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...
looks clue obsessive
I am a really obsessive music listener, and I would look for clues.
song writing thinking
I think you want to write a song that's like the songs you are into.
summer new-york nice
Someone should have a record that doesn't have any singing. It's my favorite Miles Davis record. I love hanging out in the summer, in New York, when it's miserably hot. I love electric Miles Davis in the summer. Jack Johnson, the songwriting especially, is a premier example of that. It always makes me feel hot in the city. It's also nice to have something not yelling in your ear. For me, as a lyricist, it's nice to put on something without any words.
song people different
Sometimes people come up and say, "You have this line in this song and it meant a lot to me." You don't always remember that line as the one. You're putting part of your human being on the page so people are going to have different responses - the other humans are going to connect with different parts.
real writing hair
Springsteen on that record started writing less about having your wind in your hair and turning the radio up and more about being dragged down by adult things. Regular people trying to get ahead. A little less mythical and romantic, and more real. It's a really spectacular record for that reason.
beautiful song morning
It's a template record for the intersection between pop and noise, starting out with 'Sunday Morning' - a real beautiful, almost innocent sunny day song. You have a lot of different types of things on one record. It can be really pretty, or it can be really awful inside, depending on where your head's at at the moment. I got it in ninth grade and I think I've listened to it every month since then.
song grateful night
It's good to have some kind of California in there. It's almost always appropriate. It's appropriate on a sunny day or late at night. If you grew up on the Grateful Dead, which I certainly did, you listened to 10 million bootlegs. But you realize that American Beauty has some really tight, well-arranged songs that aren't meandering.
thinking goal people
When people hit on feeling a certain melancholy or elation, it's a really exciting moment. I think making that connection is the goal, and what makes something great.
worry pet neurosis
So maybe it’s just a part of who we all are, and always were. My worry now, though, is that we are starting to nurture these neuroses of ours, and treating them like pets. That can’t be a good thing.
song real college
The Replacements are the foundation for a lot of what came after in alternative and college rock. Let It Be is their best record and has the most diverse collection of songs. Some pop stuff, some heavy stuff, and some real moments of beauty like 'Sixteen Blue' and 'Androgynous.' It's a record I always go back to.
girl night thinking
There are nights when I think that Sal Paradise was right / Boys and Girls in America / Have such a sad time together.
allow band bring hold members music special steady understanding
We feel that Vagrant will allow us to bring our music to even more people, while also understanding the things that make the band special to The Hold Steady fans, and to the band members themselves.
adult half situations stupidity suburban universal wonder
You're still half a child, but you're getting in these adult situations with a sense of wonder and a sense of stupidity as well. I see it as a real universal suburban record.
barely drink literally minutes until
Lately, I barely drink anything until about 10 minutes before we play. Then I literally drink as much as I can.