Liam Finn could rightly be identified as a world citizen. The New Zealand native was a globetrotting toddler, accompanying father Neil Finn on Crowded House tours, repeating the experience as a young adult with his own band, the renowned Betchadupa. To record FOMO, the sophomore follow-up to 2007 solo debut I’ll Be Lightning, Finn relocated to London, but moved to New York City three years ago. Finn’s third solo set, The Nihilist, runs the gamut of his genetic and experiential influences. Finn will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our new feature on him.
Finn: I have spent many a Tuesday night having too much of a good time at Manhattan Inn in Greenpoint. Psychedelic Furs keyboardist Joe McGinty plays your host, and has a book full of classics to drunkenly shout your way through while he masterfully hammers the grand piano in this dimly lit room of wood. On a good night, the room joins in with you on the big choruses, and euphoria fills the air. On my 30th birthday, I did an unhinged version of Devo’s “Whip It” that left me so adrenalized I cried when the girl after me followed it up with “Nothing Compares To You,” having been dumped that day.
