Neil Finn's Pajama Club Announce UK Dates & Tickets
Tuesday, 07 June 2011
Written by Jon Stickler
‘Pajama Club’, a new band put together by Neil Finn and Sharon Finn, are coming to the UK to play seven special shows in July.
“Pajama Club are delighted to announce we will be appearing live in the U.K. in July to preview our upcoming album. Our 4 piece lineup is Sharon Finn on bass vocals, Neil Finn on guitars vocal and occasional drums , Sean Donnelly on synth, guitar and vocals and Alana Skyring on drums. The gear’s in the van, we're in shape and ready to get you moving.”
The surprise musical twist has been a recurring motif in Neil Finn's long career. But not even his wife suspected this latest one was going to start ramping up after he got his pajamas on. Nor that she would share equal responsibility for its irresistibly strange and propulsive grooves.
The Pajama Club began as a private after-dinner racket to fill an empty nest. With their two sons, musicians in their own right, off and away into the big old world, Neil and Sharon found themselves home alone with time, a sensible supply of red wine, copious musical instruments and a 16-track tape recorder on their hands.
"I'd always had a hankering to play the drums, Sharon's had a similar attraction to the bass," says Neil. "We were having a great old time making noise but we didn't think too much about it until we started playing some of it back and found ourselves dancing."
In between unfamiliar tools and naive enthusiasm, a fresh and potent musical chemistry had erupted. It travelled the world on hard drive as Neil toured with Crowded House through 2009. In far-flung hotel rooms he added guitar, keyboard and other melodic lines to take home to Auckland.
Enter Sean Donnelly, a local friend with a shared taste for sonic intrigue — as heard on numerous indie albums under the SJD banner. Neil and Sharon's lounge room funk grooves began to expand with electronic squelches, bleeps and loops. Vocal contributions evolved in similar disorderly fashion.
"We'd take turns singing whatever we thought would work over the top," says Sharon. "Neil did the lion's share. I contributed a few lines — the good ones," she quips. “If I didn't feel comfortable singing something we'd knock it around together, change it."
The final mystery — how to dress the Pajama Club to tour the world — was solved with the smiling arrival of former Grates drummer Alana Skyring. The choice "was instinctive," says Sharon. "It was a hunch. She came over for two days, we played and it immediately felt good. So here we are."
July 16th – Borderline, London
July 19th – Oran Mor, Glasgow
July 20th – Glee Club, Birmingham
July 22nd – Concorde2, Brighton
July 23rd – Bush Hall, London
July 27th – O2 Academy, Bristol
July 28th – XOYO, London
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