story by Jessica Suarez

Finn Riggins singer/keyboardist Eric Gilbert, along with guitarist Lisa Simpson and drummer Cameron Bouiss, visited Simpson’s old high school to teach the kids a lesson about D.I.Y. “We visited with the high school band and just talked really frankly with the kids about what a pursuit of a music career looks like,” explains Eric. “Then we played an all-school assembly in a gym for 500 kids, who were super-pumped to not be in class.” The trio also went into the school’s music-theory class and talked about songwriting, then had that absolute best part of high school: a hot lunch in the cafeteria. Finn Riggins may plan an all high school tour in the future: “For [the students], it's like, ‘Oh wow, they're touring the country but I've never heard them on the radio. How does that happen?’”

It happened pretty naturally for Finn Riggins, who all met while studying music at the University Of Idaho. They had been in other bands together when they decided to sequester themselves and only work on Finn Riggins. Drummer Bouiss’s family had a house they could live and practice in, so the three packed up for nearby Sun Valley, Idaho, in 2006. The close living and working environment (Simpson and Gilbert have been married for five years) forced them into high gear: within the last year the band has completed several tours, as well as released an EP and prepped their upcoming debut, A Soldier, A Saint, An Ocean Explorer (Tender Loving Empire).

The record evokes a sense of open space, despite Simpson's snarl and the ever present shambling of Bouiss’s wonderfully thick drums churning beneath sawtooth guitars and layered harmonies. The tracks on A Soldier also bounce between lyrical density, like the galloping, country-fried “Pannin For Gold” and the sinister, groaning  “Glove Compartment.” The song's lyrics may be too simple, actually: “People keep wondering if ["Glove Compartment" is] a real sexual reference. For us, it’s basically about how ridiculous lyrics can be and still be a song.” For the record, the song’s chorus is, “I’ve got a glove compartment/You’ve got to love it, love it."

Or maybe Finn Riggins have just learned to love their new van. After all, their June tour was derailed by no less than seven breakdowns of their old one. “We got to the point where the van would not drive during the day for more than a half-hour,” remembers Gilbert. “We were on the way to a festival date in the middle of the day in Utah and we broke down nine miles from the venue. We had to be there in 15 minutes, so Lisa and I just hitchhiked with an acoustic guitar and an accordion.” Those were the two most portable instruments for a band that usually travels with a lot of gear. A couple on their way to go shopping picked the pair up, and they made their show "just because we wanted to fulfill our obligation,” says Gilbert. “And, we needed the gas money.”

FINN RIGGINS
"Hraka"

Post to del.icio.us