Morgan Finlay

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Morgan Finlay

Morgan Finlay (* 1974 in North Vancouver , British Columbia ) is a Canadian singer-songwriter from North Vancouver. He has released nine records in Europe and Canada to date, including EPs Uppercut (2002) and Splice (2005) and the albums Everything Will Work Out Right (2005), Shifting Through The Breakers (2007) and Latitude (2012). His latest album Little Calm was released in May 2018.

biography

Morgan Finlay comes from North Vancouver, British Columbia and claims to have been performing since he was five. From 1984 to 1987 he took part in the Kiwanis Music Festival in Vancouver . In 1986 he sang in The Magic Flute performed by the Vancouver Opera and in the Canadian premiere of Requiem by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The following year he sang again for the Vancouver Opera, this time in The Smart Fox . In 1992, his a cappella group The End won the Canadian Youth Talend Search, and represented Canada in the international finals in Memphis, Tennessee, where they came in seventh. Trevor Guthrie , the future member of soulDecision , also sang with him in the band The End . The competition is known for having named Michael Bublé the winner the following year.

Musical style

Most of Finlay's music is singer-songwriter style, with a few hints of indie, alternative rock , grunge and folk . As musical influences he named Dave Grohl , Dave Matthews , Mark Knopfler from the band Dire Straits , Faith No More , Pearl Jam , Soundgarden , Bruce Cockburn , Coldplay , Daniel Lanois , Dean Drouillard., Chris Cornell and Johnny Cash

Career

Beginnings of the career

Early in his professional music career, Finlay moved from Vancouver to Montreal in hopes of making a career as a solo artist. He soon realized that "Toronto is the place where it all begins" and moved again around 2002. While in Toronto he met Canadian producer Matt DeMatteo, who then decided to work on Finlay's debut EP. DeMatteo, who had previously worked with Edwin, Big Wreck and Ashley MacIsaac, introduced him to Peter Murray, who would later become his bassist.

Uppercut (2002)

Finlay released his first solo EP Uppercut in 2002. The six track EP was released on his own record label, Brisco Bodai Productions, and spanned a variety of musical styles including rock, acoustic and funk. The single from the EP zensong was played on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and on numerous university and internet radio stations between 2003 and 2004 and reached # 2 on the Australian Independent Radio Charts in 2004. “Zensong” also reached # 22 in the CFBX Kelowna Top 30.

The EP marked his breakthrough in the local Toronto indie scene, and in January 2003 he began touring the Ontario college campus. On his first tours, he played on about twenty different campuses in Toronto, Ottawa, London, Waterloo, Windsor and Montreal. He also played for Tom Cochrane and Sass Jordan at the Windsor Freedom Festival on Canada Day on July 1, 2003.

Splice (2004)

Finlay's second EP, Splice had more acoustic guitar sound than his first EP and was released in 2004. At that time, Finlay was already well established in the Toronto scene. It was included in the Daryl Hurs' Gen Sub compilation in April 2004.

Everything Will Work Out Right (2005)

In 2005, while living in both Toronto and Aschaffenburg, Finlay released his first full-length record, Everything Will Work Out Right . The album was released internationally on both the Brisco Bodai record label and Sound of Liberation.

The tour for the album then took him through Germany, Austria, Great Britain, Slovenia, Croatia and Scotland. Under German management and with the help of promoters across Europe, he managed three different European tours. During his second tour of Germany in December 2005 he played in Heilbronn in the opening act for Roger Hodgson . Songs from the album were also played on the radio in Canada, Australia and Germany and landed in the charts on some Canadian university radio stations.

Shifting Through the Breakers (2007)

His second album, released in 2007, Shifting Through The Breakers then brought him back from the acoustic style of Everything Will Work Out Right to a contemporary rock sound. It was recorded in the SmartArts Studio in Moosburg by Christopher Czarnetzki, Thomas Scharl, and Roman Liebl; Peter Murray produced the album, and again took on the role of bassist. It included the fan favorites "(in) Security" and "Blessing and Burning," as well as his first foreign language singles "Bei Dir Sein" and "Mourir d'envie '." At the end of his fifth European tour in January 2009 , Finlay had made almost 400 appearances in Germany, Austria, England, Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia and the Netherlands. For some time he also lived and wrote in Berlin and Bern.

Tour break in Vancouver (2008)

In late 2008, the ongoing tours began to take their toll. When the business relationship with Sound of Liberation was practically paused after the fifth European tour in autumn 2008, Finlay decided to take a break in Vancouver to relax and reorganize. During his hiatus in Vancouver, he was involved in social services and cultivated his European touring relationships while improving his home recording skills by writing and recording demos. Here he began with the first work on his third album Latitude .

Latitude and Fan Involvement Decision (2009-2012)

At the end of 2010 Finlay had written and recorded a few demos. In December 2010 the costs for the production of the Uppercut EP were finally paid off - eight years after publication. On the one hand willing to go on tour with a new album, but on the other hand averse to the idea of ​​going into debt again, he found himself at a crossroads. Finlay had heard about “Kickstarter” and the possibility of crowdfunding from a friend, which led to the fact that both the release of the album and the subsequent European tour were funded by a successful Indiegogo campaign. The Latitude campaign was a complete success - 113% of the cost was covered. During the ninety-day campaign, Finlay decided to let his fans vote for their favorite demos, which would eventually become the album's tracklist. The response was enormous, and Finlay's listeners chose twelve out of seventeen demo songs, with Finlay himself picking the thirteenth track. From this process the final song order came about. Finally, he invited fans to shoot their own videos for any song on Latitude, which should be published on FinlayTV, his YouTube channel. Six videos were shot while Finlay himself posted four more.

Latitude was released on January 1st , 2012. The album featured Dean Drouillard and Jake Roeder on guitar, Mike Olsen on cello, Brendan Hamley on drums, Marlow Holder on bass and Katheryn Petersen on accordion. With Latitude Finlay made a change from the usual rocky sounds to a more acoustic, folk-oriented sound.

The tour for the album officially began on March 19th, 2012 in Mainz (a private show for the members of the "Inner Circle" took place on March 17th in Wuppertal).

Fault Lines (2013)

After he finished his seventh European tour, he decided to move to Ireland without further ado to work on his next album. After another successful crowdfunding campaign via IndieGoGo and the repeated involvement of the fans in the selection of the songs, Fault Lines was released in October 2013. In return for funding, Finlay offered merchandise, guitar lessons, living room concerts and songs that were written exclusively for the respective fans. Another tour followed that brought Finlay across Europe. Fault Lines' style can best be described as a mix between its typical acoustic folk style and a little country.

Foundations: MFCS (2015)

After a house concert with the Austrian guitarist Christoph Schellhorn at the end of 2013, Finlay and Schellhorn decided to record an album under the name MFCS. A joint tour was also planned. Unofficially, the album is also regarded as a kind of "best of" by Morgan Finlay, as it only contains pieces that were written by Finlay himself. A new title, "Let me down gently" was also featured and quickly became a popular song with live performances. The album was released at the same time as the “MFCS Brave Souls” tour began in April 2015.

New Harbor (2015)

In June 2015, when the “Brave Souls” tour came to an end in Vienna, Finlay started his next crowdfunding project to realize his sixth album. The campaign lasted 45 days, with the target achieved in under 30 days and 149% of the target capital at the end.

Finlay traveled to Newfoundland in late July 2015 and wrote his first demos in New Harbor. Photos for the booklet were taken in New Harbor, Gros Morne Provincial Park, Trout River, Flat Rock and St. John's. The final recording sessions took place at Mount Pearl, where Finlay worked with musicians Aaron Collis, Darren Browne and Duane Andrews.

New Harbor was released on December 1, 2015 together with four shows in Berlin. The album was offered as a download again, with Finlay striving for an appropriate sound quality (the files can be downloaded as FLAC, WAV and all other lossless audio formats) and paying attention to a wealth of images in the booklet. The "New Harbors" tour consisted of 38 shows in Germany and 6 in Switzerland.

Little Calm (2018) and move to Hamburg

In December 2017 Finlay started his fourth crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo to record a new album and a video for the album's single in Hamburg. The demos of the songs were re-posted on his website and fans were invited to listen and vote for their favorites. The album is his biggest fully self-financed endeavor to date. In March 2018, in the middle of the making of the album, Finlay officially moved to Hamburg.

Personal

Finlay is considered a globetrotter. Since 2000 he has lived for longer periods in Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Berlin, Erlangen, Hamburg, Bern, County Kerry (Ireland), and Seville. He has years of experience working in social services in Vancouver and Toronto, particularly in areas with people in need of special assistance and spiritual support. Finlay is a passionate cyclist and is involved in numerous social and ecological issues. Finlay is a supporter of the David Suzuki Foundation and the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition.

Discography

EPs

  • 2002: Uppercut
  • 2005: Splice

Solo albums

  • 2005: Everything Will Work Out Right
  • 2007: Shifting Through the Breakers
  • 2012: Latitude
  • 2013: Fault Lines
  • 2015: New Harbor
  • 2018: Little Calm

Collaborations

  • 2015: Foundations: MFCS (With Christoph Schellhorn)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f Sophie Nicholls: Morgan Finlay: The Zen Of Rock n 'Roll . Soul Shine Magazine. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Morgan Finlay . CBC Music. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  3. ↑ Tim Hartin: Morgan Finlay: Uppercut . TheNightOwl. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  4. ↑ Morgan Finlay ( Memento of the original from July 24, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Jpop. Retrieved November 9, 2013. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.jpop.com
  5. ↑ CFBX 92.5FM - Kamloops Top 30 . Earshot Online. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  6. ↑ a b c d Shifting Through The Breakers CD . CD Universe. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  7. ↑ a b Everything Will Work Out Right CD Album . CD Universe. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  8. ^ Morgan Finlay: Shifting Through The Breakers ( Memento November 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) . No mainstream music. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  9. ^ A b Morgan Finlay (Canada) ( Memento of November 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) . LRM. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  10. ^ Norbert Neugebauer: Morgan Finlay / Shifting Through The Breakers . Rock Times. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  11. ^ Morgan Finlay ( Memento January 7, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) . Sound of Liberation Management. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  12. ^ Morgan Finlay Biography ( Memento November 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) . CD baby. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  13. ^ Gaining 'Latitude' - The Album and The Tour ( Memento from January 19, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) . IndieGoGo. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  14. ^ The Making and Touring of Fault Lines, IndieGoGo. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
  15. ^ Morgan Finlay on Bandcamp. Bandcamp, accessed November 9, 2013 .
  16. ↑ https://www.morganfinlay.com/crowdfunding
  17. ↑ https://www.morganfinlay.com/bio
personal data
SURNAME Finlay, Morgan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pendleton, Morgan (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian musician
DATE OF BIRTH 1974
PLACE OF BIRTH North Vancouver , British Columbia