Crack

Fink has got mad soul. We are talking wizard-like soul. Fink has got the kind of soul only the true greats possess. You know the kind of soul we are talking about right? That try-all-you-like-but-can't-quite-seem-to-put-your-finger-on soul. The utterly compelling, inventive-withouttrying, effortless, awe-inspiring soul.

We remember when we first heard Fink – it was at at home and not one, but two housemates were playing Fink's second album Biscuits for Breakfast at the very same time. This meant listening to the same track ever so slightly out of sync - one upstairs and one down. Somewhere amongst the sensory madness it became increasingly clear something pretty special was being heard, so we got our hands on the album.

As both a recording artist and performer, Fink (aka Fin Greenall) is one of those artists who wears the much maligned 'singer-songwriter' tag like a well fitted suit. He seems to float through records with consummate ease, however, such swagger rarely clicks into motion straight away in ones career, and Fink is a great example of this. It was only through some serious experimentation Fink finally found his voice.

Having dabbled with a number of lo-fi electronic offerings in the late 90's, Fink's debut record Fresh Produce (2000) became an instant classic on the still booming Ninja Tune label. It embodied the label’s direction at the time. Fresh Produce is home to the legendary We are Ninja; a track that became the theme for the label to which he is still signed. It is both strange and wonderful to think that Fink's second release Biscuits for Breakfast would re-position his sound completely.

To the thousands of button-twisting-producer-hermits who are sat behind their seven screens and nineteen analog synths dreaming of guitars and sheet music. Fink is a stellar example of an artist who put down the laptop and picked up the guitar. As his last
three albums so emphatically suggest, he has not even looked back to reminisce.

Crack caught up with Fink to ask him about the the ins and out of his musical journey and what he sees dotted on the horizon...



For the benefit of people who do not yet know about Fink, how would you best describe your music?

In my head it's a Bristol sound, or at least it started that way. I always wanted my albums to be put with the other Bristol bands I love like: Portishead, Tricky, Massive Attack etc. Growing up there was inspiring, but now it’s more like indie-folk-soul, kinda trying to be alternative, but I do like to make a different record every time. We’re trying hard to break
ourselves free with every record.”

How did Fink begin? Where did you learn of your desire to make music?

At places like The Thekla, The Moon Club, The Tropic in the early days, the old Cooler nights were totally inspiring for a teenager – chicks, sweaty walls, anonymity, or not – it was great. When I left Bristol to go to college I got into techno through The Orb, KLF and Aphex Twin and then everything kinda followed from there – years of DJ’ing for Ninja Tune during the trip-hop years, until I picked up the guitar seriously in 2005 and totally flipped into this alternative reality of being a singer-songwriter.

How were the early gigs?

My first Ninja Tune DJ gig back in ’98 was a packed Leeds Cockpit supporting DJ Food and Kid Koala. I borrowed a load of records off my friend Semtex, the illest hip hop joints of the time, and smashed it - only after the classic DJ first gig nightmare of being so nervous that I didn’t put the tone arm down on the second record. So I was like "shit the decks broken, fuck, I'm gonna suck". After 5 years of gigging with the ninjas I could strip down and rebuild a Vestax mixer in almost any condition in under 3 minutes flat. My first gig as Fink (the singer songwriter) was an intense baptism of fire in front of Coldcut (who own Ninja Tune) at a sold out ICA in London, live on XFM. We were bricking it.

Who do you take inspiration from in terms of wordplay, delivery and arrangement?

Modern indie stuff, classics, great songwriters like John Martyn, Pentangle, Thom Yorke, love the new Bombay Bicycle club set, Bon Iver. The usual stuff mixed with a healthy respect of Horace Andy and D’angelo, Erykah Badu. Also, new artists like Jono McCleery, and especially Ben Howard, have blown my mind recently.

Can you shed some light on the creative processes you go through when writing songs? What drives your creativity?

Pressure, the clock, solitude, hecticness, Red Stripe, recreational drugs, late nights, and trying to have an interesting life while trying not to die of overdrive.

Most of your songs are driven by strong narratives. Can you tell us how you develop these concepts? Is this something pre-conceived or is that just how your song-writing process flows?

Nah, it’s real life man. The narratives are all from my life, or lives, or the band’s experiences. I think that’s why they connect with so many people all over the world, which is kinda weird man.

Are these narratives true to life or are they entirely fantastical?

In my mind it’s a tricky question..

Do you have a tight-knit circle of musicians you work with on a regular basis? Or are you single-handedly responsible for all this wizardry and arrangement?

The boys are Tim Thornton on drums, Guy Whittaker on bass, The B on bizniz duties, and we all do a lot more besides. We’re a super tight knit unit. It helps us keep shit real through the good and the bad times.

I am very interested in your first release on Ninja Tune. It is fair to say that the electronic nature of Fresh Produce cannot be heard in any of your solo releases since. Please explain how this evolution in style developed from these electronic experimentations into your solo aesthetic?

I got tired of the club scene, electronica and dance music. I just got into a different live space, just in time I reckon. Electronic music split into so many genres and that’s awesome man, but I thought the better ideas, the deeper impact, was with live music and songs. After years of being part of the revolution of trying to bury the concept of the band, and the song, and the chorus, and the bridge, I realised that all of those things are so universally popular for a reason.

What is it like being on the Ninja Tune roster? As a label Ninja Tune was basically running the underground and cutting edge in the 90's/early 2000's. It seems as if a number of artists on the label have gone quiet in recent years. How does it feel to be one of the most innovative Ninja-Tune torch-carriers?

Fucking great. Ninja has moved too from purely dance club stuff (although it still totally represents that side of stuff through Big Dada, The Bug, Teebs, Qemists, King Cannibal) to a range of stuff. Artists like me, Bonobo and Cinematics had to grow out of trip-hop into something. Luckily we all did it in our different ways, although my transition was a bit more extreme. Fink went dark for about five years to complete the transformation! Ninja also do proggy stuff like Spokes, Cougar, The Heavy and so on. I think Ninja themselves also changed direction and taste like everyone else. They are more than a label and kinda always have been.

There is an element of politics in everything they do. The independence, the fact they don't have a marketing department (music should do all the work), the fact Coldcut are total cultural vanguards. It’s great, a very free place to be creative with releases.

Which Ninja Tune collaboration would you most like to be a part of?

Recently I collaborated with Bonobo and Ninja’s latest signing Andreya Triana to do some trio gigs (me on guitar, Bonobo on bass) which were awesome. I dunno – maybe Fink produced by Lord Gosh (Roots Manuva's production alter ego) – that could be awesome.

Distance and Time is one of our favourite album titles ever. There is so much to take from that album title alone. We find it both logical and mysterious. Can you please explain the reasoning behind your decision to name your last two albums '''Distance in
Time and Sort of Revolution'''?

They kinda summed up where we all were at that time. Distance and Time was in the middle of a two-year tour, hence titles like So Many Roads. Sort of Revolution was like all the changes that were happening because of doing well and stuff. It’s kinda optimistic and a bit apprehensive at the same time. Fuck knows what we’re gonna call the next one. Album titles are always a bit of a tricky one.

Your following in the UK is not as big as it is in other major European countries. Why do you think this is?

Who knows? The UK is an amazing place for modern music, probably the best place in the world. It has a busy market man. I’m totally cool with it, straight up. The fame thing is a bit weird anyway, so I’m glad it doesn’t follow me home.

Lets talk about the album you are working on. If your last album Sort of Revolution was your most ambitious and soulful outing to date, are you looking to follow suit and grow even more experimental?

This next one is shaping up to be totally bigger, more proggy and more real. I mean, we'll be taking everything we’ve learned about all the aspects of our shit and work it really hard until we fall down exhausted.

Finally, any big ups or shout outs?

Anyone who ignores the 'Do Not Skateboard' signs on College Green.


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Words: Thomas Hawkins

Tune: Nothing Is Ever Finished

http://www.myspace.com/finkmusic

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