Neil Finn

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Neil Finn
Neil Finn, 13th June 2006, Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Australia Courtesy Mandy Hall
Background information
Birth name	Cornelius Mullane Finn
Also known as	Neil Finn
Born	27 May 1958 (1958-05-27) (age 51) Te Awamutu, New Zealand
Genres	Pop, rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, ukulele, mandolin, keyboards, Bass Guitar
Years active	1976-present
Labels	Columbia
Associated acts	After Hours, Split Enz, Crowded House, Finn Brothers, The Mullanes

Neil Mullane Finn, OBE (born 27 May 1958, in Te Awamutu, New Zealand) is a singer and songwriter and one of New Zealand's foremost popular musicians. He was the co-frontman, along with his brother Tim Finn, for Split Enz and is now frontman for Crowded House as well as recoding several successful solo albums and assembling diverse musicians for the 7 Worlds Collide projects. He was born Cornelius Mullane Finn, but stated later, "I was christened Cornelius, and dropped it at an early age thinking it was a bit corny", in an interview with Australian television host Andrew Denton in 1995.

Finn rose to prominence in the late 1970s after replacing singer songwriter Phil Judd in his brother Tim Finn's band Split Enz. With the group, Finn wrote the hits "One Step Ahead", "History Never Repeats", "I Got You" and "Message to My Girl", among others. Finn rose from prominence to international fame after Split Enz broke up in 1984. While Tim Finn left for England, his brother Neil Finn was the founder of Crowded House with Split Enz's final drummer Paul Hester in 1985. The group achieved international success in 1987 when they released the single "Don't Dream It's Over" written by Neil. He ended Crowded House in 1996 primarily to embark upon what was to become a moderately successful solo career, and has released two albums with his brother Tim under the title the Finn Brothers. In 2007, following the death of Hester, Finn reunited Crowded House (adding Beck's former drummer Matt Sherrod) and released a new album, Time on Earth, and the band began a world tour.

Biography

Early years / Split Enz

Neil Finn during Crowded House's heyday - San Francisco, 1987

Neil attended Sacred Heart boarding school and Te Awamutu College. He decided to become a musician at the age of 12 and throughout his school years performed in prisons and hospitals as well as at home gatherings.

Neil finished school in 1975. A year later he formed a group known as After Hours with Mark Hough, Geoff Chunn and Alan Brown. Not long after the debut performance of After Hours Neil was invited to London to join Split Enz, the band formed by his elder brother Tim Finn. By 1980 Neil was sharing lead singer duties. He wrote their first international hit "I Got You" and contributed significantly to all their later albums, even briefly assuming leadership of the band after Tim left in 1984, soon before its split.

Crowded House

Split Enz broke up in 1984. Finn formed a new band called The Mullanes (Mullane being both his middle name and his mother's maiden name) with Split Enz drummer Paul Hester, guitarist Craig Hooper of The Reels and bassist Nick Seymour (younger brother of Hunters & Collectors leader Mark Seymour), whom Neil had met on the final Split Enz tour. Hooper left just before they recorded their first album, at which time the band was renamed Crowded House, inspired by the rental home they shared while recording in Los Angeles.

Charity concert

In 1986 Finn performed with The Rock Party a charity project initiated by The National Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NCADA), which included many Australasian musicians such as Reg Mombassa from Mental As Anything, Eddie Rayner, Tim Finn, Nick Seymour and Paul Hester of Crowded House, Geoff Stapleton, Mark Callaghan and Robbie James of GANGgajang, Mary Azzopardi of Rockmelons, Andrew Barnum of The Vitabeats, Lissa Barnum, Michael Barclay, Peter Blakely, Deborah Conway, Jenny Morris, Danny De Costa, Greg Herbert (The Promise), Spencer P Jones, Sean Kelly (Models), John Kennedy, Paul Kelly, Martin Plaza (Mental as Anything), Robert Susz (Dynamic Hepnotics) and Rick Swinn (The Venetians).^[1] The Rock Party released a 12" single "Everything To Live For", which was produced by Joe Wissert, Phil Rigger and Phil Beazley.^[1]

Neil Finn in 1996

Crowded House went on to enormous success worldwide, in particular with two major hits: "Don't Dream It's Over" (U.S. #2, 1987) and "Weather With You" (U.K. #7, 1992). Both Neil and his brother Tim were made OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to New Zealand music in the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours List. After releasing four albums, Crowded House, Temple of Low Men, Woodface, and Together Alone, the group broke up in 1996, and followed this action by releasing a greatest hits album Recurring Dream. Following this, Neil went solo. Later the album Afterglow was released, which contained Crowded House tracks not previously found on any of the band's albums.

In January 2007, it was announced that Crowded House were reforming with Neil, Nick Seymour, Mark Hart and new drummer Matt Sherrod (following the suicide of Paul Hester in 2005). The group's new album Time on Earth was released in June 2007; in the pre-release build up, they headlined a show at Coachella in April 2007, then commenced a world tour.

Performing with Crowded House in 1996

In March 2009, Neil joined brother Tim on stage with son Liam Finn at Melbourne's charity Sound Relief concert at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in support of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires.

Solo years

Finn has recorded two solo albums to date: Try Whistling This (1998) and One Nil (2001). (One Nil was released in the US and Canada — remixed, reordered and renamed One All — in 2002.) In addition, he and brother Tim have collaborated on two Finn Brothers albums, Finn (1995) and Everyone Is Here (2004).

In 2001, he released a live album/DVD (7 Worlds Collide) consisting of songs recorded at St James Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand with the likes of Lisa Germano, Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing), Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway (Radiohead), Johnny Marr (The Smiths), Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Paul Jeffrey, Tim Finn, and Betchadupa. Finn was additionally heavily involved in creating the 2001 soundtrack for the motion picture Rain.

The Dixie Chicks release Taking The Long Way has a song co-written with Finn, entitled "Silent House". It deals with people suffering from alzheimers or dementia, slowly finding that familiar faces and items long cherished are slipping away from their memory. Neil Finn was also featured as a backing vocalist on the Sheryl Crow song, "Everyday is a Winding Road" from her self-titled second album, released in 1997. Finn has also produced and recorded with various New Zealand acts such as Bic Runga, The Mutton Birds and Dave Dobbyn.

In 2006, Neil and Tim Finn were both honoured by a slew of women re-recording and re-interpreting a selection of their songs with the album She Will Have Her Way which featured artists performing Neil Finn's songs such as Kasey Chambers, Clare Bowditch, Boh Runga with her band Stellar*, Renée Geyer, Brooke Fraser, Holly Throsby, Sarah Blasko, Amiel and Natalie Imbruglia.

Finn playing at Calvin Theatre, August 2007 Photo: Mick Muise

In February 2007, Neil Finn performed with his son Elroy and Jimmy Barnes at a charity benefit concert for cerebral palsy. The event was held at the Roxburgh Hall, Stowe School, Stowe in Buckinghamshire, UK. The benefit was in aid of he UK charity Scope (formerly "The Spastics Society"), England's largest charity working for people living with cerebral palsy and their families.

Neil played solo at New Zealand WOMAD 2008 festival, filling in at short notice for another performer who had become significantly unwell.

In December 2008 several of the 7 Worlds Collide lineup reconvened in Auckland, New Zealand to record The Sun Came Out, a charity album for Oxfam to be released September 29, 2009. It was recorded in Finn's own Roundhead Studios and will feature all-new material, with singing and songwriting contributions divided amongst the group. Most of the original members of Crowded House have returned, along with several new additions including Jeff Tweedy and three other members of Wilco, Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall, and notable New Zealand songwriters Don McGlashan and Bic Runga. As in 2001 the group gave a series of live performances, though at three nights the run was shorter and the venue was more intimate.

Finn has contributed solo music to various film and TV soundtracks including Rain, Boston Legal, Boston Public, The Waiting Game, Antz, and Sports Night.

Finn had a cameo appearance acting role on the BBC Radio Show Flight of the Conchords.

Finn appeared on fellow musician Missy Higgins' CD, On a Clear Night (2007). He played electric guitar for the song "Peachy", and sang backing vocals on "Going North".

Personal life

Finn married Sharon Dawn Johnson, on 13 February 1982. The song "I Love You Dawn", available on Afterglow (an album of unreleased Crowded House tracks and B-sides) was penned in her honour.

They have two sons, Liam Mullane Finn (born 1983); Split Enz's "Our Day" was written about his birth and Elroy Timothy Finn (born 1989). Both sons are multi-instrumentalists, like their father, and often perform alongside him on tour and in the recording studio. Liam had his own band, Betchadupa, originally based in Auckland, then London before releasing a solo album, I'll Be Lightning in 2008. He also plays in Crowded House's touring band lineup. Elroy Finn is also following in his father and brother's musical footsteps as drummer for the psychobilly band The Tricks.

Sharon Finn creates chandeliers in her workshop in Auckland. Numerous chandeliers designed by Sharon featured on stage in the 2004-05 tours promoting the Everyone Is Here album.

Sharon has appeared on backing vocals on various albums such as Crowded House and Alex Lloyd's Watching Angels Mend She also features prominently on the new 7 Worlds Collide project, co-writing (and sharing lead vocal) the track 'Little By Little' with her husband.

Recent work

Most recently, both Tim and Neil Finn, having matured over the years, have learned to share the stage, and with Neil Finn's son Liam Finn, have been performing and have released an album under the name The Finn Brothers.

Neil Finn solo discography

This discography relates to solo releases by Neil Finn only. See Split Enz discography, Crowded House discography and The Finn Brothers' discography for other related works.

Albums

Singles

Other contributions

• Live at the World Café: Vol. 15 - Handcrafted (2002, World Café) - "Driving Me Mad"
• 107.1 KGSR Radio Austin - Broadcasts Vol.10 (2002) - "Private Universe"

References

• Chunn, Mike, Stranger Than Fiction: The Life and Times of Split Enz, GP Publications, 1992. ISBN 1-86956-050-7
• Bourke, Chris, Something So Strong, Macmillan Australia, 1997, ISBN 0-7329-0886-8
• Twomey, Chris & Doole, Kerry, Crowded House: Private Universe, Omnibus Pr, 1998, ISBN 0-7119-4816-X
• Dix, John, Stranded in Paradise: New Zealand Rock and Roll, 1955 to the Modern Era, Penguin Books, 2005, ISBN 0-14-301953-8

Other links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Neil Finn

• Neil Finn on Myspace.com