Last year, we got an opportunity to chat with FINICK in studio. So, it was fun to catch up with founder, lead singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Josie Hasnik about her upcoming album, Weekends in Purgatory. It’s a clever, danceable and dreamy snapshot of time in a life and of a strange era. You can hear it live at the album release party on April 12 at the Icehouse.
Last time we spoke (Jun2 2024), you were writing about dragons, counselors at She Rock and heading to Winnipeg Folks Festival- a lot has happened in the last year, can you tell us about some of the highlights?
Rage and Reset is definitely one of them! That’s PILLLAR Forum’s opening anniversary music festival, we got to play with the full band and it was just such a fun time all around. Recording the album was also super fun, because we had JT Bates drumming which was really cool. He’s a great drummer, I think he really added a lot to the songs. And then we also had Taylor James Donskey and Jake Johnson hop in there as well. The whole crew at Minnehaha was so fun to work with. I’m just really excited about all this new music that we’re putting out! That’s what’s taken up most of my time.
Your upcoming album (Weekends in Purgatory) is a delight. Makes me smile, dance, and remember. From She Rock She Rock to some pretty seasoned musicians on this new work – what was it like to record with folks who didn’t go to camp with you?
It’s cool working with studio musicians because we don’t really practice a lot before recording, so most of the time I don’t even know what they’re going to do with the song and I don’t really find out until we’re in the studio and recording. It’s a huge difference from what I’m used to, but it’s really fun. The more improvised aspect of it and the not knowing is definitely a new experience for me.
Tell me about Selfish. I love it so much in the world that we’re in. As you say in the song, you’re just another hormonal teenage girl – but most of us have been there (in one way or another) and this song is a reminder that it’s OK. And it’s OK to be selfish sometimes.
Selfish was sort of like self-indulgence, kind of. It’s not necessarily bad to be selfish and sometimes that’s just part of life, is feeling that way. It’s also about feeling angry all the time, and being okay with that. I feel like there have been a lot of times in my life where I’ve been told to not be so angry, and this song is just kind of about saying, like, I don’t care. I’m fine with being angry, and that shouldn’t be a problem.
I like the line in Bigger Than Us that related us being like specks of dust to how we see the stars. What inspired the song and that line?
That line was the first line I wrote of the song, so it kind of inspired the rest of the song. It started out as one of those deep, existential, late-night thoughts. People are always saying how huge the universe is and how insignificant we are, but there are also so many things like molecules and atoms that are equally, infinitely smaller. So that line is all about perspective. Like, we’re not the biggest, but we’re also not the smallest things out there, so that kind of thing shouldn’t measure our importance in the world.
Please tell us about the upcoming album release.
The album releases on March 28th, and there’ll be a show to go along with it on April 12th at Icehouse. We’re going to have the full band and some amazing openers, Eldest Daughter and Emmy Woods, and it’s going to be a super fun night. I’m really looking forward to just having fun on stage and having this album be released. It’s cool because I finally feel like I’m releasing more current songs. Where Could We Go? was really delayed between when I wrote it and when I recorded it because of the pandemic, so I’m excited for this to be a more current and versatile look at my music, especially with more rock songs to kind of add to the portfolio!
Mostly Minnesota 