Matt 'Sharky' Finn has been a part of a few bands, has been a solo musician and part of a duo. His career has spanded over 20 years. However it was in the middle of 2018 when he left All My Ghosts to go solo, that he finally released a full album of his own material. Under the name of Another Acoustic April he released the album Laconic Symphonies, an album which talks about love lost and won. It was an important learning curve, and in 2019 Matt plans to write a new album full of new songs that will have a fuller sound and songs that really talk to people. Thanks for reading this. Peace, love and all that stuff. Matt 'Sharky' Finn.
Music is my life. I think of music as an expression of me. It gives me the freedom to tell people my story, but also to share other people's stories. It is a shared experience, being that it is a universal language, being a musician is a great responsibility to make sure that you are true to yourself and your audience. So that they get an authentic experience that they can truly be a part of.
To be writing and playing the rest of my life. If I sell copies of my albums, great. But the dream is to be a musician till the day I die. That is all.
Poverty. I would make it so the rich could help the poor more. That wealth was more evenly distributed. That poverty becomes a thing that we talk about in history books, not read about in newspapers
"Mr Blue Sky" ELO. I remember my dad getting his vinyl out and me hearing it for the first time. It had a massive effect on me. I loved and still love that song.
Counting Crows, U2, David Ford, Frank Turner, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, David Gray, Eminem, Meat Loaf, ELO, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Linkin Park, Slipknot, Korn... many many others...
I wake up every day with a song in my head. Music is like breathing to me. Most of those songs don't get written. But I'm inspired by the world around me, by people, situations, but mostly by stories of love. Love lost or found.
My message is dependant on the song to be honest. I guess it's that we should all love a little more, treat each other a bit better, respect each other. That kinda stuff.
Performing is the best experience. It's like a drug, once I have played, no matter how tired I am or how much I have given to the performance, I always want to get up and do more. I love it. It's the best feeling, especially to see people singing your songs back to you.
I think it's harder to be a musician today. There are so many good acts out there. All fighting for the slots. But this is made worse by a throwaway streaming society. I will agree that there is more access to music today. We can get our music out to the public more readily. But the fact is that people buy less albums and stream or buy the tracks they want. It leads to less money to the artists. Finally, there is the problem of less venues and not so great pay for the artists. So it could be improved by musicians making sure they are the best they can be, making sure they produce the best albums they can and by venues paying fairly for the work that musicians do.
I love it and intend to use it more in 2019
Getting music out to the audience
Yes. I go to gigs as often as possible. And buy their music when I like it.
They need to be relatable to their audience. They need to be talented, and hard working but also they need to have the right connections to promote themselves out to the right places. Because with so many artists vying for the top spots, we need to be able to have someone able to push us forward through the noise to get to the larger audiences.
Joe Martin, Jake Dixon, The Hiding Magpies