the finished product. “It’s obvious that the songs will have a continuous factor to them. I’m changing, but not abruptly. The sound will be different. The Split Enz sound was very much a sum of the parts. I think it'll be more guitar-oriented, and a little heavier because of that. It’s not going to be like Midnight Oil or anything, I’m not that sort of writer. But it’ll have more ‘weight’, I think.” Finn displays the family trait of enormous selfconfidence, bolstered by his experience in this country’s greatest popular music group. It’s funny how subjective a plain fact like that looks on paper. While having regrets on what might have been, Finn is also enthusiastic about the lessons learned for the future.

“It didn’t occur to any of us at the time, but now there are certain things you miss, personal things, being with that bunch of people. It was great. But the split was a spur to me, starting a band myself. I'd always had that thing about joining a band that was already established, there were certain ways of doing things. I inherited a lot of values and methods of doing things from Split Enz. Now I’m stuck in the deep end and I’ve got to find my own way. That's a good challenge."