Craig Finn (Concert Quote)
Appearances
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And there were a lot of young people that worked there. So there was its own scene. What was the scene like? It was weird. It was like the office kind of experience that in some ways is very stereotypical. Like you'd have a Christmas party and people would misbehave. I remember there were these guys that I'd hang out with sometimes.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
They would go out almost every night and then they'd come in and they'd rate their hangovers. Wow. And we had like an intranet system, you know, so you could talk to each other. And I can't remember what the level. I think level six was you threw up at work. That's great. That's such a low number for throwing up at work. Yeah. I mean, and it's funny.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
The thing was is there would be a tax season where people would need their tax forms and whatever. Yeah. It would get really busy. And it was really awful. Like people would have to wait on hold for like a long time before they talked to you. They'd be really angry when they got you. Yeah.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And so like I remember during that period each year not wanting to go to work, like lying in bed and being like, I don't want to go there today, you know.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
There kind of was like a company-wide directive that you had to pass online. what they called a Series 6 exam, which it's a regulatory thing. Okay. And a lot of people had problems passing that exam. And I think a lot of people were in a different place than I do, or their parents, et cetera, and they just didn't have time to deal with it. I was able to pass it pretty easy.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And so I said, wait a minute, I'm going to go get the Series 7.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Series seven allows you to trade stocks and bonds. So I went and studied for that. And then I got series 24, which for every amount of series sevens you have, you need a series 24 to kind of sign off on their transactions. So I saw this exam taking as a way to kind of make myself indispensable.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And through that, I moved up to a wealth management area.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And it allowed for some stability. I mean, you know, my bandmates largely were doing more like... freelance stuff, they were catering and things like that, and that felt more stressful to me than getting a paycheck every two weeks.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
There was a guy who called down and said, hey, do you follow local music at all? And I was like, yeah, a bit. And he goes, there's a band called Lifter Puller, and their singer has the same name as you. And he didn't think for one second it could be me.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
It was 2000. It was kind of this first internet boom, you know, and it was kind of that time where there was a lot of internet companies and there was like, no one knew how they were going to make money, but you like ate cereal and sat in beanbag chairs. So I knew a lot of people that were doing gigs like that.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And I moved on a Friday and I started on a Monday and I didn't have the job when I moved.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
I mean, it was comical what we were talking about. One was that we weren't going to play any shows. You didn't want to, why? Because I surmised, perhaps correctly, that when you move the gear, that's when the trouble starts. Wait, what does that mean?
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
You know, like once you get like, I mean, I think it was like, okay, so you know, like in Lifter Puller, you go out and you like, you want to be in a rock band, but you know, you start out your rock band and you end up learning a lot about your band. because it breaks down a lot, you know? And, like, suddenly, like, all your time is, like, auto repairs, you know?
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And I'm like, well, this wasn't exactly what I imagined it. Once you get, like, move the gear and get it in a van and go play a show, then that's when the fighting starts.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Yeah. So I was like, well, if we just, like, drank beer on Tuesday nights and played, wouldn't that be, like, the most fun part of it? And then, you know, no pressure. But, of course, that wasn't going to work. So the second someone asked us to play a show, we're like, Okay, yeah, you know.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
It's called Mr. Ass. Mr. Ass? Yeah. And they were doing this thing at Arlene Grocery, and they were like, do you want to do, like, bumper music? Like, get a band together. Do, like, bumper music. It'll be like, you know, when we're changing sets, you'll play, like, Back in Black. No singing. So I was like, Yeah, that sounds fun. That's something to do. So we go and do that.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And are they doing, like, improv sketching? Yeah, yeah. So they're doing improv. A scene ends, and then you guys will play, like, 30 seconds of back and forth. Yeah, and then they, like, you know. So we did that twice. And the second time, they were like, hey, do you guys have any songs? You could just warm up the crowd, play a song.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And I showed the guys Knuckles, which ends up being the first Hold Steady song we ever had.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
I've been trying to get people to call me Freddy Knuckles. People keep calling me Ride Set Fred. And it's hard to keep trying when half your friends are dying. It's hard to hold it steady when half your friends are dead already.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And so we played that. And that was, I guess, the first Hold Steady show. But then after two of those, we were like, yeah, you know what was the most fun part about that is when we played our own song.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
We just combined them and called it a record. But it was really started with demos. And it didn't feel as easy.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
I think I knew that there was a power in keeping it light or something, you know, or keeping it, you know, if you take whatever the opposite of desperation is, I think people really react to that. And so we were kind of like, whatever, you know. I mean, that was always my thing about how the whole study was going to operate, at least at the beginning. It was like,
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Every time we have 10 songs, we'll call it an album. In that way, you're not recording 25 songs and being like, which are the best? And how do we perfectly sequence them? And how do we make our masterpiece? Like, no, we got 10 songs. Want to hear them?
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Well, we were—I mean, we were the antithesis of something, you know? Like, a lot of the music that was happening there was really syncopated and pretty tight.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And we were kind of this big sloppy bar rock band. And I think people were kind of like weirdly refreshed by it. And it took pressure off in a way that like, I don't know, maybe at that point in my life, I just didn't need pressure on the art.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
So with The Hold Steady, I thought, we just, like, play these shows around town, and we do this bar rock. But eventually, the bar started filling up, you know?
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And the thing is, is when you're in New York, the press is inherently national, you know? Like, in Minneapolis, you were hoping for, like, you know, I mentioned the local weekly. Yeah. But then all of a sudden, it's in Rolling Stone, and then, you know... Booking agents want to talk. Labels want to talk. And then I remember we decided to make our second record.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And the Village Voice did an article on it. And then we got word that they were putting us on the cover. And it was the first time a band had been on the cover in a long time, a decade or something. And that was really experienced as a turning point. Felt like that's kind of when all of a sudden things kicked into overdrive. And we became the Hold Steady as a real band.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
There is a business aspect to the band as well as a musical performance. And, you know, that part can be hard. And what does it look like when it's hard? Well, I mean, just standard money stuff, you know? I mean, like, here's an example. You book a show, it's in another state, and you make a budget. And when you go to book the flights, they're 30% more than... What you budgeted for. Yeah.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And you're like, oh, we aren't going to make very much money on this show. And that's like a very sober 1 p.m. conversation. But it's pretty easy for me anyways to have that conversation and be a little disappointed at 1 p.m. And then at 9 p.m. when it's time to get on stage to turn up the amp and be like, well, this is great. This part's great.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Still kind of bummed in the back of my mind about the 30% over budget on the flights. Yeah. But, like, I can forget about that easily for the next two hours. Sometimes, again, it's not ticket sales, it's the expenses, you know? Or, you know, there's a lot of business stuff that is kind of boring, but it is part of being in the band, you know?
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And especially for me as someone who gets involved in that.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Yeah, I do because, you know, I turned 50. I'm 51 now, but, you know, like when I get together with friends from college, I mean, like the whole study has allowed me to do amazing things, but I'm certainly not anywhere near wealthy. And it's probably another path would have led me to more wealth or more stability or something. And so, yeah, when you're getting together with the guys that – 51.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And your friend's talking about sending his kid off to college and then they're going to go down to their beach house. And you're like, well, there's a part of me that says that sounds nice. I understand I didn't pursue that, you know, but there is a part that's like, well, that does sound nice. And those are people who follow more of like the Amex path. Yeah. Yeah. Some sort of traditional path.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Well, there's this funny thing that I was thinking of on the way over here because I knew what we were going to talk about a little bit. And every once in a while, I'd say like 10 times in my career, I've been cornered by this guy.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
guy not a different guy each time but a type of guy yeah who really has like these pointed questions about like what you have and and you get the feeling that he's trying to figure out like trying to make himself feel better you know like what do you mean well like you know so so like how much money how much money you guys make you know like and it's like wow i'm not telling you i'm i just met you you know and yeah yeah so when you quit your job like they really want to know like how this all works and you get the feeling that's like
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
maybe they're trying to justify their own last 30 years or something, you know? That's so interesting. Like, if they knew how much you made and they knew they made more, then... If they knew exactly how poor you were, they could feel better about themselves. That's such a brutal conversation. I know, and it's really, it's like, dude, I'm getting away from you.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
But, like, there's a type of guy, and let's be honest, it's always a guy, that will really press for that.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
So you believe that it is possible to like your job? I absolutely do. I think that the hang-ups really come, I don't want to say from ambition because I think ambition is healthy, but from this kind of envy or coveting. And I think that it's very easy to like, no matter who you are and what you do, it's very easy for the goalposts to move.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
To be like, okay, well, like, oh, that band's selling out this room and we only sold out this room. It's like, you sold out? Like, there's like a thousand people here. Yeah. And they're all singing the words. So I think it's important to kind of train yourself not to like look for that, you know, like other shiny object. I mean, it's like... things come and go.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
But I mean, it is also a very natural human instinct to be like, I want more. So I do think you have to kind of remind yourself to be grateful and be present in that moment.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
So my question on this is – this seems like somewhat – it's very anecdotal. But when I was growing up, it was considered – kind of common knowledge that the first time you smoked weed, it didn't work. I remember this. And I always wondered if there's anything to that or if it's just the first time you smoked weed, you most likely got a hold of bad weed.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Like, I didn't smoke cigarettes. Right. Well, that was always the thing. But it also felt like the way they were explaining it, that you're kind of like. You're putting in the experience. You're making a deposit at the bank. Yeah. It was only the second time or the third time that it was going to pay off. Did you, the first time you smoked weed, did you get high? No. Interesting.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
But I don't think it was the first few times. Yeah. And, you know, every once in a while you'd be like, some guy would be like, I got high for the first time. And you kind of wouldn't believe him. Yes. You know? So I'm wondering, now that we have all this legalization, I'm wondering if there's any science to this or any answer. That's a really good question. Thank you. Yeah, thank you.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Man, I say the same thing almost every night. I'm not fooling anyone. But I only say it because it's true.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
There is so much joy in what we do up here. I want to thank you for being here to share that joy with us.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
I think, I mean, I remember telling my babysitter when I was really young that I wanted to be a rock and roll singer. Like when I was like, I don't know, eight.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
I was listening to bands like the Bay City Rollers and Kiss and getting really enthused about music and also the Monkees who were on TV. It looked like that was the best job. You know, it looks like I think there was the camaraderie of being in a band that looked fun. Yeah. The ability to burst into song. It seemed like girls liked guys in bands. Like the whole thing looked pretty great.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And I was a very mild mannered, nerdy kid. So like it was not. It didn't seem like I was destined for it, but it's what I wanted, and I think it led me for too long probably to ask for an electric guitar.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Oh, my dad worked for Ernst & Young, an accounting firm, and my mom was a homemaker since I was born. So they were not rock and roll people, but they were very supportive. And maybe I was half saying... I'll probably work in the music industry. And did you feel like, like, I think one of the things that people use the word ambition.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Yeah, I mean, one thing I can point to is, like, in college, I went to Boston College, and I was writing for the school newspaper. I was, like, reviewing records. And that was, you know, I did that, and maybe I did okay at it, but, like, I got the feeling that that wasn't the side of it I wanted to be on.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And then a friend of mine had started a booking agency, and she was booking cool bands and maybe a little more part of this indie scene than I was. And I started hanging out with her and helping her with some of her stuff.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
And again, it just got me closer to bands, made me realize like what I wanted to do was to just play my own songs and have a band rather than do sort of this, you know, whatever involves booking a tour.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
I started working at American Express Financial Advisors, which has a big campus downtown Minneapolis.
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Does anyone actually like their job? (classic)
Yeah, yeah. It was really kind of an interesting... spectacular place. I started out in the annuities department and people would call in and you tell them their balance and you do small transactions for them. You know, I'd wear a headset mic and there'd be, it'd be like this like football field sized office, right? Like, you know, and everyone had their little cubicle.