Neil Finn Official Website
Hi good people, I hope you have been tuning in to Fangradio when possible. Here are two videos from the past week to show you where we are, what’s happening, how this is working. It’s an unfolding story, an evolution that’s keeping me tuned in and tuned up. Glad to have you with me.
NEIL
Hi there,
I‘ve been a bit quiet lately on account of being buried deep in songs and recording, which I guess you might have guessed, and after all, when the music is playing, that’s how we truly stay in touch. However, I am aware that I start many other endeavours (e.g. my “regular” newsletters, Fangradio) with a great sense of purpose, then fall off the pace, leaving me with a sense of letting people down. I think you are kind hearted and patient, so I won’t remonstrate with myself over this too much, but just giving voice to slight feelings of inadequacy.
I hope everyone is staying healthy, not panicking nor sleepwalking through life. The world is going mad but it always has, we just keep watch over our day, in our own place to make sure we don’t miss the chance to help and make beauty known.
Love from me
Neil ( bluesman ) Finn
We have been watching closely what is unfolding in Australia and are very upset to see our friends over there and their community suffering from the effects of fire and smoke. A calamity for the wildlife too. Hard to comprehend the scale.
We had the smoke hovering over Auckland too, a reminder of how vast this problem is.
I am directing some money towards the fire services and support networks and hope you might be motivated to lend your support too.
Here are some links to the good folk out there on the front line .
New South Wales Rural Fire Service: https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/volunteer/support-your-local-brigade
Victoria Country Fire Authority: https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/about/supporting-cfa
South Australia Country Fire Service Foundation: https://cfsfoundation.org.au/donate
Australian Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org.au/campaigns/disaster-relief-and-recovery-donate
Wildlife Victoria: https://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/
WIRES Wildlife Rescue NSW: https://www.wires.org.au/donate/emergency-fund
Wildlife Rescue South Coast: https://www.wildlife-rescue.org.au
Sending love and best thoughts as well.
Neil
Hi there ,
For those of you who celebrate Xmas and those of you who don’t, I will be having a Xmas Fang Radio session coming up this Sat weekend around 1 pm PST. I may even remember to leave my microphone on this time. So much has happened this last year and much of it was inspiring and heartwarming, I am currently engrossed in preparations for a new Crowded House album and pretty jazzed to be going out on tour next year for that reason.
I am aware there are some people who find Xmas a melancholy time of year, important people who are missing, and individual struggles that seem to run against the grain of goodwill to all men. I get it and have a few sad little gems to play that might give some small comfort. I'll be wearing no novelty Xmas jumper, in fact I’ll be wearing nothing. Thank goodness it’s radio.
Hope you can tune in.
Neil
UPDATE: Xmas Fang Radio is available for replay now. It features Christmas music and chats with Crowded House’s Mitchell Froom, Liam Finn, Elroy Finn and Nick Seymour.
Crowded House
Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Liam Finn, Elroy Finn, Mitchell Froom.
From the very beginning, Crowded House has been a shifting landscape, befitting of the name. A cast of characters have inhabited the house, elevated our endeavours and been part of the evolution: Paul Hester, Tim Finn, Mark Hart, Pete Jones, Matt Sherrod, much love and thanks… they brought spirit and style that cannot be replaced.
The whole time through success, disappointment, break up or make up, we believed in the concept of a band being the sum of parts, the interesting rub that occurs when strong and differing personalities get to add their character to the songs. I was drawn into my solo world on a few occasions and had wonderful collaborative experiences outside the band, but there remains in my heart a flame that burns for what we began in 1985.
Mitchell Froom was right there with Nick and Paul and me back in 1985 and we were all learning how to make records together… we didn’t know what Crowded House sounded like, we were operating on part instinct, part inspiration, part bluff… in any event, we made a record that captured people’s attention and began this epic, part dreaming, part scheming, mostly just stumbling along in thrall of a song. He was a mentor, now Mitchell's in the band… hooray!
I’m so excited to have Liam Finn and Elroy Finn take their place too. They are two of my favourite musicians in the world, both brilliant songwriters, and we play and sing really well together… no surprise there. They grew up around the music, the band, the ethos, the humour, and have made so much beautiful music of their own. They won’t let us settle into a comfy retirement.
The potential of this lineup is what draws me once again to start another chapter of Crowded House. We have just gathered to play new songs this week and are thrilled to find that, already, there is a fresh sound emerging and much exuberance for that discovery. I can feel Paul’s presence, I think he would smile to see us all together.
New music is on the way but we will be giving the old songs much love and attention for the shows upcoming. I know the best is yet to come. Thanks for tuning in, good folk.
Neil
See the latest Crowded House European Tour dates for Summer 2020 on the Live page and at crowdedhouse.com
A special Fangradio session to honour Ricardo Finn, around 8 pm Saturday night NZ time. That’s 8 am U.K. Sat morning. I will be answering questions and doing requests via Skype but also spinning some of my father’s favourite songs…
Don’t miss it !
Neil
Check this converter for the broadcast time in your area.
Visit the Fangradio page for technical tips and archived shows.
I’m back in Auckland for a few weeks after a joyous experience touring Australia and NZ with up and coming band Fleetwood Mac. I think we hit some great heights as a band and I was overwhelmed by the warm reception I received from the home audiences. Thank you one and all!!!
I don’t sleep very well on tour, sometimes needing sleeping pills for assistance. They are comforting to a degree but leave me feeling a bit prickly and discombobulated after a few days. I drift around in a less than optimum state for the afternoon and then luckily by showtime my equilibrium is restored and neuron pathways all clear. This show requires a different kind of concentration to my own shows. I feel the importance and real worth of being a cog in the wheel where details and nuance really matter. Perhaps theatre actors feel the same dedication to the repetitive form of the show and can find pleasure in the interlocking strength of the ensemble when everyone is focused. I do have the odd overwhelming compulsion to go rogue but that will have to wait till next year.
Fangradio has started well. I have made some discoveries and enjoyed the process. I think I will do a request session for my next one so you can Skype with a question and request. The show will be called Requestion of course. I’ll give you a little warning in the next few days. I think I might make it an evening session here in NZ so that the U.K. and Europe can listen live in their morning.
Parting thought... Every grown up that mocks Greta Thunberg is, without exception, a complete moron.
Stay tuned
Neil
Hi people,
Since I last wrote, I have had 2 lengthy Fangradio sessions with some of you. Mixlr has proved to be a pretty great format to do the one man operation, enabling me to lean into my laptop and make things up as I go along. I intend to keep up the broadcasts (some may term them podcasts but I never liked that term, nor blog nor selfie nor hashtag nor meme for that matter). I’ve enjoyed the Skype calls - works well to ask questions (about anything) and "keep it short” is the key (as Peggy Dawson once said). Seems like within this format is the potential for me to stay connected to you, have some back and forth and provide some entertainment and subversion (on good days).
I’ll have some time over the weekend to get a new Fangradio session going. I’ll try to give you some kind of warning.
I don’t miss Twitter or Instagram and I never did Facebook anyway. I know some good stuff gets posted on those platforms and I’m missing out on a few things, I guess, but I’m happy to have a bit more time to daydream and think about family and music.
Here’s a thought to consider. I’ve been noticing there’s a few singers out there who sound very tired, are mangling their vowels and even seem to have trouble finishing off their words. I’m wondering whether this has anything to do with the proliferation of pharmaceutical opiates? Perhaps they are just playing to a whole new “stoned” audience. There are some strange affectations around. I may do a review of contemporary singing styles in my next show as well as flowers.
Stay tuned and thanks to everyone……. except you Cyril Rathbone.
Neil
For technical tips on listening, chatting and Skyping with Fangradio, see the Fangradio page.
Hi there good folk,
Hope this newsletter finds you curious, kind hearted and a little bit cheeky. I am soon going to start broadcasting a very intimate radio show from wherever I am, through my laptop direct to you, no middle men, no technical staff, just play some music, talk a little and hopefully include a few audio-only Skype chats with you. (Audio-only is best so that I don’t have to floss my hair up or have a shave.)
I am using a platform called Mixlr. My station name is Fangradio (here is the link). I will send alerts for those who have signed up for live broadcast times ahead of time. The shows, however long or short, will be archived on my website and on Mixlr’s Showreel. If you would like to Skype me to ask a question or present a radical notion, I will invite you during the show. You can search my Skype address, Fangradio. Remember to push the phone icon for audio only.
This is a home made outing and an experiment in progress, so some patience may be required. Exciting prospect though.
Stand by for an alert in the coming days.
Hooray
Neil
UPDATE: The first Fangradio live audio steam will be broadcast on Saturday 17th August at about 11am, Sydney time (1am GMT). Use the Time and Date converter link here. If you sign up to Mixlr (for free) and click Fangradio’s follow button, you’ll get an alert when Neil’s live on air.
Team NF
UPDATE: The archived audio is available to play now on the Fangradio page.
I’ve been on holiday and not looking at the world through the narrow frame of my computer so much. How glorious is a wide horizon. It took a few days, but my senses became tuned in to the rhythm and resonance of cicadas, water lapping on stones, the laughter of children, a soft dreamy piano soundtrack from the cafe below, all sounds merging to induce a sleep that’s gentle and forgiving, bringing to mind my favourite L words, lilting, languid, languorous, listless, lethargic, lazy, lolling, lederhosen. I see intricate golden patterns appearing behind my closed eyes, rich blue amorphous shapes bearing fanciful thoughts with no apparent order or sense.
In the local bar the other night, however, I was confronted by a truth telling about the idyllic place we are currently enjoying. A long term summer resident is fighting to stop the dump burning plastic at night. Out in the deep water, the government are considering oil exploration and, all over the island, large villas are being built. The place is losing its charm for her. I didn’t want to think about it too much, so I excused myself and left, but some of those seeds of doubt are now floating in the murky tide of my conscience that ebbs and flows between realisation and denial.
One morning, a bumble bee flew right into a spider’s web. My grandson Buddy seemed alarmed and we were compelled to free it. The spider was already moving in, reaching out his spindly legs for that fat tasty treat but, with a delicate flick, my broom handle broke through his sticky trap and delivered that stricken bumble bee to his freedom. Moments later, the bumble bee flew overhead in a giddy zig zag victory lap. We all cheered his release, but we have interfered with the natural order as humans do, made a choice… there may be consequences! At the very least, the spider has some major repairs to make and it will take several mosquitoes to add up to one succulent bumble bee. Well, at least no living creature died though our interference.
I feel like we should talk soon. Let me figure out a good way.
I leave you with a clay head, revolving balls and a dancer on the rock… happy holidays.
