The Mix 025: Finn

Congratulations on the greatest hits on the ‘Greatest Hits’ project. How do you feel having dropped it, reflecting on 10 years of releasing music?

Yeah, I guess time has flown by! That project basically spans my 20s – it’s quite weird to think about, it’s a big decade, you go through a lot in your 20s. When I listen to those early records, I think about being in my mum and dad’s house, in a bedroom, back from San Francisco and everything feeling quite new to me. And now I think about how I feel about music and I think, oh, jaded loser? [laugh] No, I don’t. But yeah, your feelings about music will change massively. One thing that did strike me when we were going through, me and Tom [Boogizm], we both completely agreed on what we thought my best records were, which I quite liked. I’m pretty proud of a lot of these records! I guess I’m only 30 so it’s a bit of a premature ‘Greatest Hits’ thing maybe, but yeah, I felt I liked my back catalogue so why not!

So alongside the release, I saw you had a comment on the longevity of music and the idea of a back catalogue. Do you have any general thoughts on the scene and the consumption of music based off what you were saying there?

I read this Martin Amis quote where he said “the only true critic of literature is time” or something like that. I was thinking about the way I consume dance music, and I consume very little new dance music. The ‘90s stuff seems to scratch the itch for me in a way that other stuff doesn’t. But I guess I was thinking about about how a lot of the records that I find, I don’t have any relationship with the artist, you look them up and be like this guy only exists on Discogs. There’s a romance to that that I do quite like … maybe a greatest hits compilation plays into that a bit. I kind of look at dance music in a rear mirror. I do think about longevity a lot. Whether I think my records are gonna have that, I’m not sure. I think a lot of my stuff probably sounds too digital, doesn’t sound like the ‘90s stuff I’m into, which is probably why I don’t play it when I DJ out as much as I would. So we’ll see. Maybe I’ll come back in 10 years and think something different.

It interested me quite a lot where you said, “we’re in a golden era of dance music for people who don’t like dance music.” Are you talking here about edit culture? Or all this like watered-down pop-dance music … what are you getting at?

Yeah, I guess, edit culture and this kind of … ahh it’s hard to talk about this stuff, because it makes you feel dusty! Remember when you were a bit younger, and people would be like, “oh, he’s just an old head.” I’m not that for the record. I guess I meant more that going out nowadays, I feel you don’t really hear classic dance records like you used to – crowds now seem to be seeking maybe a garage format they recognise or a flip of a record from their childhood. People want to connect to nostalgia in this way.

When I was getting into dance music, I was conscious that I had to learn a lot, and that I needed to learn what the big records were, and that if a Masters at Work record got played, and I didn’t know it, I should know it! That’s still the case, I feel like learning big dance records, finding a record and being like this was big in Baltimore in the ‘90s; I think that’s quite important, in terms of a historical context, and building up your own knowledge. I guess I just don’t really relate to a lot of what I see getting played on bigger festival stages – it feels everything’s become a bit un-moored from what I consider a history of dance music.

I feel like everyone consumes things quicker and moves on quicker – it links to what you were saying earlier about the longevity of records. I think maybe when people see a set now it’s cheap thrills almost. It’s just a high and then the next drop ….

And I feel like we’ve had those moments before the UK, there was fidget house and stuff like that, we had the kind of EDM explosion that came over here a bit as well … but that stuff does always give way to people who are just really into records. I feel like we’re about to see another give way moment… There I go again, sounding like the old heads [chuckles], maybe they were right all along!

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Is there a particular kind of new avenue of dance music or new niche that you’re really enjoying exploring, or that’s quite rewarding for you right now? I know you’ve always spoken about bassline. Is there anything new?

I guess the thing I’ve been that’s new for me that I’ve been really enjoying is this Sunday Club party I’ve been doing. And this isn’t a new sound, we’re going back to ’91 with that kind of format of Sunday garage. I did this thing for NTS on garage, where I connected house, New York house, Jersey house and garage in a way that I found really rewarding, and it opened up a new method of digging for me. So that felt new to me, although it’s not actually new. But I guess we’re the first generation of people who have access to these massive archives of old dance music as well. There’s a new thing in here, which is about finding old records, which people couldn’t do in the ‘90s – you couldn’t hear anything you wanted from the ‘60s, for example. That is new, we are still enjoying a new process of revisiting old things. I think Ben UFO’s talked about this: If you hear a record for the first time, that’s new! So, yeah, I guess that’s a really long winded way of saying, I don’t really listen to much new music.

Can you can you remember a particular set maybe or a back to back that really sticks in the memory, where you felt “in the pocket”?

Yeah, I tweeted about being “In the pocket” after the last Sunday Club. It was me, Nat [Esqueezy] and Ryan [BFTT] and it was still light. Because it was still light outside (it was a day party and the shutters were up), people were kind of dancing, raving, and I just kept saying to Ryan, “it’s gonna get darker and it’s gonna get better because people are gonna get more into it as the sun goes down.” So I just kept repeating “time is on our side. Don’t panic,” and they were just like, ‘shut the fuck up, stop getting in our ears with this weird, semi-mystical stuff’. The pocket is a really specific feeling, when you’re playing with another DJ and you’re waiting for them to play the next record, obviously you’re quite sensitive to how that record affects what the vibe is, and whether that record is gonna change the vibe, whether that’s going to influence how you pick your next tune. If someone’s in the pocket, every time they play a record, you go, “Oh, yeah, perfect, absolutely perfect.” I think we had two hours, maybe it was three hours, we had a bit of a chunk of time, time was on our side. We were all on brand, in the pocket. No one was taking it where it didn’t need to go. Every record was picked perfectly.

You mentioned Sunday Club, that takes place at The White Hotel .. then you’ve also got A Party Called, which is at The White Hotel. I think it’s the best club in the UK, there’s something about it that’s just so amazing. How important do you think having that space is for you and your creativity?

Yeah, super important. I think having a club that I play at regularly is probably the most rewarding thing that’s happened to me over the last few years, falling in with the best club in the country. Just the vibes, the set up, the sound – it’s an absolutely amazing space! It’s off the beaten track, it’s gonna be underground, it’s such an odd venue, it looks a certain way, it’s going to attract certain types of people. You can have really transcendental, amazing moments on the dancefloor – if you go, you will get it. It’s changed the way I DJ, which is always a good sign in a relationship with a club. At the White Hotel you get given seven hours to play with, that’s obviously gonna expand your approach to dance music, you’ve got time to fill in a way that you don’t if you’re getting booked at other people’s nights, and you just get given your hour.

As great as it is that we have such spaces, clubs all over the country have been have been closing down, particularly outside of London, in places in the North. I’ve seen you be vocal about this online … If you could say something to the government about this, what would you say?

Berlin pledged 900 million Euros to their clubs and events sector, and I just thought, that’s so alien to us as a culture in the UK to, put that kind of money into nightlife culture and dance music. I don’t know what I’d say specifically – I think it’d be amazing to see funding opportunities opened up for promoting and promoters, in the country that’s probably got the most influence on global dance music. I don’t know, it feels like a really stupid move not to bet on that! Look at Wigan Casino – Wigan produced Northern soul … We could have a really vital and interesting dance scene, not just in London, or just in Manchester, all across the country!

What’s next for Finn?

Sunday club’s the most fun I’m having at the moment. I’ve got a bunch of parties, Physical Therapy in September that’ll be loads of fun. I’ve got another album which I’m tryna finish off which is new stuff. Might wait for next year to do that, or maybe under another alias. That album will come out either late this winter or early next year. That’s been fun to work on. It’s probably another step, very stripped back, very raw. I’ve been working on a new studio setup which will let me mix down cassette decks and things – I’ve been trying to learn that process. Got some features as well with Manchester people.

Can you tell us about your mix?

Been talking a lot recently about the ‘Sunday Club Mindset’ – people have asked me, what is the Sunday Club Mindset? Is it just a nonsense phrase to promote a DJ’s new venture? No, it’s a real thing and the proof is in this mix.

‘Greatest Hits’ by Finn is out now via Local Action, get it here

Jamaal Johnson is a freelance writer, follow him on Instagram