The Finn Brothers are a New Zealand musical duo consisting of brothers

Neil Neil is a masculine name of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. As a surname ...

and

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer, songwriter, musician, and composer. He is best known as a founding member of Split Enz. Finn founded the band in 1972 with Phil Judd and served as lead singer and principal songw ...

. In June 1993 both members were awarded the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

for their contribution to music. The two brothers began making music together at a young age; later, when Neil was 18, he was invited to join older brother Tim in

Split Enz Split Enz were a New Zealand band formed in 1972. Regarded as the first New Zealand band to gain significant recognition outside of Australasia, they were initially noted for their progressive rock, progressive/art rock sound, flamboyant visua ...

. Neil would go on to write one of the band's biggest hits, " I Got You". Tim released his first solo album ''

Escapade Escapade or Escapades may refer to: Transportation *Beneteau Escapade, a French sailboat design * HMS ''Escapade'', a 1934 Royal Navy destroyer that served in World War II *'' Just Escapade'', an American two-seat kit-built light aircraft Films ...

'' before leaving Split Enz, and the band folded soon after. Neil started his own group,

Crowded House Crowded House are an Australian-New Zealand rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Paul Hester (drums), who were both for ...

and subsequently recorded two solo albums after Crowded House split in 1996. He reformed Crowded House in 2007, releasing three albums since then. Neil and Tim have also released a series of separate solo albums. After working on a few songs with Neil, Tim joined Crowded House for the ''

Woodface ''Woodface'' is the third studio album by Crowded House. The album was produced by Mitchell Froom and Neil Finn and was released by Capitol Records in July 1991. It features five singles: "Chocolate Cake", " Fall at Your Feet", " It's Only Natu ...

'' album and accompanying tour in 1991.

History

''Woodface'' and ''Finn''

Tim and Neil intended to start the Finn brothers project after a three-week song writing spree in 1989. However, most of the songs written during this time were deemed suitable for inclusion on a Crowded House album and they appeared on

, which was released in 1991 and led to Tim joining Crowded House. Many of the original demo recordings from these sessions were subsequently released as B-sides on Finn Brothers singles and recently collected on a vinyl re-release of Finn. Tim left Crowded House while they were touring Europe in support of the ''Woodface'' album. Tim and Neil reconvened in 1995, and the eclectic, lo-fi album which resulted was simply called Finn. In the UK the duo changed both their name and that of the album to Finn Brothers, to avoid confusion with a band going under the moniker

Fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

. This title was kept for all future collaborations. However re-releases of the original album in Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

still go by the original title ''Finn''.

''Everyone Is Here''

Their second album, '' Everyone Is Here'' was released in 2004. It was recorded twice, once in upstate New York with producer

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

, bassist

Bones Hillman Wayne Stevens (7 May 1958 – 7 November 2020), known by the stage name Bones Hillman, was a New Zealand musician best known as the bass guitarist for the Australian rock band Midnight Oil, which he joined in 1987 and remained with until his de ...

and Ross Burge on drums, then again six months later in Los Angeles with

producer

Mitchell Froom Mitchell Froom (born June 29, 1953) is an American musician and record producer. He was a member of the bands Gamma and Latin Playboys, and is the keyboardist for Crowded House. He has produced albums for several artists, including David LaFl ...

and different session musicians. Some of the songs from the first recording session were kept as B sides and later appeared on a special edition of the album. The album featured the

song "Edible Flowers", the inspiration for the music video. The music video features two people in a donkey suit, however its wearers cannot be seen. In the 2005 tour, Neil and Tim Finn wore a donkey suit onto stage for many performances also. Following the Boxing Day tsunami, The Finn Brothers appeared at the Wave Aid fundraising concert in Sydney to help raise funds for aid organisations working in disaster affected areas. As well as their own material, they performed a cover of

Hunters and Collectors Hunters & Collectors are an Australian rock band from Melbourne, formed in 1981. Fronted by founding member, singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, the band's other mainstays are John Archer on bass guitar and Doug Falconer on drums an ...

' " Throw Your Arms Around Me."

Television and film

Their song, "Anything Can Happen" was used in the first episode of Scrubs' fifth season, '' My Intern's Eyes''. The song was used when we first meet Keith Dudemeister (albeit through his eyes) as he walks into his first day at

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

. This song was also used on the final session of the last day of the 2005 England vs. Australia Ashes cricket series on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

Television, at the end of the last day of cricket being shown on British terrestrial television. The song "Anything Can Happen" was also featured in movie ''Aurora Borealis''. Their song "Luckiest Man Alive" was played during the closing credits of the television broadcast of the 2005 Indianapolis 500.

Discography

''This discography relates to releases by The Finn Brothers. See Neil Finn's discography, Tim Finn's discography, Crowded House discography and Split Enz discography for other works by the Finn Brothers.''

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

Finn Brothers Official Fan Club Notice Board

Frenz Official Fan Forum

Enzology – Radio NZ's Split Enz documentary site

Seven Worlds Fanpage
* *

Allmusic Biography AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

Finnatics – German language fan page
{{Authority control New Zealand pop rock groups Sibling musical duos Male musical duos Finn family