fiN
By Jennifer Quinlin
In the middle of the excitement of the global release of their debut album, Life Is Wasted On The Living, fiN frontman, Luke Joyce, took some time out to answer a few questions:
Congrats on the new album! How does it feel?
It feels good, very good. It's been a long time coming. The way we have released the singles on vinyl, over such a long period touring all last year and now finally the album is coming out. It has been an epic journey.
How long was the process from deciding you wanted to record an album until release this week?
The most frustrating thing in the world is that the album has been finished for a long time. When we released The Artisan / It Changes Everything 7" single (back in October 2011) we had just started receiving all the mixes back from Adrian (Bushby). We've had to sit on this for so long, releasing each single on vinyl bit by bit. It's a huge moment for us to finally be putting the record in its entirety out there for the whole world to hear!
True or false - the album title, Life Is Wasted On The Living, is taken from a Douglas Adams (The Restaurant at the End of the Universe) quote. What led to the choice of title?
FINALLY! someone has picked up on this :) You are spot on. Although I didn't take it from him directly. I was just jamming ideas for the chorus and that line came out. I just thought that is the perfect line. It's a great quote.
Which track is your favourite, and why?
I guess my favourite track is Everybody Dies Alone purely because I addressed some serious demons in that song. I also love 5am. I love 5am because it was the last vocal I recorded on the record. It was fitting as it was the early hours of the morning and I was nicely drunk. It just felt great.
As I listened to the album I found it near-impossible to define your genre. Do you think you fit into a particular genre?
I have a bee in my bonnet about genres. I understand that the "industry" need them to classify a band. Everybody likes things to fit in their neat, tidy little boxes. I'm not going to deny it has made it harder for us. But for me that's half the problem with bands these days. They all sound the same or they have one hit and all the other songs sound like that hit... just shitter. We didn't want to be a band like that. This record is a band discovering themselves, sharing that journey with the fans and embracing it. This album allows us the opportunity to go in any direction we want in the future. It's freeing!
Bit of a history question - how did you all meet?
It's your typical met at school vibe. Myself and Kerry went to school together, we were in and out of punk rock bands since we were 14. Same story for Simon and Jonny. I met those guys through friends. We just hit it off. The rest, as they say, is history.
Can you explain the origins of the band's name?
Jonny came up with it. We wanted a name that you wouldn't forget. Short, sweet and simple. fiN just fit perfectly.
Questions about touring now - do you have any plans to head to New Zealand and Australia for live shows?
We would love to tour in New Zealand and Australia. It would be incredible. We will as soon as we can I can promise you that!
You've supported some very big names already (Muse, Incubus), even before your first album. If you could choose a band to open for - past or present - who would that be?
OK i have several. First past band would be Nirvana. Not very original but Nirvana were the band that changed my life. Present... Pearl Jam & The Smashing Pumpkins and thats just the tip of the iceberg!
You have a strong social media presence and high level of engagement with your fans - do you imagine this is something you will sustain or is it more an effort to build a fan base in the leading edge of your career? Further to that, how important do you think it is for musicians to engage with their fans?
It's the age of social media. Bands need to realise that things have moved on. You can't hide behind a curtain anymore. Fans want you to connect with them. Our fan base is our life blood. We love our fans, it sounds corny but they do make it all worth it. Our social media presence is something we will sustain for as long as we want to be a band. Without our fans we are just four guys in a room stroking our egos.
You handle all the recording and producing yourselves, along with all PR and your own label - has that arisen out of desire or out of necessity?
Both. I'm not gonna lie, it's tough. But we are getting better at it every day. We assign each other jobs and spread the work out evenly. This is the future, bands just don't get the chance to grow with labels anymore. They won't give a band like us a chance. You have to prove yourselves. The industry is a mess, that's why we have Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj.
If you weren't a musician what would you be doing?
I'd be a Llama Farmer
If I opened your refrigerator (assuming starving musicians have one) what would I find?
Chicken and veg... you should check the wine rack.
Do you believe synchronised swimming should be an Olympic sport? How would you feel if a fiN track was used for one of the routines?
Yeah, why not. It looks really hard. I can't do it, can you? I wouldn't mind if they used our track as long as all the swimmers were naked.
Sesame Street or The Muppets?
The Muppets.
Final thought - what do you think of hipsters?
I loathe them. Just be real, it's not hard.
Life Is Wasted On The Living is now available as a digital download only. Available on iTunes, Amazon, andGoogle Play.
Check out the band here: