Craig Finn
Craig Finn
Craig Finnis an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the American indie rock band The Hold Steady, with whom he has recorded six studio albums. Prior to forming The Hold Steady, Finn was the frontman of Lifter Puller. Described by Pitchfork as "a born storyteller who's chosen rock as his medium". During a five-month break from The Hold Steady, Finn recorded a solo album, Clear Heart Full Eyes, which was released in January...
song art book
I think the biggest thing - and this I think is true of songs but also of movies and books and art in general - is when you have this moment where you hear a song or whatever and you say, "Hey, I've felt that exact way as a human being," and there's no easy way to describe it.
song ties long
There's this moment sometimes, when you do a crossword puzzle and you have the one really long word. And once you get that, the whole thing kind of comes into focus. Sometimes it's just working things over in your mind and then finding that one line that kind of ties the song together, and now it works. It's a puzzle of sorts.
home people records
Some people will totally get restless, since you can make demos pretty easy. It's not unreasonable for someone to say, "All right, can you just record this and go home and work on it?"
memories writing firsts
Ironically, when I was playing in my first band, I would deliberately not write down any lyrics. I have a really good memory and I would just keep them in my head.
car bars rhyming
I don't have a problem rhyming "bar" with "car" - I do it all the time - but sometimes it doesn't feel right.
song writing tone
In the end, when you're writing a really good song, it strikes the right tone.
song thinking giving
I think when you are doing a song you're trying to give people enough details that they connect.
song offering people
I use a lot of specific places in my songs - traditionally, a lot from Minneapolis and St. Paul, where I grew up. Most people, especially when you get into international touring, have not been there. So you say, "Well, isn't it risky to talk about the corner of Franklin Avenue and Lyndale?" If you do it right, someone should say, "God, I know a corner like that." Offering specific details to describe something universal.
drinking beer guy
One of the coolest things to me about going to a show is you look over, and the guy next to you is sitting there drinking a beer and he's wearing a Donkeys t-shirt. And you're like, "Dude, I love The Donkeys."
book reading fans
I'm not only a songwriter but I'm a massive music fan and I love going to shows. It's different than reading a book.
girl song school
You are hearing this song, and you're 16, and it's a song about love, or a girl. And then maybe there's a girl at school that you like. So you're going to be thinking about that girl. That song is sort of about that girl. The songwriter doesn't know that girl, obviously. He wrote it for something else. But there's the specific meaning with the universal again.
powerful together words-and-music
Words and music together create powerful, powerful things.
song genius levels
I remember I was really into this British band, The Vapors, with that song "Turning Japanese." I thought that they were really next level genius cryptic weirdos. And then I realized when I got older they are just using a lot of British words, and I didn't know what they meant. But I thought, Oh, they are making up their own language.
looks clue obsessive
I am a really obsessive music listener, and I would look for clues.