Tim Finn: It’s Only Natural
After 42 years, Tim Finn is finally taking his debut album, Escapade, on the road. Ahead of his headline ‘Legends Night’ spot at the final Adelaide Beer & BBQ Fest, The Note caught up with Finn, who reminisced about his solo debut record, making music in the ‘90s and the possibility of a Split Enz reunion.
Interview Tobias Handke // Image supplied
There isn’t much Tim Finn hasn’t done. In a career spanning more than 50 years, the acclaimed singer-songwriter has been a member of two of the world’s biggest bands (Split Enz and Crowded House), released eight acclaimed solo records and collaborated with a who’s who of the music world.
This year sees Finn celebrating one of his most revered projects, his debut album Escapade, which turns 42. It might be a strange anniversary to celebrate, but with the record recently reissued on colored vinyl, it makes sense for Finn to hit the road and perform the album in full for fans for the first time since its release.
Before a run of three headline shows in Thirroul, Melbourne and Sydney this August, Finn takes to the stage on the Sunday night of the last ever Adelaide Beer & BBQ Fest this June. Ahead of his performance on “Legends Night”, the charming songwriter spoke with The Note about his debut album, working with his brother Neil and the possibility of a Split Enz reunion next year.
Your debut album, Escapade, turns 42 years old this year. What are your memories of how the album came about?
The Spilts decided to take a break. We'd been touring very hard for about three or four years [and] were all a bit exhausted. Everybody went their separate ways and I just inevitably started playing the piano and working on songs that I had jammed on with the band or only ever half finished. Then I heard a Renée Geyer track on the radio that Ricky Fataar (The Beach Boys) had played drums on. The drumbeat was so compelling and so beautiful. It was almost like another vocal was happening. My focus was split because Renée's got such an amazing voice, so it was incredible to be able to focus on her and these amazing drums.
I ended up reaching out to Ricky, and then he connected me with Mark Moffatt (The Monitors) and a lot of other musicians who were either in Sydney or passing through Sydney. Ricky lived in LA, so he knew a lot of American musicians. Richard Tee was one that comes to mind – a piano player who was on the road with Paul Simon. He came down and played piano on ‘Fraction Too Much Friction’. It was a very lively, exciting kind of new world that opened up to me.
When you look at the personnel involved in the album, it's mind-blowing.
Exactly. Vince Gill played mandolin. Wilbur Wilde, Joe Camilleri, Bernetta Fields, who did the backing vocals – she came from a real pedigree of incredible American soul singers and had worked with quite a few of them. It was just a whole other thing going on that I didn't even know I was interested in or hungry for, but when it started to happen, I realised that this was exactly where I wanted to be at that time.
Why didn’t you tour the album after its release?
We did a couple of gigs where we had an 11-piece band. We [only] played two shows in Melbourne and two in Sydney because I was still in the band (Split Enz), and I was feeling a bit guilty at that point because the whole [solo] thing had taken off. I kind of pulled back into my shell and went back to the band. It's amazing that I didn't tour around Australia a bit more, but here we are, 42 and a half years later (laughs).
Escapade was a huge success both here and in New Zealand. After achieving so much with Split Enz, was it gratifying to strike out on your own and be recognised for your efforts as a solo artist?
It was, although it wasn't like I'd been wanting that. I was so loyal to Split Enz and loved the band and all the people in it. Escapade just took on its own momentum. We did it pretty quickly, in about six weeks. I didn't realise it was going to take off, so it took me by surprise. It did lead to me leaving the band about a year and a half later. We did one more record together and then I decided to leave. I sowed the seeds of destruction without even realising it (laughs).
How did the rest of Split Enz react when you told them you wanted to record a solo album?
They weren't fussed at all as far as I can tell. Even when it came out and [the] ‘Fractured Too Much Friction’ video was getting thrashed on Countdown and the song was in the charts, there was never any grumpiness or people telling me that I was a traitor or anything.
As you mentioned, the album led to you leaving the band and pursuing a solo career. You released several successful albums throughout the ‘80s, but the ‘90s were arguably your most creative period. You contributed to Crowded House’s Woodface, recorded an album with your brother Neil, and made music under the alias ALT with Andy White and Liam Ó Maonlaí. What are your memories of that time?
When I look back, ‘93, ‘94, I was doing those things you've just mentioned and living in a house that I loved in Melbourne. I had a studio there where we recorded some of those Woodface songs like ‘Weather With You’. The house had a bit of magic about it, and some great people were passing through using the studio, jamming with me or jamming with themselves.
Of course, the greatest thing of all [was] I met my wife and we had a child. I was already 45 when I became a dad. There were some tough times as well, but it was a pretty damn good decade.
You also worked with Neil several times during the ‘90s. What do you think it is about the connection you have that creates such magic when you get together in the studio?
The weird thing to me, looking back, is that in Split Enz, we did so little two-part harmony singing. We were in the band from ‘77 till ‘84 when we broke up, and you can count the songs on the fingers of one hand where we actually sang a harmony. It was more like two lead singers.
When we did come back together, we wanted to try and sing and get that vocal sound going. Lyrically, we could write songs using shorthand or telepathy or whatever you want to call it, to kind of get the imagery flowing. We wouldn't have to discuss it very much. There were a lot of things we could draw from just knowing the past so well and allowing that feeling to influence us. It is pretty magic.
READ MORE: You Am I: The Hi Fi Way
Your time with Crowded House was short, but your impact on Woodface is undeniable. How proud are you of that album?
It was a very special time because we wrote those songs for a Finn Brothers record, but it got morphed into a Crowded House [album]. It was curious how it all went down because when we started writing those songs, we said, ‘Right, let's write a whole lot of harmony songs, let's really go for that this time around’. ‘Whether With You, ‘It’s Only Natural’, ‘Chocolate Cake’ – we were singing double leads [and] harmonies together.
We recorded those songs, most of the ones that we'd written, in my home studio in Melbourne. We were away from the whole pressure of recording in big, expensive studios, and were just at home and loving it. We had a few people coming to play. It was a bit looser than a Crowded House record would have been. Ricky was on some of the tracks. We had Russ Hannaford from Daddy Cool come by to play guitar on ‘Chocolate Cake’.
I wanted to touch on one of your most recent projects, Forensics. Did you ever think you would be making music with members from Split Enz again?
No. I've always had that notion of wanting to do it ever since we recorded the album Second Thoughts in London. Brian Eno wandered in [during the recording] because he was friends with Phil Manzanera, who was producing. He said there was a song of ours called ‘Walking Down a Road’ and it has about 11 or 12 different parts in it, very complicated, and he liked one bit. He pointed out one part, and the implication being, ‘maybe just work on that bit, that would be good to develop’. That made no sense to us because he was moving towards minimalism at the time, and we were maximalists all the way. So it didn't make any sense to us. It was a very subtle, quiet comment, but it stayed in the back of my brain because nobody else had ever said anything.
So I said to Eddie (Rayner), ‘Why don't we try and write a new song over that section? I'll rework the lyrics and create a loop or something’. So he sent back this gorgeous music bed and I rearranged the words from the song as a new lyric, and then we just branched out from there into entirely new songs with new lyrics, but using little seeds from slide ends. Sort of like sampling ourselves, but not just using a sample in a track with a beat or something, but actually writing a new song. That became a fascination for both of us. We wrote furiously for about six months. We got two albums. The second one will be out later this year.
Let’s finish up with a few questions about your upcoming shows. Are you excited to be getting back out there and playing Escapade for your fans?
You know I am excited, and I've got a great band. Jack Houston, who used to be in Bad Loves, he's organised the band. I played with them out at the Big Red Bash last year and at Mondi Mondi, and both of those gigs were so much fun. Two backing vocalists, a really good rhythm section, great keyboard player. Jack plays guitar, and we're going to add a percussionist and a horn player, so it'll be an eight-piece band. We'll do the album proud, I hope.
Before those three shows, you're playing at Adelaide Beer & BBQ Fest. Are you going to be playing Escapades in full, or is this more of a career retrospective set?
I regularly do three songs [from Escapades], ‘Fractured Too Much Friction’, ‘Staring At the Embers’ and ‘Made My Day’, along with ‘Weather With You’, ‘Chocolate Cake’, ‘Six Months in a Leaky Boat’, ‘Dirty Creatures’… I'll be dipping in and out of various projects, various bands. I'm very lucky to have that playlist.
You're playing the Sunday evening of Beer & BBQ Fest, which has been nicknamed “Legends Night”. When you look back on your whole career and everything you've achieved, do you think about your legacy, or are you more focused on continuing to make music?
I think it's more the latter. I mean, any songwriter, we're most excited about the one we wrote yesterday or the one we're still working on. But it is a great feeling to be able to go out and play a live show and be able to draw [on] songs from the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and the ‘00s. People know them and give you back so much euphoria. I'm fortunate. It's when I play live that I think about that aspect of it.
Are you planning on touring a bit more, because you haven't toured a lot recently?
No, I haven't, thanks for that (laughs). I don't miss it as such, but I always love it when I do it, so it's a curious one. I've really enjoyed playing festivals, some of which [have] sadly gone under, like Falls Festival and Splendour, but there [are] a few there still and they're really great. The Australian festivals are so great. There's some in New Zealand as well. I'm just going to drop this in there; it's not official, but there is talk of a possible Split Enz tour next year.
Oh, wow! That’s awesome.
It's only a possibility. It's very early days, but you've got the exclusive (laughs).
Catch Tim Finn at the very last Beer & BBQ Fest on Sunday, June 7. Tickets on sale now via beerbbqfest.com.au.
