INTERVIEW
FAR FROM FINISHED
by Taron Cochrane, November 2007

Hey Steve, how's it going? So could you tell us a little bit about your band, FAR FROM FINISHED.

Hey what’s up man!  FFF has been around in one form or an other since about 1998.  We wanted to write the kind of music that we listened to and loved, and all the new bands that were coming out at that time we thought were kinda crap.  We were like “let’s bring back the spirit”, fuck everything else.  More or less at the time we were just kids, and thought we could conquer the world - bring justice to the streets! and truth to the minds of the youth! Haha. The truth is we were 15 year olds with fresh livers, and big dreams. We loved punkrock, we’ve learned a lot about ourselves since then.

July 17th officially marked the day that your latest album, "Living In the Fallout" hit the streets. (Congratulations) What has the response to the album been so far? What should people expect?

Finally!  It took long enough eh?  We’re glad it’s finally out now, and we’re happy with it.  We put a lot into it, and are glad the way it came out.  Of course, we’ve developed a little bit since we started writing songs, but that’s what happens when learn a little bit about music, and song writing.  People should expect nothing, and hopefully they can walk away somewhat happy that they just didn’t waste their money.  We’re writing songs that kinda touch on the part of your mind that you might not want to come to grips with.  If you feel great about yourself, then it’s probably not the record for you.  That being said, it IS a fun record that draws on our influences a little more this time around.  Its punk, no doubt, but there’s elements of soul, hardcore, r & b, jazz  and all that shit– we wanted to keep things interesting.

Lyrically and musically this album blew me away from start to finish.  It seems to me that you guys' are really going to set the bar high for other bands with this one.  Who/what were some of the major influences for you while making this album?
Thank you.  Marc’s writing style is somewhere between Darious Koski and Paul Westerberg.  I think more and more though he’s developing his own style of writing.  As a band for instance we listen to a lot of music together - you spend a lot of your time sitting in a van.  So on the last tour we were listening to a lot of old Trojan and Sun records.   When I get sick of it I’ll borrow an ipod and listen to whatever, Stiff Little Fingers, Rancid, The Dead Boys,  whatever im in the mood for.  For me a lot of influence comes from the actual bands we tour with.  You spend a month with the same band, you get to know them,  and you really start understand where it is their music is coming from.

One thing I respect about FAR FROM FINISHED is your association with your fans.  You seem to be closer to your fans than many bands and in return your fans are extremely loyal and dedicated.  That is something that you don't see everyday in the music business.  What do you think it is about the band that brings you so close to your fans?
I’m not really sure,  I’ve always thought that if someone’s going out and buying a record of ours, than why wouldn’t I want to meet them and say hello.  I’ll be the first to say that im not a singer, ive never had any training or anything, and when people say to me that im an amazing front man, I don’t know how to react.  Im really no different than the kid in the front row that’s simply pumped to be at the punkrock show. 

Obviously, one of the reasons your so respected world-wide is because you guys tour relentlessly and put on one helluva show.  For those who haven't had the opportunity to catch you live, what can they expect?
Wrong chords and bad notes.  But you’ll get a lot of foolish energy, and it’ll be really fucking loud.  Usually at the end our sets we’re soaked through and through with sweat down to our ankles.  So if that’s your thing, come check us out.

Touring-wise is there anything planned in support of the new album?  Any place you would love to go?
We just got back from Europe a little while ago so we’ve been regrouping a bit. We have some regional shows around the northeast coming up, and I think us and the U.S. Bombs are going out for a six week US and Canada tour at the end of January.  I’d really like to see Japan and Australia one day, so we’ll see what the future brings.

What has been one of the best moments on stage for you? And of course...the worst?

Playing in Munich in front of 5,500 people hung over as fuck would probably qualify as one of the most memorable, and the worst … maybe when we were on tour with the (Dropkick) Murphys and Gary’s bass broke rite in the middle of the set and he didn’t have a backup with him!  The entire crowd started chanting “let’s go Murphys! blah blah blah” and Im sitting there with a mic in my hand trying to make light of a horrible situation, and it just wasn’t working.  Thanks to Matt Kelly though for saving the day!

Is FAR FROM FINISHED a full-time job for all of you guys?  If not, what do you guys' do when you’re not making music?
If music could be considered passion and passion could be considered work, then this could be a fulltime job.   We all do what we can do to get by when we’re home.  You have to make a lot of sacrifices to be able to go on the road all the time.  Some of us are fortunate enough to have friends and girlfriends that put up with our shit, and deal with our smell.  We’re very lucky in sense.

Thanks for your time and the interview man, I appreciate it! One last question, I am moving in with my girlfriend in a few weeks and I am a little nervous. Any advice you can give me?

Well you might have moved in already at this point, so I hope its going well brotha.  If she’s a good girl, it’ll all work out just fine. No worries on the interview, and thanks for the support and patience. 

Links:

Far From Finished | http://www.farfromfinished.com

Official MySpace | http://www.myspace.com/farfromfinished

Think Fast Records | http://www.thinkfastrecords.com