Matt Finucane (guitars, vocals) – I started as a solo artist nearly ten years ago. Ten years! Oh my god… I lived in London and was drunk, poor and depressed, so it was difficult to stay consistently creative. I moved to Brighton, and in the last two or three years I’ve begun pursuing it properly – getting organized, working a lot harder.
2. Who plays in the band now and what are they playing?
MF – I’m still a solo performer 80% of the time, because it’s quicker and easier to write stuff and air it in public immediately with an acoustic guitar. On recordings, I’d play most of the instruments, with occasional help from friends here and there. Recently I put together a live electric band – Barney Guy (drums) and Stephen Bad Mother Folker (bass). They’re really good, and I’m lucky they want to work with me. It’s going well, so the next step is to try recording with them.
3. Who has inspired you?
MF – Lou Reed, Mark E Smith, Syd Barrett. People like that. They’re all bold and unique, and they’re all dead. Day to day, there’s inspiration to be had from lots of people – not necessarily musicians, either – in terms of attitude, or a different creative outlook. But my basic tastes were set early on and those artists, with their complete histories, played the biggest part in that.
4. Why this name? And tell us the meaning of it.
MF – I use my real name. I got a lot of abuse growing up in England with an Irish surname, so it feels good to parade it now. People often struggle to pronounce it correctly – so I did consider a stage-name, for about five seconds – but then thought, No... it’s not my problem, I don’t need to hide behind anything, and I’ve worked hard to put out music with my name attached… so why change it?
5. Have you given out any album? If so, when and what’s the name of it?
MF - Two full albums: This Mucky Age (2011) and Glow In The Dark (2012), followed by several EPs and singles from 2014 till now. Most recently, Ugly Scene (2018) and Disquiet (due in October). Also, there’s another LP just finished.
6. Have you played with some famous band?
MF – not yet, but it would be interesting. I do a lot of free improv stuff to keep my playing flexible, and have shared gigs with loads of people who are well-known in that scene… Shatner’s Bassoon, for example… but it’s not really the same thing. Modern jazz famous isn’t indie hipster famous!
7. What’s the plans for the future?
MF – do more gigs (I’d like to get to Europe, if Brexit doesn’t screw everything up), hopefully put together longer tours, persevere as ever. Keep writing and recording and do more with the band. There are so many musical avenues to explore, it’s hard to know where to start. Focus, that’s the key. Hold onto that, and everything works.
