A valuable lesson was learned when we last spoke to Finch guitarist Randy Strohmeyer – don’t describe his band as emo. But now they’re about to release their third album and have garnered a new classification – screamo punk. How does Strohmeyer feel about that?
“I think it’s even worse than emo. It’s fucking retarded. I hate that shit,” he says. “I’d just like people to call us Finch, and that’s it. We’re Finch and we make an effort to be Finch and we don’t want to be categorized as something else. I would like Finch to stand up on its own without having some sort of tagline.”
For neutrality’s sake then, the Californian five-piece have been on tour supporting their new disc Say Hello To Sunshine, the follow-up to 2002’s What It Is To Burn. Strohmeyer says he is thrilled with the result. “The first album was more about what we could do all together, what came naturally to us, but on this one we pushed our limits a lot more,” he explains.
Relax, Finch fans – Sunshine still fulfills the band’s quota of dark, brooding lyrics. A line from “Revelation: Song” proclaims “Take a look around, everything in turn will come down,” and “Brother Bleed Brother” sees lyricist Nate Barcalow singing, “In the end of everything, everything dies.” Meanwhile, “A Piece Of Mind” is about someone getting a lobotomy because he can’t live with the regression of society.
Says Strohmeyer, “There’s an apocalyptic theme in the record, it’s very dark. It’s kind of like, this is the last song you’ll ever hear before the world blows up.”
Though Strohmeyer doesn’t write the lyrics, the apocalypse frequently preys on his mind. And the current political climate of the U.S. may have something to do with it. “In America, they use fear tactics to control everyone and try to freak everyone out,” he says. “I don’t see it as working on me, but it’s turning everyone into robots.”
Naturally, the subject of George W. Bush enters our conversation, as is apt to happen when discussing mind control and the looming apocalypse.
“I fucking hate that guy,” Strohmeyer exclaims. “Since I didn’t vote people said you don’t have any room to talk, so I always said I’ll move to France, which I’d like to do. France or New Zealand. Even Canada. I would like to be here. I would probably move to Canada before France, just because it’s closer to my family. I’d move to Vancouver.
“We could relocate and be a Canadian band, which would be awesome.”
Say Hello To Sunshine will be released on June 7.