Finneas

Songs are caricatures of dedication and love. They are channels for solace and mirrors that reflect how someone is truly consumed by their thoughts. Particularly, musician, FINNEAS attributes his songwriting career to crafting inventive manifestations of love. His colossal achievements include amassing well over 6 million streams on his hit “Break My Heart Again,” writing songs alongside his sister, Billie Eilish, and pioneering the perfect love song.

On the phone, Finneas describes the utter exhaustion of taking a hot yoga class alongside his girlfriend, Claudia. “You know, I thought I was an athletic person, but then I took a hot yoga class,” he quips as he munches on a Clif bar.

Recently, Finneas just wrapped opening for his sister’s international tour, where he got to physically experience the exhilaration of fans’ singing along to the songs he wrote in the comfort of his bedroom walls. Often, musicians use their art as a way to solely express themselves. It’s a fortitude of who they are as a person and a way to temporarily heal. Finneas expresses his awe, knowing that audiences relate to music that essentially served as a therapeutic outlet for himself. “Externally, playing a live show and hearing

other people interpret your music, relate to it, understand it, and feel some kind of way about it. It’s really amazing,” he says, as he searches for words to explain the almost unfathomable feeling. “Internally, the minute you have an idea for a piece of music and you just like it, and it makes you feel good, that’s the most satisfying thing. It’s like cooking yourself your favorite meal,” he laughs. His open-hearted presence vis-a-vis a phone call reflects his genuine character as he is still shocked by the multitude of people that stream his songs and attend the tour dates.

“I think you’re gonna change my plans/ With those emerald eyes,” are the words that make up the sparkling chorus of Finneas’ latest single, “Claudia.” As I reach mid-point in asking “Recently, you wrote a song about your girlfriend,” he interjects with an enthusiastic, “Hell yeah!” You can audibly hear the excitement he has to talk about his one person. “I wrote the first verse of the song the night I met her. Then, I wrote the chorus and the second verse after that,” he says. “It’s absolutely therapeutic having a song named Claudia, the girl I’m absolutely crazy about.” His native Los Angeles sunshine seems to reflect into the phone call when he addresses how falling in love has influenced his music process.

“Songs are how I talk about everything in my life,” he adds, “Falling in love with Claudia, arguments with my ex-girlfriend. I would be limiting myself musically, if I wasn’t vulnerable when it comes to songwriting.” Finneas allows his audience to momentarily play the part of heartbroken narrator or the songwriter who is experiencing the metamorphosis of a newfound love.

Nowadays, songs are prone to over relying on production elements, leaving the lyricism to drown in noise. Finneas is an antithesis of this very concept. The organic composition of his music lies in minimalistic instrumentation that only serves to highlight the messages he breathes to life. “I’m kind of obsessed with minimalism in all aspects,” he says. He goes on to destruct the ‘Break My Heart Again’ ballad, “We have all heard amazing piano songs before. My first thought was ‘What can we do to make this song like something we’ve never heard before? That’s why I inserted the text arguments I had with an ex-girlfriend of mine. The modern twist of the sounds of the cell phone leave you shaken by the whole thing.”

He recounts the first time he knew he wanted to become a musician came when he was 11-years old and scribbling down his very first songs. “I was really sure that this was what I wanted to do in my life pretty early on, I would write like two lines and never finish them,” he says. Even though Finneas has gone through the trials and tribulations of teenage years and early adulthood, he finds himself going back to the songs he wrote as an adolescent and trying to finish the collection of incomplete songs. He remarks that most of his songs are written in a place of isolation. Particularly, because he enjoys working alone as those sessions closely touch a level of vulnerability and self-expression you cannot get anywhere else.

In the past two years, Billie and Finneas wove together melodic hit record after hit record. They have both grasped how to navigate a world that catapulted them into a seemingly fast ascension to international attention. “We blew the f*** up. It’s all very crazy. But our songwriting process hasn’t changed from when we were both just writing in Billie’s room,” he states. “We still make everything wherever we are, whether that be in a bedroom or in a greenroom.”

The live setting during his consistent tour schedule put it into perspective for Finneas how people react to the songs he has made. “When people cry to the songs, it’s really impactful because I know, I really hold songs that make me cry near and dear to me. That’s when a song stops feeling like it’s mine its yours now.” He roughly tries to recite a quote from one of his favorite authors, John Green about books belonging to the readers, “When you make a thing and you put it out, it’s not really yours anymore. The people who listen to this that’s who this belongs to,” he concludes.

At 21-years-old, Finneas finds that a wide variety of affirmations guide his music catalogue. Most of them are manifestations of love and projections of growth. “Let’s Fall In Love For The Night” encounters a young Finneas learning how to navigate a long distance relationship via FaceTime calls. “That’s a whole song about the temporary nature of things. I’ve been very pleased to find out that other people can relate to

that song in any small fashion,” he says, “It makes me really happy.” Lyrically, Finneas acknowledges ‘Break My Heart Again’ as the song worthy of the title as most proud of composing. “It was the most true. As a songwriter, I’m not above changing the truth if it feels better. The way ‘Break My Heart Again’ turned out, it somehow lyrically rhymed together. Most importantly, it’s crazy that I got tell so much of the truth within one song,” he says.

When 2019 draws to a close, Finneas hopes to release more songs that emerge from a process of meticulously picking and prodding at lyrics and production. “I want to put out a bunch of stuff this year. I like to make sure that people know that things I’m taking the time to put out are really important to me,” he states, “If I’m putting love and time into it, they’re going to put time to listen to it.”

He wants to ensure that his collection of music is the utmost best for listeners that are patiently waiting for more singles and potentially a future album. The confines of a thirty minute phone interview were enough to accentuate his fervor to share more music.

Every song invokes imagery, inflicts emotion, and displays an artist that is honed into the craft of songwriting. Finneas’ lived experience are narratives that his listeners interpret and find the sense of comfort they were yearning for. He is conscious in delivering earnest glimpses into his internal monologues that radiate emotions in anyone that is willing to listen.