Hanna Tsepesh: Hello Oren! Thanks so much for accepting this interview and Welcome to THE GATES OF METAL! First of all: how are you and how are the things doing with your concerts?Oren: Hey thanks Hanna, it’s a pleasure to speak with you. Things are going well with the band right now, especially since we got on board with Rat Pak, the crew over there is tireless and they work hard to make sure their artists get the exposure they deserve.
Hanna Tsepesh: For those who do not know Finespun could tell us a little how it all started?
Oren: Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away….just kidding! I myself have always wanted to be a musician in one form or another, this has been a lifelong quest for me personally. Along the way I met my long time drummer Ed Grazi and we played in a couple of bands prior to Finespun that broke up. When those bands broke up, our goal was to start a new band with the mantra of not making the same mistakes we made in prior acts. We as humans learn from our experiences, and its best to learn from them and duplicate what worked and put aside those ideas that didn’t. We’ve worked with other bassists and guitarists along the way, until we found the right fit with our current bassist and guitarist, Doug Tammany and Patrick Brennan respectively. When Doug came down for his first audition, we knew we had found a like-minded member for our fold, he already dressed the part, liked the same music we did and his playing was of very high caliber. Patrick was found through an ad, via craigs list, as he was still attending Berklee College of Music in Boston at the time and liked us enough to take the train down more than once a week to rehearse with us. Within 2 weeks of him coming down, he knew our catalog and was ready to gig out, a true talent and amazing guitarist that we’re happy to have as part of the group. Since then we’ve played locally and have also traveled on invitation to MMC 08 and SXSW 09, with more tour plans coming up.
Hanna Tsepesh: What inspired you the most to create the lyrics? The band writes the lyrics first or first the band creates the riffs to comply with the lyrics?
Oren: The band does both. The lyrics to our songs are always inspired by those events that happen around us, locally as well as globally. It’s part of the human experience to take in the drama of daily life and process them in one way or another, this is just our process and interpretation. It is in turn, what I think lets people relate to our lyrics; they apply to everyone in many of the situations you would go through on a daily basis. From love lost, to that frustrated feeling you get when nothing goes your way, to just plain old throwing your hands in the air about a situation you have no control over, Finespun has the soundtrack to your life in wait for your listening pleasure. Our hope is that our music can touch someone in a way that is much like the way that music has touched us in our lives. When something strikes a chord deep within your soul, hard enough for the hairs to stand up on the back of your neck, that’s the feeling we want to invoke for others. That’s when you know you’ve reached the heart of the matter and that’s what we strive for when we write, making that connection. How does the song get written? Either way, it can start with lyrics and have riffs written around it – this most times happens when I as the vocalist have an idea and bring it to the band, or it can be a piece of music that happened spontaneously while we’re playing at rehearsal – or something another member has written and brought to rehearsal – in which case lyrics are written on top of the music. Its much harder to write words on top of music, but we make it work!
Hanna Tsepesh: What are your favorite bands? You have any mu
sician that you admire the most? Oren: We hate everyone equally. It’s easier that way haha. We listen to plenty, Led zeppelin, Jim, Jimi, Janis, Breaking Benjamin, any number of guitar heroes, lots of anything that Maynard Keenan is in, Chevelle, Motown, etc. There’s no one musician that I personally admire most, but most that I admire are the ones who have gained longevity in this business. In this ever changing landscape that we call the music business, it’s hard to get on top ,much less stay on top, so I always take my hat off for people like Steven Tyler or Gene Simmons who have truly made a career out of this ever-exploding business.
Hanna Tsepesh: You have another band or some future project? Or your time is only for the band?
Oren: There is no other band, there is no other project, Finespun is the main focus and comes first – most times in line before eating and drinking.
Hanna Tsepesh: I would like to know if you had or have any singing lessons or any other preparation?
Oren: I’ve taken lessons here and there, my former coach Dan Parilis is the man I credit for whenever I’m actually on pitch (laughs)! He got me there and I work daily to keep myself there. Some people have amazing talent right out of the box – or out of the womb would be a better description – I don’t believe I’m one of those people. This makes me do 2 things, practice and envy
Hanna Tsepesh: When you start to play guitar? It was difficult to learn? What brand guitar you prefer?
Oren: I started many moons ago and I’m still learning. The day you stop learning is the day you stop creating. With our guitar player Patrick being such a good player, it continually pushes me to want to learn more and get better. I own a bunch of Fender Strats and Gibson guitars, but I play my Gibson Les Paul Classic with this band, it gives me the thickness and sustain that this project needs – especially when I turn it up to 11. Patrick is also a Gibson guy and Doug is a Schecter player. I’ll never give up my strats, but for Finespun, my Gibson LP is the way to go…(Hey Gibson -make with the endorsement already! I believe that was plenty of upsell for ya!). As far as amps we’re all Marshall, Mesa Boogie or Ampeg at any given time.
Hanna Tsepesh: Let’s talk about the “Fracture” album. For people who don’t listen yet can you tell to us what we can expect from this album?
Oren: You can expect a heavier side of Finespun, we roll with the times. This disc is a representation of where our heads were at during its creation and we feel that the listeners head could have at anytime been in the same place. You’ll definitely find some rockers like 4 Walls, 1 Window and Hourglass, to some lighter ballads such as Against the Fallout. I think that there’s something for everyone on this disc and its worth a listen to those unfamiliar. At the end of the day, I think many will relate to what we have to say on this release.
Hanna Tsepesh: Everything went well at recording studio? The band feels pride with the final result or in your opinion is something that you like to change?
Oren: Everything went well during recording. We had a couple of tracks remixed for us by AJ Resta and Karyadi Sutjeda (whose credits include Collective Soul, Megadeth, Elton John, Perry Farrell etc) and we wish that more of the CDs tracks could have been done by them. The tracks were originally done at Killingworth studios (Hicksville, NY) before AJ and the crew at Studio Bopnique got to them, and then mastered by our good friend Andy over at Black Dog Mastering in Florida. It was an interstate effort that came through with flying colors.
Hanna Tsepesh: How has the response been to the album by the fans and media?
Oren: So far so good! We’re loving the feedback we’re getting along with anticipation of new material by those who still want more. My favorite quote so far is "Finespun, a 4 piece band from New York who typifies the everlasting love affair we all have with the raw power, energy and emotion of rock and roll..." Gotta love that!
Hanna Tsepesh: If one of our readers wants to buy your album safely, what they can do?Oren: They can go to www.finespunmusic.com/store or www.finespunmusic.com/merch and pick up a copy from Rat Pak Records or Century Media which are both linked on that page. They may even get a free gift from Century Media for buying there. Of course we’re available on iTunes and all of your other favorite outlets as well.
Hanna Tsepesh: what is your favorite music in this album and why?
Oren: My favorite are 4 Walls 1 Window and A Scalpels Precision right now, the first because its a lot of fun to play live and the second because it asks that universal question…”What the hell is normal anyway?”
Hanna Tsepesh: Do you want to send any message for the people who going to read this interview?Oren: Chocolate is always better and the correct answer is always D. none of the above. Oh yeah…and enjoy listening to us!
Hanna Tsepesh: Thanks o much for your answers and time. THE GATES OF METAL wishes the entire band a big success! Hope to see you guys very soon in here…
Oren: No, Thanks to you for having us. Its been a pleasure speaking with you and I hope the readers enjoy the interview and visit any of our pages and send us some email. In fact, We’ll give a free MP3 to any reader who sends us a message on Myspace (www.myspace.com/finespun), Facebook (band.to/finespun) or through our site at www.finespunmusic.com saying that they read about us in The Gates of Metal…hows that for a thank you!
Hanna Tsepesh: Great idea! Thanks a lot and you are very welcome! All the bes...
By: Hanna Tsepesh
To listen to some FINESPUN music’s and for future information’s go at:
www.myspace.com/finespun
