HOW DID YOUR NAME ORIGINATE?
Matt Finucane (vocals, guitars, production): I’m mainly a solo artist, so I use my given name. Some people struggle to pronounce it, but I’ve already worked hard to put stuff out there with this troublesome name attached, and am stuck with it.
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WHERE WAS YOUR FIRST GIG AND HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE THERE?
Matt: I was still at school, so this is a while ago and quite hazy… There were twenty or thirty people there, at a rough old boozer in Oxford called the Dolly, including a load of lairy drunks. Two 45-minute sets in front of a mixed audience, so to speak. We got heckled mercilessly. Baptism of fire!
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WHEN WAS YOUR LAST DAY OFF AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH IT?
Matt: At my semi-pro DIY level, there’s altogether too many days off for my liking. But in another sense, I’m always hustling for gigs and writing new material… so I never take a break.
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WHAT IS SOMETHING - APART FROM YOUR PHONE OR WALLET - THAT HAS TO BE IN YOUR VICINITY AT ALL TIMES?
Matt: I’m not as neurotic as I used to be, so no fetish objects, security blankets or pills… I’m going to be dull and say, a good book.
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WHICH SONG BY ANOTHER ARTIST DO YOU WISH YOU'D WRITTEN?
Matt: There’s hundreds. Just off the top of my head, “Candy Says” by The Velvet Underground. It’s a lovely song, with so little to it that it’s barely there at all – but it fits together beautifully.
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WHAT'S BEEN THE MOST SURREAL FAN MOMENT?
Matt: This vaguely sinister woman once said to me, “we all choose our suffering. There is ugly suffering and there is beautiful suffering. You, I think, are somewhere in between.” Sounds like she enjoyed the set!
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