Finish Ticket – When Night Becomes Day

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) How did the band get the name Finish Ticket?

A) The band started when we were in high school and some of the band aren’t even members anymore. It was a mixture of childhood friends and friends made through high school activities. I guess back then we went through so many different names. We just had a meeting and were shooting through names. We even tried a few at shows and didn’t like it. I think it came from an inside joke and I don’t really remember much about it. I just remember the name stuck more than any of the others. We sat down for like two hours trying to think of something better, but this one was unique and stuck. When we decided to leave school and do music, all of a sudden we found we were way past the point of changing our name.

Q) Who are some of your musical influences?

A) Early on, when we first started the band, it was the idea of combining with people that I admire. Back then, I was into Songs About Jane by Maroon 5 and The Beatles. I loved pop at first and I also loved rock bands like Green Day. Alex [Stein], our guitarist, loved Radiohead and The Strokes. When we first came together, we had the idea of combining all of that. Eventually, The Killers had a huge influence on me and The Strokes are Alex’s. Those two bands totally captured the indie rock sound with the pop sensibility, the structure, the writing, massive chorus’ and amazing live shows and production.

Q) What is the song writing process like for you? Do you need music before you can write lyrics?

A) As long as I’ve been in bands I’ve been writing songs. I picked up a guitar and started writing a song and the second I finished my first song I grabbed people and started a band. I kind of write with this mentality of writing for a band – not writing for me. I always leave the perfect amount of room for people to come in and leave their mark. I think we have a good dynamic. It changes all the time though as far as writing goes. I’ve had songs that have been written all at once. That’s an amazing, rare thing to happen. Most of the time it will start with a lyric or riff. It varies for every song. We’ve had a few that started as a band at a jam session and other times I’ll just bring stuff to the band. Generally, I try to bring a skeleton of a song (a rough chorus or everything up to a bridge) and we’ll work on it as a band. Then, we’ll finish it as a group or I’ll take it and try different ideas. A lot of times something will spark when you’re in the shower or doing something so mindless that you are lost in thought, out of your head and not thinking about it. You’ll have to get out of the shower and run to the piano. That’s happened and is my favorite thing. That’s a really inspired moment. You are coming up with parts you would never think of if you are sitting in front of a piano. These are the times where you have to run to a piano and get it down before it goes away. I think some of the best stuff I’ve ever written is because I wasn’t near an instrument.

Q)  What is the feel and vibe for your new EP When Night Becomes Day?

A) I think with this new EP, especially, we were trying to make everything from the writing to the production taking the approach of writing songs that would translate live. They would really be big live songs like “Scavenger” and “Wrong”. They have changed our live show already. It was important for us to have a huge live show and make an impression. I think we were just trying to further that. We never set out with the intention of making songs that were big live songs. We just kind of happened into that. I think with this EP there is definitely that tone to them and you really hear them and picture us on stage performing them.

Q) What kind of fan response have you gotten to your song “Color?”

A) The fans have been really supportive. It was really exciting and a great response so far. The first time we really saw the response to it when we got off the Twenty One Pilots tour and did a show in San Francisco. We had never played the songs for them, but this was the one place we had done a lot of headlining shows. It was pretty crazy to come back, be playing all these songs and then when we started “Color” later in the set the response was incredible. It was really awesome to see everyone accepting this kind of newer sound for us and really getting into us.

Q) What was the most challenging part of recording this EP?

A) We wanted to experiment a bit with new sounds and push ourselves, but also didn’t’ want to go too far. It took a few steps on some songs. Maybe it didn’t’ feel true to us or didn’t feel right so we had to work on it more. It’s fine. It’s good to know you are pushing yourself and you don’t want to be settling all the time. That was a really big challenge for us. Also, it was picking what songs we wanted to put on it. We had other songs that didn’t make it and we’re saving for the next release. The hardest thing was going from a full length that got us signed. San Francisco grew our fanbase way before anything else so having played so much shows with every fan singing every word to every song…It’s kind of hard going back into the studio after that because there is so much pressure. No matter what level you are in the industry. I’m sure it is even harder for bands with gold records and have to go back into the studio. Knowing there are all these people out there who love the songs we already had out and are fans and coming out to concerts and supporting us it was pressure to go back in to the studio and do a new set of songs. You will always have that feeling though in the back of your mind that they might not like it and that’s a bit scary. I think for all of us that was the hardest. We’re really happy with the results and, obviously, the EP has been useful in building even more of a fanbase now and we’re going to do a whole tour now. It’s really, really exciting and definitely worked out.

Q) How much of a hand does the band have in the production of your music?

A) Definitely a huge hand! We went through kind of a weird process. We tried out working with some other people, but what it ended up happening was us releasing that when you go see producers you want to hear them out and see what they want to do. They are the producers and are really good at that so you want to hear them out. You don’t want to stop them from being creative, but you also need to remember you are the ones creating the song and not to roll over and let them do everything and take you in directions you don’t want to go. We tried on this EP to stay out of the way of the people we brought in to work on it as much as we could, but we also stayed really involved because we also didn’t want to let anything slip away. I think we found a good balance. For us, it is really important being in the room all of the time and not missing out on anything in the studio with having a focused idea on sound and make sure the vision is complete.

Q) You will be on the Live Nation “One’s To Watch” tour. What can fans expect from a live Finish Ticket show?

A) For us it is all about live shows. We love playing live. That’s really where our hearts go as far as music goes and what we love to do. Expect really fun performances. It doesn’t matter if we’re opening or headlining we are going to give it our all every time. I’d say definitely buy a ticket. We’re trying to make this one really worth while. This is our first time going around the country playing a headlining set. We’re trying to spend a lot of time on the set list and make sure we are getting everyone’s favorite songs in there. There will be some covers and some surprises in there. We’re probably going to have some new tunes that we will try out and kind of gage response.

Q) What is your favorite song to perform live?

A) For all of us it is “Bring The Rain.” It is very dynamic and we get to let loose a bit. I think everyone enjoys it. Gabe [Stein] hits the drums extra hard on that one. It is just a rocking song! I love singing that song more than anyone else. I definitely leave myself a bit and Alex has amazing guitar parts on that, too. Just the song in general and then performing it live is definitely a favorite song for us. It has so many dynamics to it too that it is really fun to take a crowd on that journey as well. That song is really us in a nutshell. We get to show off how passionate we are about music and performing. It really comes through with that song. I always feel a real connection with the audience with that one.

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your music?

A) Thank you for all the incredible support. This year has been amazing getting to meet so many of them. This year, especially, we gained so many new fans. We are just so happy they are all a part of this with us. They’ve been incredible so far and we can’t wait to see all of them again. Now that we are headlining we’ll be able to connect with them even more, get to see them more after shows and talk to them. I’m really excited to do all that. I love it!

ALL QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY BRENDAN HOYE