Latest Craig Finn Quotes from Interviews

Quotes about:

• There's somewhat of a real fascination with American bands and American mythology in London, so I think we've tapped into some of that. Maybe because of the way the press works or whatever, they have extremely knowledgeable music fans over there. People who will sit there and talk to you about some record that came out in 1967 out of Memphis that you've never heard before.

  Craig Finn

  Real, Thinking, People

• 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

• If we enjoy what we're doing, we shouldn't really need a break. It's fun for us to play music. It's our livelihood, but I don't look at it as a job. It doesn't seem to me to be a problem to constantly be doing this.

  Craig Finn

  Fun, Problem, Break

• 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

  Thinking, Priorities, Krishna

• The point of being in a band, for instance, isn't to get big; it's about enjoying playing shows.

  Craig Finn

  Enjoy

• 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

  Christian, Struggle, Blessed

• 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

  Past, Thinking, Different

• 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, Thinking, 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

• 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

  Night, Drunk, Sober

• 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

  Source: pitchfork.com

• I made a decision at some point to live a nontraditional life. I've become like, the opposite of a consumer. I just want freedom. I don't want stuff. I don't want clutter. I just want to be able to move freely. I want to be good to the people I love. But I don't want stuff. I just want, you know, love and big ideas.

  Craig Finn

  Moving, People, Decision

  Source: www.esquire.com

• As a writer, if you have something on a page, you can start moving it around and get something you like. But if you have a blank page, it's just gonna be a blank page.

  Craig Finn

  Moving

  Source: www.esquire.com

• I think, Trump ran a very nostalgic campaign. There's an idea of like, to put it bluntly: What if it was like before all our kids got strung out on drugs? You know, what if it was like that? Make America like that.

  Craig Finn

  Kids, Thinking, Drug

  Source: www.esquire.com

• My wife is very happy about me keeping all my music in my pocket.

  Craig Finn

  Wife, Pockets, My Wife

  "The Hold Steady". Interview with Brian Howe, pitchfork.com. May 16, 2005.

• I can still sing most Eagles songs, even though I never bought a record and never liked the band.

  Craig Finn

  Song, Eagles, Band

  "The Hold Steady". Interview with Brian Howe, pitchfork.com. May 16, 2005.

• The Catholic influence just comes from being raised Catholic, going to church every Sunday, being confirmed, going to church on holy days. So it's coming from where I am. It serves the purpose of having people who have a base or foundation where they know what's right.

  Craig Finn

  Sunday, Holy Days, People

  "The Hold Steady". Interview with Brian Howe, pitchfork.com. May 16, 2005.

• I graduated high school in 1989, and there was no alternative rock radio, and there wasn't really good college radio you could get on a car stereo. Once you get a car at that age, you're spending all the time you can away from home, sometimes just driving around aimlessly. Listening, or not even listening, but subconsciously soaking up this classic rock barrage.

  Craig Finn

  School, Home, College

  "The Hold Steady". Interview with Brian Howe, pitchfork.com. May 16, 2005.

• When you get into rock 'n' roll myths, like that Rod Stewart blew his whole band and had to get his stomach pumped, it's ridiculous, but everyone's heard it.

  Craig Finn

  Rocks, Rock N Roll, Band

  "The Hold Steady". Interview with Pitchfork, pitchfork.com. May 16, 2005.

• The critics and hardcore music fans, those are the people you have to get to first, so we're really happy about it.

  Craig Finn

  People, Fans, Firsts

  "The Hold Steady". Interview with Brian Howe, pitchfork.com. May 16, 2005.

• People think of songwriting as a very personal thing: A guy gets up there with an acoustic guitar and he sings his heart out, bares his soul.

  Craig Finn

  Heart, Thinking, Guitar

  "The Hold Steady". Interview with Pitchfork, pitchfork.com. May 16, 2005.

• My style of lyric-writing is very specific and has a lot of details, and I think people react most to that.

  Craig Finn

  Writing, Thinking, People

  "The Hold Steady". Interview with Pitchfork, pitchfork.com. May 16, 2005.

• An album doesn't mean as much to a lot of people now, compared to just songs.

  Craig Finn

  Song, Mean, People

  "The Hold Steady". Interview with Pitchfork, pitchfork.com. May 17, 2010.

• There's somewhat of a real fascination with American bands and American mythology in London.

  Craig Finn

  Real, Fascination, Band

  "The Hold Steady". Interview with Pitchfork, pitchfork.com. May 17, 2010.