She said always remember
never to trust me
she said that the first night that she met me
she said there’s gonna come a time
when I’m gonna have to go
with whoevers gonna get me the highest…
- ‘Hornets! Hornets!’ (from “Separation Sunday”)

by Bushman

So starts the live show. So starts the latest The Hold Steady release, “Separation Sunday”. Spoken with Craig Finns lone, pleading voice, it sets the tone to follow. Tales of debauchery viewed through various chemicals and retold in a distinctive, spoken/shouted/sung style unique only to Finn. It’s the bands most defining characteristic. Supported with a most clever and seasoned crew of musicians who have all busted their dive bar cherries long ago in various (and mostly Minneapolis) bands. Existing somewhere in the circles of post-indie-rock with a keyboard, tunes are rocked out and delivered with club-credibility. On record, and most especially live, it’s easy to sit enraptured and wide eyed, listening to tales of excess and overflow. Finn’s voice has a commanding attention, punctuated by his individual delivery, that draws the listener in, tells them a story and leaves them with a smile. They are endlessly hip that way.

In a perfect world, this would not have been the first Modern Fix cover on which singer Craig Finn and guitarist Tad Kubler appeared. Back in the day (the summer of 2000) when this magazine was just a grand idea from two disenfranchised ex-zinesters, Finn and Kubler’s old band Lifter Puller was slated for the debut issue of Modern Fix. It was then that it came to our attention the band had imploded just a month or so prior, giving us a taste of how nothing ever goes as planned in this business. So a few years later when we heard The Hold Steady, and it sounded like Lifter Puller (mostly due to Finn holding the same position of singer/guitarist in both bands) many were pleased. People fucked and religions were born. All to the rocking preachings of The Hold Steady. Finn’s lyrics have that power.

The Hold Steady claim Brooklyn as their homebase, even though 4 out of 5 of the members came from the Minneapolis scene (with Finn and Kubler escaping to New York right after the Lifter Puller breakup). Finn can’t escape his past with Minneapolis and the Midwest in general as both are name dropped in his lyrics more than any east coast call outs. And while The Hold Steady is the rock end where his previous band held down the indie side of that over-used genre label, it’s the same creative spark and completely unique execution of Finns lyrics against the crafted jams that makes this adventure so worth experiencing.

The Hold Steady rolled into the Casbah in San Diego on an unassuming Tuesday afternoon. We took them to Pokeez for Mexican food and had some pre-gig alcohol. Do all the official ‘interviews’ you want, it’s the hanging out, pre-show, post many drinks that the real dirt comes out. One learns things like, blood transfusions between two members of this band is a common occurance on tour. The sight of two musicians connected by an IV in some clubs dressing room raises the eyebrows of even the most seasoned club veterans who have seen many things go into many veins. One also learns which members of the band are on a pleasant mix of Kolonopin’s and alcohol. It all starts to sound pretty excessive, but if any one was paying attention, these guys seem to thrive on excessive situations.

The live show that night was special. As anyone who goes to a lot of live music venues can attest, there are the occasional shows that you leave knowing you witnessed something out of the ordinary. Something of a higher caliber. Something only shared by a handful of people shoved together in some small dark club that is remembered forever. And it’s holy. This particular Tuesday was one of those shows. The Hold Steady absolutely dropped all jaws in view. The crowd felt like a mix of post-Lifter Puller fans and newly christened The Hold Steady admirers. Even one of our crew who had not been exposed to this band previously is now a complete convert. All those who appreciated their music before, are now fanatical admirers of this band. Watching Finn flail around the stage, clap his hands like an overly excited kid and sing lyrics into the air, it was obvious he was felling his music with a passion that translated well into the crowd. When Finn sets up the call and response, the crowd follows. Finn: “It’s good to see you back in a barband baby”. Crowd: “I said it’s great to see you are still in the bars.” which went back and forth (which are lines from “Barfruit Rules” from their first album “Almost Killed Me”). These numerous mini-climaxes earned many smiles and enthusiastic applause after each song. The power of a great live show is undeniable as Finn croons, “Killer parties almost killed me...”
“Amps are heavy.”
- words in a van with singer/guitarist Craig Finn.

Let’s talk some Lifter Puller. Why did that break up? (especially since The Hold Steady is very similar in execution). Do you still get a lot of Lifter Puller sentiments?
Yeah. One of the things that happened with Lifter Puller is that it got a lot more popular and a lot more people found out about it after we broke up. So people have unresolved Lifter Puller things that they are caring around. It’s certainly been very helpful with The Hold Steady. It’s the difference of being able to play your first show and have a hundred people there. It was a big part of what I was doing for a long time so I’m flattered to.

Did that ever cause you to re-evaluate the breakup of Lifter Puller?
No. I guess it might have inspired me to start another band. But I don’t think that if we got back together we’d be able to write music in the same way. It ran its course. It was a very special thing. It was attached to a very special time in the Minneapolis music scene that has come and gone.

Your previous band had a lot of Minneapolis credibility (I still hear Minneapolis being dropped in The Hold Steady lyrics). What made you move to New York?
My wife and I both have parents there [Minneapolis], and all of our family, so there is an idea that we’ll probably come back. I wasn’t in a band anymore, so that was the time to try something different. I’ve always thought about living in New York. It’s a big cosmopolitan city and there is a lot of opportunity. So we thought it was better to do it now when we were 28 than think about doing it when we were 50.

Is it true that the secret origins of The Hold Steady came from a thrown together band that was supposed to play some AC/DC, Thin Lizzy and Zeppelin covers for a party?
It was a comedy troupe called “Mr.Ass”. They did some stuff for the Upright Citizens Brigade theatre. They put together this sort of rock and roll variety kind of show. They wanted a band to just do bumper music, like in and out of commercials. Traditional hard rock riffs. “Hells Bells” or “Back in Black” or “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath, things like that. So I put together some friends and we did it. And at that time after hearing what was going on in New York, which was very much like the dance music, it sounded so fresh and good to out and just play some hard rock riffs. So we started doing some original songs in that vein and that’s how it started.

The Hold Steady lyrics are filled with story like images and inside jokes. What process do you use to figure out what is a lyric and song worthy event in your life?
Humor. At least my own personal sense of humor plays into it. Something that amuses me is most likely to make it into a song. It might not amuse anybody else. I write tons. Everyday I write on a piece of paper in a book. Eventually, Tad comes in with a riff and then I start looking through my book for something that will work. I might take things from different pages and piece them all together, it’s just an editing process basically.

There are obviously many players in The Hold Steady lyrical world. Do your friends/enemies/ex’s ever recognize themselves in your songs?
No, because none of them are real people. They are composites. Stories I’ve heard, maybe even people I’ve never met, second hand stories, things like that all mix together. No one has ever said, “Hey, waitaminit, is that me?” There have been times where I’ve told people it’s them. But I change it around enough. They are characters to help move the story along.

The Craig Finn vocal delivery is very unique. Do you just ‘do what you do’, or was their some specific vocal inspirations that guided you toward your more spoken/story style of singing?
I’m not a good singer, but I’m able to do this to get up above the din of the music with a kind of shouting/talking thing. Mark. E Smith from The Fall, Chris Thomson from Circus Lupus. Lou Reed. Those are sort of famous ‘talkers’.

Chicks and drugs are central themes in the lyrics, are they the central themes in your life as well?
Not really. I’m actually kind of a moderate person who is fascinated by people who can’t be. On this new record especially has a lot of religious stuff and that’s used again the partying to sort of illustrate the problem people have with just being in the middle, swinging wildly from one thing to another. I personally am not like that so much, so I’m always been interested in people who are. I’ve been around punk rock since I’ve been 13. I certainly know people with massive substance abuse problems and massive alcohol problems. What fascinates me is the role religion and god plays in recovery. Even in AA, you sort of surrender to a higher power. Other people I’ve known gone into rehab programs where they’ve literally come out born again Christian 30 days later. From crackheads to Christians in 30 days… there has got to be somewhere in the middle. Chicks… drugs… chicks, well, I’m married. There is only one chick.

Seriously though, there are a lot of drug references and innuendos in The Hold Steady. One might be inclined to think you were all junkies. How much blow do you guys actually do?
Oh people do think we are junkies. It’s crazy how people come up to me all the time… there are kids who definitely come to our shows with tons of drugs with the idea that they are gonna get fucked up with us. The thing is, if I’m at a party… I can’t be on tour. You are talking about things that are just so hard on my voice. And not sleeping in your own bed and you don’t know where a shower is the next day, it’s a really, really bad idea.

Who in The Hold Steady is most likely to end up in jail tonight?
[without hesitation] Tad.

In the song “Stevie Nicks”, you say, “Lord to be seventeen forever.” A few lines later say “Lord to be 33 forever”. What was the significance of picking those two ages?
Our whole record is very teenage and inspired by being that age of 17. 1988-89 was those years for me. That time influenced a lot of the record to me. 33 is sort of a double thing. On one end, I’m 33, but also thinking it’s been a great year for me. As a person I’m kind of peaking. So in a lot of ways, being 33 is way more awesome than being 17. 17 is pretty hard in a lot of ways. Christ was 33 when he died. So he is 33 forever.

What age would you freeze at if you could.
Right now. When you are 17, there is a lot of excitement about things, but it excites me to be where we are at now, and interact as an adult as a professional artist.

In the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, some of the best advice given is that you should never travel without a towel. What is essential traveling/touring gear for The Hold Steady?
A towel is a good idea. Ipod. Cell phone. One thing I’ve found that’s made my touring life easier, is bringing a trashbag to put my dirty clothes in. On tour, everything starts to smell pretty bad and gets hard to tell what you’ve worn and what you haven’t.

What does The Hold Steady do to entertain themselves on a daily basis?
Galen and I are really into baseball. A lot of music, a lot of talk. Fucking around, joking. Some of us are pretty big readers, but I have a hard time reading on tour.

Please explain the ‘Craig’s Crisp Songs’ project on eMusic.
Basically I took bands that I knew and was able to give them studio time. One day to complete (at least) one full song. It was based loosely on the John Peel sessions from the BBC. We debuted them on the eMusic and then pushed them onto other music services like Itunes. The idea of putting out a digital single is really cool and the idea is to capture this one thing and hopefully the band will keep working and go on and now there is an exclusive track out there. With all these services, there is limited real estate to let people know about it, that it exists. That’s one of the challenges that we’ve had. If it’s just in there on Itunes, no one knows to look for it.

At what point in your youth, did you realize you wanted to be a musician?
I’m not sure I ever did. It happened on accident. Until I moved to New York, I didn’t realize I was an artist. I never went to art school. I just liked music and started a band. Moving to New York and interacting as more of an adult artist helped me figure that out.

Define success.
It’s an ongoing thing. You make goals, then you reach those goals. Then you make higher goals and try to reach them. Successful could be just to play a show. To play at the Casbah or play at the 7th Street Entry. Right now, success for me would be something more national. We have a saying in our band, “Amps are heavy.” Which means if we aren’t going to do shit, let’s not play in a band. Let’s not move the amps. That’s my take on it. Successful to me is having an audience. Having people who care. Having people who want you to make more music.

What are your views of politics and music sharing a bed? Does it truly make change or is it so much raging against the machine.
I don’t think it’s wrong for politics and music to mix. I can understand if you felt strongly and you were an artist, you might not feel you had any other way to make a change. Whatever. I also don’t think every band has to be political. Coming from a punk rock background, the idea is how you treat people, how you do business is the biggest change you can make.

When is Craig Finn the happiest?
When the twins win.

How will The Hold Steady change the world?
One beer at a time.

www.theholdsteady.com

(and if you like The Hold Steady, you’d be cheating yourself not to find some Lifter Puller).

“I guess I heard about original sin. I heard the dude blamed the chick. I heard the chick blamed the snake. i heard they were naked when they got busted. I heard things ain’t been the same since.”
- From “Cattle and Creeping Things” (album: “Separation Sunday”)

“she got screwed up by religion. she got screwed by soccer players. she got high for the first time in the camps down by the banks of the mississippi river. lord to be seventeen forever. she got confused about the truth. she came to in a confession. she got high for the last time in the camps down by the banks of the river. lord to be 33 forever.”
- From “Stevie Nicks” (album: “Separation Sunday”)

“We gather our gospels from gossip and bar talk then declare them the truth”
– From “Chicago Seemed Tired Last Night” (album: “Separation Sunday”)

“Went through a skater phase – went through a raver phase – went through a razor blade phase – I guess I went through a hundred dollars a day”
– From ‘Sketchy Metal’ (album: “Almost Killed Me”)