A Chat with The Finch Cycle (25.06.24)
Blending a love for post-rock and skills with indie-rock, the Australian music project The Finch Cycle is an instrumental force of something indescribable. The brainchild of Bradley Murray, The Finch Cycle composes eclectic sounds to rattle about your cranium and then leave you breathless. We speak with Murray about The Finch Cycle’s new album Mt. Pilot, what music means to him, if money makes us happy, and much more.
OSR: What drew you to music and how did The Finch Cycle come about?
Murray: I used to play in a band called Sunny Disposition, which was a band from the mid-2000s – primarily influenced by slowcore and emo bands from the late 1990s, which is still my favourite music to listen to. However, around the same time, I very much got into Mogwai and the burgeoning post-rock scene in Melbourne at the time. I would often go out to watch bands like Laura, Because of Ghosts, International Karate, This Is Your Captain Speaking, and Radiant City. I was also managing Radiant City at the time and releasing their music through my own label Wireless Records. Then, life got in the way, kids, marriage, career!
I’ve come back to music in the last few years, and I guess fulfilling my long-term dream of creating post-rock music. Because I love emo and sadder music so much, when I create songs, it is naturally coming from a traditional rock song platform, as in verses and chorus. I am trying to break out of this mould, but at the same time, I like the crossover of instrumental music following a traditional structure. I am still heavily influenced by the likes of Karate, American Football, Art of Fighting, Foxing and Pianos Become the Teeth. I have collaborated with friends to bring the sounds that you hear today. Without my good friends Mike (drums) and Brendan (trombone), this record would not be possible and it would not sound the way it does.
In terms of the band name, I am a teacher by trade, and I used to share an office with a very close friend whose last name was Finch. We worked at the same school he went to as a student, and we had a running joke that he had gone ‘full cycle’, and effectively had never left school. We had a photo of him when he was in school with arrows around it, creating a circle – this is where I got the name ‘The Finch Cycle’ from – me taking the piss out of a good friend of mine. So every time I do something as The Finch Cycle, I am reminded of this wonderful person!
OSR: What does music mean to you?
Murray: Music is an all-encompassing passion for me. It drives my very state of being. I simply cannot imagine a life without music and I think at least in some capacity, I will always be drawn to it and always have a strong desire to create it. I love to bond with other musicians and create art with them.
OSR: You just released your debut album Mt. Pilot. What can you tell us about the album?
Murray: For me, conceptually, this album represents a whole raft of ideas. From having kids to having our kids go through school and all the related experiences that go along with it. It is also a big bucket list item for me. I have been in and around music for my entire adult life, but this is the first time I have released an album or even had enough songs to justify an album. I barely scraped through with eight tracks, but it was most certainly a life-long goal of mine. I am hoping to do more in the future!
Sonically, this is a personal journey of mine. I have been teaching myself audio production and doing my best to get better at it. Not sure if I am anywhere near an expert in production, but at least I think this recording sounds a bit better than the last! I hope to keep refining this as time goes on.
The cover and title are a reference to this beautiful area I now call home. The North-East of Victoria, Australia, is an amazing region, surrounded by mountains and wineries. It is an amazing part of the world, and out of all of the mountains, I chose to name this album after Mt. Pilot, mainly because whenever I drive on the highway going north to our nearest city, I see the turn-off sign for Mt. Pilot, and always think about how it is a weird name for a mountain.
OSR: As an instrumental artist, do you think instrumental songs are well-represented in the music industry?
Murray: If you follow post-rock and post-metal, it seems like an expansive and vibrant scene, but, compared to mega pop stars, it is most certainly a ‘subculture’ of sorts. I think most people want to be able to connect with a voice, connect with lyrics, and as a result, many people don’t necessarily have the patience for instrumental music. I think it is a great way to explore emotions and textures that you don’t necessarily get from a typical rock or pop song. That being said, there are many great crossover bands out there. There are a whole raft of bands that create dense guitar-driven music with vocals, and this is something I hope to also explore in the future.
OSR: What makes you unique as an artist?
Murray: I think we all have something different to offer. I think what makes this project unique is my approach to guitar, Michael’s approach to drums, and most importantly, Brendan’s wicked trombone playing.
OSR: Do you believe that money can make people happy?
Murray: Interesting question! I think that money can make people’s lives easier. Money is a construct that drives our very existence, but at the end of the day, it is really just a construct – whether you can bend it to its will, or vice-versa, is an eternal struggle. Does it make you happy? Not directly, but it is a loaded question, because many of the parts of life that do bring happiness, require money. I’ll stop. I’ll just say no!
OSR: What is something you have to do regularly but actually hate doing?
Murray: Life is full of tasks that people hate doing. Another difficult question! I probably hate worrying and overthinking – things that I do all the time. I am someone who over-analyses and ultimately, I think I am a people pleaser – put all of this together, and I spend a lot of time ruminating over non-important stuff.
OSR: Do you have any advice for upcoming musicians?
Murray: I spent my 20s trying to ‘make it’ in the music business, trying it all – being a label manager, a booking agent, a manager, a singer in a band. I had a lot of fun, but by the time I was 30, I decided to get a job and make music a hobby. What I can say after a decade of living and breathing music in my 20s, is that I don’t regret any of it. It was all fun. So, my advice is to just go for it – you have the rest of your life to be ‘an adult’, so, while you are young, just dive in and see what happens.
Many thanks to Brad Murray for speaking with us. Find out more about The Finch Cycle on his official website, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Bandcamp.
