Well, um... your lyrics are... are very autobiographical. Um... isn't it hard to sing about your personal stuff? Isn't it... or is it easier in some way [or something]?
Well, if I didn't sing about my personal stuff, it would just be a series of rhyming clichés, wouldn't it... you know?
Yea. Okay.
And uh... and um... you know, which is—which is [*what kind of] pop music is. It's just... just a series of... of clichés that rhyme with each other. And I think one of the things that liberated me as a songwriter was thinking that—and I kind of got this from people like John Lee Hooker—that it doesn't have to rhyme. It doesn't have to have any structure if you don't want it to. It's actually about the passion and the feeling behind it. And um... at first it was difficult to sing about my own life, but then it's just a song, you know? It's not like, uh... a movie, where I'm filming my life, and it's not like a reality TV show or something. It's going to little emotional places that, like, everybody goes to in their own life, but then I'm lucky enough to have an opportunity to really think about it a lot. So let's say that someone has a problem with their girlfriend or they get paranoid one night and kind of go "Oh no, is she the right one for me? Oh, I'm not sure." and then they kind of stop thinking about it and get on with their life. I can go... I can spend a whole weekend thinking about that one little thing and really working it out of my system, you know. And at the end of the day I'll have a song which is better than going to a therapist to sort it out. 'Cause I've really thought about it and really sorted it out, and at the end of the song when I've [doubted] the song or mastered the song, I've fixed—I've thought about it, I've done it, I've thought it through, and... it's done.
Well, when you're on stage, haven't you got something like, "Well, that's very personal. Why should I sing this to all the people in the crowd?"
Nah, because I think people relate to that stuff. They don't relate to just generic sort of clichéd um... you know, "Hey baby, you're so great, you set me free, you make me whole again, and uh... I wanna be with you forever," you know. It's just like... [uh]. But they do relate to stuff like um... "You know, the thing that I do for a living? I really love it, and it keeps me going, but it keeps me away from you... I'm really sorry about that. And if you can't handle that, then that makes me sad and we'll split up. But if you can handle that, that's great, and we'll have a great time," you know. And it's not like I'm sort of saying... it's not like I'm talking about my own paranoias or... it's personal, but it's not necessarily about... it's not like every song's about a different chick and they know who they are. It's not like that at all. You know... maybe I've had a few experiences in my life like everybody else that have been deep and like [] heavy or... or like, "Ah, man, that really hurt." And maybe I draw on those when I go to these places. Like maybe um... maybe there's 3 tracks on my album that are actually all about the same uh... relationship, but different moments in it that everybody has, you know... but without wanting to be shy about putting myself into it. I think the more of yourself that you put into your music, the more chance you've got of eventually being like... unique, in some way. And uh... and if you're unique, then you've got a better chance at having a career out of it, because then if people want that vibe, they have to buy you, or they have to come and see you, and in a way that's why maybe it's easier for us, as Fink, to make music, because we're not like a 4- or 5-piece indie band like all the other indie bands, and the majors look for indie bands and sign indie bands, and they've all got to be 18 to 24, they've all got to have great hair, they've all gotta have maybe... recreational drug habits, and skinny trousers... or whatever the generic thing is they're looking for. And they'll sign 'em like crazy. And some of them are awesome, and... bands like the Arctic Monkeys are actually amazing, like, musicians man. The band is tight as hell; it's fucking great. But, you know, now the majors are looking for the new Arctic Monkeys, so there'll be loads of Arctic Monkey bands next year, or loads of... and then... one year it was Franz Ferdinand, the next year it's Arctic Monkeys, and next year it'll be... The Horrors, or The Gallows, or it'll be post punk, or new...
...or Fink?
Well, I think... well, maybe because we're not, like, necessarily, you know, part of a movement. We're trying really hard not to be part of the new folk movement, and we're trying really hard not to be part of the kind of British soul movement, and, and... we're trying... we're obviously not an indie band 'cause we play acoustic instruments. But we love indie, so we bring a lot of indie into the live show. The drummer's an indie drummer... the bass player's a metal bass player... in their other lives. And... and uh, and I'm not really into folk, you know. I like it, but I'm not like, I don't listen to it a lot, but I play the guitar, and sing, so it kinda... is kinda like folk, and... and um... and yea, I'm trying to pour as much of me into this stuff as possible, to try and give something unique.
[] = unclear what was said, or just a sound
[*] = probably meant to say "kind of what"
Thanks, anyway!