The Hold Steady are often called “the best bar band in America.” What were your favorite watering holes during college?
The normal ones. Mary Ann’s. There was Play It Again, Sam’s, which I don’t think is there anymore. And Great Scott, which has changed a lot. The Hold Steady has played a show there; it was not the kind of place the Hold Steady would play when I was there. But I also had sort of a split life. I didn’t have a ton of friends at BC who were as into music as I was, so I was also going to the Middle East and T.T. the Bear’s a lot to see bands.
Did you have a show on WZBC or anything?
No, I didn’t do the radio station. I was into things like hardcore and the Replacements and Hüsker Dü. I was into punk rock, but I was also a very traditional kid. I loved sports and had a lot of friends that weren’t into music. For the BC years, I was sort of just a normal, down-the-middle BC kid who had this other interest that I pursued mostly alone.
Talk about playing shows on college campuses. You gave a nice little name check to my alma mater, Bowdoin, on a song from Boys and Girls In America.
They can go different ways. It’s a necessary part of the business, but it’s sometimes not that pleasant. But Bowdoin got the name check because that was the best college show we’ve ever played. The kids were crazy. In my experience, the more removed a school is from a big city, the better the show’s gonna be. Bowdoin was great. Dartmouth is great. It’s hard at UCLA, where there’s a lot of stuff for the kids to be doing.
Any lessons you’d like to impart to today’s BC undergrads?
One thing I think I’ve found in my life is that rock and roll can exist in a very positive place, both intellectually and spiritually. I have plenty of friends who I graduated with who are creative writers in some way that have met with little [success]. I have a friend who’s a nationally renowned poet and I go to see him in New York, and there’s like 19 people there at his reading. Meanwhile, to go to Croatia, where I was a couple weeks ago, and have a thousand people screaming every lyric back to you, it feels more like you’re getting through. And of course that has to do with loud music and the melody attached. But I’m really happy. Especially [because] when I moved to New York I was thinking of giving up music. I’m really happy with the way rock and roll has fit into my life.
CRAIG FINN MASTER CLASS | Lyons Hall, Boston College, Chestnut Hill | September 25 at 7:30 pm | 617.522.6343 | Free, but registration required: omc.bc.edu/masterclass
