by Martyna Turczynowicz
Finn is releasing their debut EP on Friday December 5th at the Goodwill Social Club. The band is made up of Daniel Baron on vocals and guitar, John Baron on bass and backing vocals, Matthew Baron on keyboard and backing vocals, Darren Hebner on guitar and Cody Iwasiuk on Drums. Stylus sat down with Darren Hebner, John and Daniel Baron to talk about the debut album and the band’s beginnings.
Four of the band’s members met at Brandon University’s music school, John and Daniel Baron are brothers from the ‘Peg who grew up jamming together. Daniel left to study music in Brandon, and Daniel started sending him music he’d written. That’s when they both realized they had a strong musical connection.
“I was hearing what he was putting out and I missed creating music with my brother,” John Baron says. “When I left, initially I didn’t realize I missed playing so much. Growing up, Daniel always wanted to jam and I’d be like “Man I don’t wanna jam right now’. He’d always pressure me into it.”
Darren Hebner, says the band started slowly forming sometime around 2009, and that they’re more than ready to release their EP.
“It feels like we’ve been a band for forever, but we haven’t actually released something and to have something to show people,” he says.
The EP release will make it easier for Finn to book shows as well, Hebner adds. “It’s difficult to book shows without music, like telling them ‘We’re really good, I swear’,” Hebner says.
Some of the songs on the EP are two years old, written by Daniel when John, Darren and Cody were in Brandon. “I wrote all of the songs when John, Darren and Cody were all in Brandon, a year before we actually got the band together,” Daniel Baron told Stylus.
They recorded the EP themselves and Iwasiuk engineered the album. One of the tracks on the album, Man and Beast, features Sierra Noble and Cold Comfort has two members of the Dirty Catfish Brass Band playing parts. Matthew Baron, who plays keyboard and is on vocals in the band had met Noble at a show, when he was performing with Those Guys Acapella group, Jon Baron explains. “He had met Sierra Noble a few weeks before we started recording and they did a performance together for Those Guys. Matt was the beatboxer there.”
The band knew they always wanted guest vocal on “Man and Beast” so they asked Noble if she’d be interested, and she was, Baron explains.
Their latest music has taken a turn in a new direction. The sound is heavily influenced by indie rock band Local Natives, and Winnipeg’s own local natives Royal Canoe. Hebner says their newest stuff is a spin-off of the tracks on their EP “River’s Shore”
“’River’s Shore’ explores different rhythms and sounds versus the three-chord folk song.” While there’s nothing wrong with the traditional three-chord folk song, Hebner says, it’s definitely more influenced by what Local Natives and Royal Canoe are doing. “They’re not really just settling on a simple progression but expanding on what they can do with each instrument.”
John Baron agrees, “The way I see it, it’s a lot of small parts, when played by themselves don’t make sense and are kind of boring, but as a whole, it’s mindblowing.”
Finn will be releasing their EP on December 5th at the Goodwill Social Club with Adam Hanney and Co. and Okay Mann. Tickets are 10$, doors open at 9pm.