Liam Finn - Lightening Strikes Oz

His name has been floating around the traps of the music industry for years. Yes, Liam is the son of Australia’s most prolific and respected adopted songwriter Neil Finn, but he’s also done the hard yards on his own. He’s been playing in bands since he was just a young chap but his debut solo release I’ll be Lightning marks new territory for Finn.
After years of collaborating with his bandmates in Betchadupa. Going it alone has its ups and downs, but generally it’s been a really rewarding process, says Finn.

“Even at the time I came away thinking ‘I don’t know if its good enough, but then you listen to it the next day and go ‘alright, I nailed it, sweet.’ I was quite happy about that,” says Finn, sounding genuinely chuffed.

Listening to this friendly, grounded musician talk, it’s obvious that he’s happy with where he is professionally at the moment. But it’s been a long road, despite the fact that the small-statured Liam is only 23 years young. He’s been cranking out the hits since his mid-teens with Betchadupa, who formed while he was still at school.

Coming from a family of musical royalty, it isn’t hard to understand why Liam knew he wanted a career in the music industry practically as soon as he was old enough to pick up his first pair of drumsticks. Being the son of Crowded House front man and songwriting mastermind Neil Finn, one would think that Liam would’ve had record labels throwing deals at him. But in truth, he’s no spoilt little rich kid. Much of his time has been spent slogging it out in New Zealand, England, and Australia over the past decade, playing gigs in dingy pubs for a couple of quid here and there. But now, with years of musical expertise under his belt, a repertoire of hundreds of gigs and a box full of CDs and singles to his name, Liam is a far cry from the pimply young schoolboy who once, guitar in arms, stood awkwardly on the stage.

His first solo album marks a departure from the youthful rock focus of Betchadupa, to a more mature, wise and engaging collection of off-kilter pop songs that showcase a developed sense of songwriting prowess. I’ll Be Lightning was recorded over a period of two months earlier this year at Roundhead studio in Auckland. To give the album the sort of personal, atmospheric sound he was after, Finn stayed away from anything digital or computerized, instead opting for old fashioned analog gear, including a vintage recording desk that The Who once owned.

While the album may be impressive, Finn’s live shows are really something to behold. The gigs consist of Finn starring as, essentially, a one-man band, mastering guitar, drums, bass, vocals and even keys. He’s assisted by E.J. Barnes (Jimmy’s daughter) who provides back up vocals from time to time, but apart from that it’s all Liam. It makes you wonder ‘how is that humanly possible?’ and yes, perhaps it seems such a difficult feat that it would be crazy to attempt. Undoubtedly, it’s something that could easily go pear if not pulled off with skill and finesse. But by all reports so far, Liam is killing it.

“I do a kind of a one-man band kind of thing with a looping pedal that my guitar goes through and so certain songs I play the chords and loop them. It all relies on being on time and being kind of relatively onto it. I’ve got an octave pedal that makes my guitar sound like a bass... and I’ll play a bass line and add that to the loop and add other things to the loop and then I can go and play drums.”

Not only is it something that keeps the audience entertained but it’s providing Liam with the sort of challenge that keeps him enthused about being a musician.

“It’s different every night, certain songs I’ll do looping some nights and not other nights. There’s so much room for experimenting and jamming with yourself really. It’s great fun and really stimulating.”

It’s the years of practice he’s had that have enabled Finn, even at such a young age, to be such a seasoned professional with one of the most inventive, technically proficient and jaw-droppingly impressive shows around. But it hasn’t always been like that. Recalling one of his less favourable stage memories, Liam reminisces about a time when he didn’t find it so easy to impress audiences.

“Me and a friend were playing in this eastern suburbs rock quest where every other band was playing metal… And we made kind of Portishead, Air kind of trip-hop influenced [music].”

The audience didn’t really take to their experimental style, to put it gently.

“We had the crowd chanting ‘gay, gay, gay.’ But we did look gay,” admits Liam, “We were wearing make up! I think I ended up telling them to get fucked and we got disqualified ‘cos I swore,” he recalls with a laugh.

Nowadays, Finn has a more refined sense of what it takes to please his fans. His shows are polished and intimate, allowing him to really connect with the audience.

“I haven’t had one show yet that I haven’t enjoyed and I haven’t had one show yet where its felt like I haven’t connected with the audience whether its 10 people or a hundred people. That’s the thing with this one-man band thing, it’s really engaging because people are kind of intrigued by the human nature of it, you know, watching someone’s brain work on stage and watching them mess up and try and turn it into something good rather than a train wreck.”
If you missed your chance to see Liam on his recent Australian tour, he’ll be back here again later in the year. In fact, he’s got a pretty hectic second half of the year planned for himself, which is just the way he likes it.
“I’m not complaining at all, its fantastic.”

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