Every night before hitting the stage, Neil Finn asks himself what he’s going to sing.
Unlike certain one-album-wonders, Finn — who will be in Dubai on May 15 to perform at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium — has decades of material to choose from, whether be it his solo work or his creations with the Finn Brothers, Split Enz, Crowded House and even his experimental duo with wife Sharon dubbed Pajama Club.
“Luckily, I enjoy them all,” he told tabloid!. The 55-year-old recording artist, appointed an OBE in 1993 for his contribution to New Zealand’s music, doesn’t feel hindered by his songs that became big. Compared with major acts who have sidelined their most popular songs — Oasis and Wonderwall or Radiohead and Creep — Finn’s sentiment towards his hit singles, such as I Got You and Don’t Dream It’s Over, is a refreshing one.
“They weren’t novelty songs or outside the box in terms of what I normally do. I obviously enjoy new songs, as well, because you like to think you’re still moving forward, still learning things,” he said. “There’s no out of bound songs. They’re all, potentially, on any given night, a hell of a good time.”
Finn filled us in on what he’s planning for his Dubai gig and why his sons have taught him as much as he’s taught them.
Q. How, exactly, do you choose your set list?
A. I was actually, funnily enough, working on a set list just before you rang. Depending on where you are and what the history is in the different places, some songs are more known than others. For instance, when I’m making a set list for Dubai, I’ll be conscious of the fact that people will be coming from lots of different circumstances and different countries, and I’ll be keen to give the people all of the songs that they remember fondly, as well as just a few new ones and some couple of surprises.
Q. Do you find multiple generations are coming to your shows?
A. That is true, actually. It’s interesting because some of them have grown up with the songs playing in their house and you can see that they’re coming for the first time to check out the source, and it’s a really nice thing to see, them singing along to songs that they weren’t even born when they were out.
Q. Your kids are in the music scene, too. Do you think they’re mostly influenced by you or does the learning go both ways?
A. It certainly goes both ways. If they grew up around what I was doing, I think some of it is inherent, and there’s something in the genes that’s inherent, but they have their own taste and take on it. In many cases, I’m influenced by what Liam and Elroy are both doing, I’ll be listening to it, as well. It’s a healthy thing, it keeps me exploring new things.
Q. Do you ever get into heated discussions over music?
A. Not really. I mean the worst it ever gets to is if somebody’s got something on the stereo as part of the soundtrack of the day and I don’t like it, we’re usually pretty quick to go: ‘what is this rubbish?’ There’s sensitivity here and there on that, but nothing too serious.
Q. Your wife, Sharon, plays the bass with you live and in your duo, Pajama Club. How is that?
A. We didn’t expect it to come along — it just came out of us getting together one night in our music room and jamming along on drums and bass. I wasn’t such a good drummer and she’d never played bass before, so we were a marriage made in heaven. Out of that came some quite spirited jams, really simple, primitive stuff [and we] wrote songs around them. Music’s like that, it has a habit of catching you by surprise.
Q. Your song was featured on the end credits of The Hobbit. Are you a fan?
I was involved in the first one, so I was pretty predisposed to liking it already. I think Peter [Jackson] and [partner] Fran [Walsh] are amazingly talented.
Q. Do you envision doing this forever?
A. I’m sure I’ll be doing it ‘til the day I die, given half the strength, but there are different ways of coming at it. I’m looking at getting a few different angles together right now, after this tour. We’ve got to keep it fresh no matter what, you can’t get into a routine. I’m highly motivated, I find the mystery of it just as fascinating as it ever was.
