After playing their Lollapalooza set at the Bacardí stage, American indie band Finish Ticket talked with The Daily Illini about their musical journey, musical influences and experience at Lollapalooza.

Brendan Hoye, the band’s lead singer, said that the performance was a lot of fun. 

“It’s been a minute since we’ve done a festival, and we’re just kinda getting started again after a little break,” Hoye said. “It was so great to be back on the stage.” 

Hoye said he’s done a lot of good festivals, but Lollapalooza has always been on his bucket list. 

He also said the band did a lot of tours, but stopped to make a record. 

“It just didn’t really work out,” Hoye said. “We just didn’t agree on the ways of finishing the record, going with the right people. We all had different ideas of what that looked like. It didn’t work out, so we had to pivot.”

Hoye said the COVID-19 pandemic affected the band as well, extending the break.

“But finally, we’re in a new situation with a new label and our new album is done,” Hoye said. 

The band released “Changing,” their first single in three years, on July 21, 2023. Alex DiDonato, the band’s guitarist, said the song is quite personal.

“Changing is the first single coming out,” DiDonato said. “It feels super personal to us, I mean, we’ve been working on this for a long time. A lot has changed since we were last doing our thing, so this feels like a really great representation of us now.” 

Hoye said “Changing” is about having anxiety about why you’re doing music and where you’re going. He said that everyone feels this, and questions if they’re on the right path. 

Hoye said that the band’s new music will still feel like Finish Ticket, but the band has taken the music in new directions. 

“It’s way more personal,” Hoye said. “It’s way more insight into where we are as people and where we’ve been in the past couple years. It covers everything from depression to new love. We never used to go personal.”

Gabe Stein, the band’s drummer, said the band learned a lot during their time off.

“(We learned) how to do production so we could get more of our own ideas down without having to go through another person to help translate those ideas,” Stein said. 

DiDonato said this album was the first time the band had a heavier hand in the production of the record. 

Stein said the band is always trying to evolve and grow. Hoye said one of the changes the band has had recently is how they record their songs. 

“Our live show is a very important thing to us,” Hoye said. “And I think in the past — at least, in our last EP — it was very important to us. Like, we were really trying to go heavier on the recording and make it feel like the live show.”

Hoye said that with this record, the studio recording took priority and that the live piece came in later, after the song was recorded.

“With the new song, we were trying to focus more on whatever the song is,” Hoye said. “What’s the emotion here? How do you back that up musically and make it feel good in a studio setting?”

The band said they have a lot of musical influences, and that the three of them listen to a lot of different music. 

Stein said he listens to a lot of hip hop, old and new, like Wu-Tang Clan and Jamie XX. He also likes rock music and large dynamic bands. 

DiDonato said he likes Stevie Wonder, Cake and Pinegrove. He said when the new record was getting done, he was very into the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Hoye said that when the band started, their biggest influences were The Strokes and The Killers. 

“From there, I’ve kind of veered off towards … Caroline Polachek, Leon Bridges, and Frank Ocean,” Hoye said. 

Hoye said Fall Out Boy was a large influence for him as well, saying that Patrick Stump used to be his idol and that Stump had a massive influence on his vocals. He also said Adam Levine of Maroon 5 was an influence for him, especially their album “Songs About Jane.”

Hoye said “Changing” is the first of many singles to come.

[email protected]