In the end, when you're writing a really good song, it strikes the right tone. Craig Finn More Quotes by Craig Finn More Quotes From Craig Finn When we started the band, I was really like, "We just want to make a lot of records" - not quite unlike Guided By Voices' schedule. I've always thought that our live thing is what we do best, and having a really robust, big catalog makes for the most interesting live band - especially with people, at this point, traveling to see us night after night. For us to have almost 100 songs to pull from is a really cool thing. The sets can be different. They can be invigorating on an intellectual level. I definitely hope to continue to release records at an accelerated pace. Craig Finn song night people Ray Cappo never tried to convert me into a Krishna, although one of his cohorts probably did. I think it was just about being wrapped up in this thing. Hardcore, at one point, meant everything to me. Now you look back, and I still think it's cool, but to some extent I grew out of it. Other things became a bigger priority for me. Craig Finn priorities krishna thinking Heaven Is Whenever - the Christian version of reward, the ultimate reward of heaven. I guess what I'm trying to say is this is happening every day. We're blessed always. There is struggle and there is suffering in our lives, but understanding that is part of our lives - a part that just is. Suffering is a part of the joy of life. Craig Finn blessed struggle christian The point of being in a band, for instance, isn't to get big; it's about enjoying playing shows. Craig Finn enjoy Some people I've talked to have had really an interpretation of this record as being nostalgic. But in some ways, when we were writing Stay Positive, I was really obsessed with age. I kept saying it was a record about trying to age gracefully. This record, I think actually was us aging gracefully. Craig Finn writing people thinking It's really easy, in a band, to overstate - you feel like everything you do is different than the past. I think this is just another Hold Steady record, but at the same time, there is some evolution. Like, "How can we make this chorus bigger?" "What do we want this to sound like?" Craig Finn different past thinking My big thing is to get onstage sober. Whatever happens from there happens. But you get onstage drunk and it's not going to be good. It takes a while. I have to sing a lot, so I can only drink so much. So most nights it's fine; even if I drink as much as I possibly can, I can't get that drunk. Craig Finn sober drunk night One of the things you do in a band is the more you stay together, the more you play to your strengths. Craig Finn together The idea of anyone collecting compact discs just seems bizarre to me. Craig Finn bizarre I definitely hope to continue to release records at an accelerated pace. Craig Finn release records pace I remember I was really into this British band, The Vapors, with that song "Turning Japanese." I thought that they were really next level genius cryptic weirdos. And then I realized when I got older they are just using a lot of British words, and I didn't know what they meant. But I thought, Oh, they are making up their own language. Craig Finn next-level band song I'm not a horror movie guy, but I think the guy that did Saw, or maybe House or something, he was saying you love that age as a storyteller because a nineteen-year-old is still dumb enough to make really bad decisions, but he's allowed to be out on his own. Craig Finn house years thinking One thing I have a tendency to do is not write choruses, or write choruses that have different words. The first chorus will have different words than the second chorus. Craig Finn different writing firsts I've written a lot about drugs and alcohol. I wouldn't say it's because we've gotten bigger or anything, but I kind of feel a little bit done with it. There are other things to talk about. Craig Finn drug alcohol done I think making the songs is to put strength in the community in some way. Craig Finn community song thinking One of the things is my process requires a lot of repetition. I can probably drive people crazy because I'm interested in playing a song twenty times in a row. Craig Finn crazy song people Being on a microphone nightly has made me better at what I do, made me better able to sing a little bit, but also more confident at trying it. Craig Finn trying One of the coolest things to me about going to a show is you look over, and the guy next to you is sitting there drinking a beer and he's wearing a Donkeys t-shirt. And you're like, "Dude, I love The Donkeys." Craig Finn guy drinking beer I'm not only a songwriter but I'm a massive music fan and I love going to shows. It's different than reading a book. Craig Finn fans reading book You are hearing this song, and you're 16, and it's a song about love, or a girl. And then maybe there's a girl at school that you like. So you're going to be thinking about that girl. That song is sort of about that girl. The songwriter doesn't know that girl, obviously. He wrote it for something else. But there's the specific meaning with the universal again. Craig Finn girl song school
