After a 4 year whirlwind of writing, recording, and touring, Temecula, California’s Finch took a much needed break. Their debut album, What It Is To Burn, helped define a musical style and era while their next release, Say Hello To The Sunshine, deconstructed the boundaries and expectations many had set for the band and the scene they came from.
Now armed with a new rhythm section and a refreshed sense of musical purpose,
Finch have returned with a self-titled EP featuring the band’s potent blend of jagged guitars, propulsive arrangements, and vocalist
Nate Barcalow’s always infectious vocal melodies. Produced by
Jason Cupp (The Elected, The Valley Arena) at
Sage & Sound Studios in Hollywood, songs like "
Daylight" and "
From Hell" find the quintet forging their unique writing style ahead while keeping a foot firmly planted in the energy and urgency of their older material.
Currently out on a headlining tour, Ultimate-Guitar had the chance to talk to Finch guitarist, Alex Linares about the new EP, their influential beginnings, and his favorite guitar albums of all time.
UG: What are your first musical memories and which bands really got inside of your head early on?
Alex Linares: My first inspiration for picking up the guitar was seeing Aerosmith when I was 12 years old. It was my first concert, and after that I couldn’t get the idea of playing guitar out of my head. It was an absolute obsession.
Why did you gravitate towards the guitar and which players shaped your playing when you first started?
When I first started playing I was going through my Nirvana phase which was perfect for kid starting out on guitar. Learning Nirvana songs was so easy that it built my confidence and sort of prevented me from being discouraged and putting the instrument down.
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| "We all certainly needed to do something different musically just to stay happy." |
How quick did you start writing your own material after you started getting the hang of playing?
I think within the first year of playing I was already writing my own crappy 3 chord songs. I remember the first song I wrote in a band was a single 3 chord progression the varied from palm muting and open strumming to differentiate between the verse and chorus. So lame!
When Finch’s first EP and album, What It Is To Burn Came Out, it seemed like you were one of the first bands to marry the melody of alt-rock with the crunch of hardcore. Looking back, did you guys feel like you were in your own little world in that sense?
I think at the time we were too naive and too close to what we were doing to have any perspective to think that we might be doing something different. But to be honest it’s still difficult to see it that way.
For the next album, Say Hello To The Sunshine, you definitely took the sound into a darker, even more dynamic direction and the hooks were less obvious. Was this a conscious move and a reaction to the flood of bands that copied your sound after you initially came out?
I think it was. Communication within our band has never been that great. So while we never discussed wanting to go into another direction. We all certainly needed to do something different musically just to stay happy.
How did it feel when you guys got back in a practice room together after the long break?
I was bit apprehensive at first. It had been so long since some of us had seen each other. I had never even met Drew (Marcogliese, Finch’s new drummer). So I didn’t know what to expect and I wanted very desperately for it to work because I missed Finch so much. But as soon as we started playing it was great! It is a really fantastic feeling playing in this band again.
How much of a role did producer Jason Cupp have on this new EP? Did he help arrange some of the material?
Jason had a bit to say about a few of the arrangements and certain sections. But his main contribution was capturing the best performances he could get from us. The vocal tracks are the strongest I’ve ever heard from Nate so far and I think Jason can take a lot of credit for pulling it out of him.
If the first two albums have their own distinct sounds, do you think the new EP is a combination of both or something completely uncharted for Finch?
I think the EP is something different for us. But I think we are still searching for what we want from this band. I’m optimistic that our third album is going to the better than anything we’ve done yet!
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| "It is a really fantastic feeling playing in this band again." |
What kind of guitar rig/set-up did you have on these sessions?
I used exactly the same guitar rig in the studio that I do live. A Marshall JCM 800 through a matching 4x12 cab, and a Marshall JCM 2000 through a Diezel 4x12 cab. I also doubled, tripled, and quadrupled my guitar tracks with a Z.Vex Fuzz Factory pedal. I love that thing! It’s my secret weapon, or was until right now.
You are putting this new EP out yourselves. Are you done with labels and what would you tell a young band being courted by someone like Geffen or Universal Records?
I don’t think we’re done with labels. I think the labels still have a lot to offer to bands. But they need to sort themselves out right now. They really need to rethink how they’re running their business models if they expect to survive. I would warn any young band being courted by a major record label to stay away from them. Majors will invest the money but not the time to develop a new band which is exactly what they need to have a long career.
What newer bands out there right now are exciting you?
I am so bad at discovering music! But our tour just started yesterday, and there is a band that’s supporting us called Foxy Shazam. They are so fucking entertaining and they write really great, clever songs! Everyone should check them out.
What are your five favorite guitar albums of all time?
That’s an easy question!
Deftones – Around The Fur
Radiohead – Ok Computer
Depeche Mode – Songs Of Faith And Devotion
Sigur Ros – ( )
Glassjaw – Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence
Interview by Carlos Ramirez
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