PORTSMOUTH, NH – Ever since the soul revival that took place during the late 2000s, there’s been a bunch of bands and musicians bringing the style to new heights. Some of them hearken back to Motown’s golden age, while others fuse elements such as blues, funk and psychedelia for a fresh take on the music. Kelly Finnigan, who is the keyboardist and vocalist for Monophonics out of San Francisco, consistently finds a balance between these two ends of the spectrum. This is evident with his new solo album “A Lover Was Born,” which was released back on October 18 via Colemine Records. In support of the full-length album, Finnigan has been on a co-headlining tour with the Ohio based organ trio Parlor Greens, which will be making a stop at Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth on November 22 at 7:30pm.
We had a talk ahead of the show about the making of his new album, collaborating with a bunch of different musicians, his live performance and musical approach as a solo artist versus as part of Monophonics, and feeling very lucky with his creativity.
135 Congress St, Portsmouth, NH 03801
Rob Duguay: For the songwriting process for “A Lover Was Born”, you wrote the songs for the album in California, Ohio and New York City. What was the experience like utilizing these various locations? Was it done out of necessity or were these locations specifically chosen for the sake of inspiration of something else?
Kelly Finnigan: It just happened to be that someone who’s a good friend of mine, Joe Crispiano, is from Staten Island and that’s where he lives. Instead of having him come out to California where I was living at the time and where I’ve written a lot of songs, I thought it would be fun to fly out to New York and soak up some of that atmosphere, be on the island, and hang out with Joe. After I was there for a few days, I was on the road and I stopped in Ohio to hang out with Terry Cole, who owns and runs Colemine Records, the label that I’ve been working with for a long time. Inspiration happened to strike and I ended up sitting down and writing one of the songs there just kind of by chance. Like I said, I was born and raised in California, so most of the songs in my career were written there so it was once again, a natural thing, the only thing that was planned was the trip to New York.
RD: It seems like it was a very organic process. Where exactly did you record the album?
KF: The album was recorded in my studio, which at the time was in San Rafael, California in Marin County in the Bay Area, just north of San Francisco.
RD: Very cool. Including Joe, you had a variety of musicians involved in the recording process, including Max and Joe Ramey from The Ironsides, Jimmy James from Parlor Greens, Sergio Rios from Orgõne, Joey Crispiano from The Dap Kings and Jay Mumford. Was Joe instrumental in bringing all these guys into the fold or did you do that yourself?
KF: I hired Joe, so everybody who was involved I had hand picked. They’re all people who I’ve known and worked with for a long time, I’ve been working with Jimmy for a long time. The only person who was new to the circle was Jay Mumford. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, I love his drumming, so I brought him in, but everybody else is someone I’ve known or worked with for a while. Joe was just somebody who I wrote a few songs with, that was his only involvement as well as playing guitar.
RD: Were you all in the studio together or were some parts done remotely?
KF: Everybody came in and we all did it together in the same room, recording live to analog tape. It was done in a very traditional sense while trying to capture an energy and a vibe.
RD: It’s great when it’s done that way. There’s an energy in a room that’s captured with people creating together that you can’t really duplicate.
KF: It’s really amazing, to be honest with you. I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve done it both ways and the energy exchange with people who are listening to each other and feeding off each other is a cool experience to watch and listen to the end result.
RD: Speaking of Jimmy James and Parlor Greens, you’ve been on tour with them to support the release of “A Lover Was Born”, which includes this upcoming show at Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club. What are your thoughts going into it? Is this your first time playing there?
KF: First and foremost, it’s been exciting to be playing with Parlor Greens. They’re an extremely great band and I’m friends with all these guys individually, so to watch them come together, make the record they did and see them doing what they’re doing has been great while doing these shows. I’m very excited to be coming up to Jimmy’s, I’ve heard a lot of good things about the place and it’s going to be my first time performing there. Funny enough, I actually went to boarding school in Southeast Vermont, so I’m quite familiar with the New England area, but I haven’t been back to New Hampshire in a long time, so I’m looking forward to being back there.
RD: It’s a great area. When it comes to crafting a solo record versus making one with Monophonics, is there any major difference in mindset or approach where you feel like you have to be more collaborative with the band that you’re in versus your solo stuff, or is it very fluid? Also, how does it translate to your live performance?
KF: I always approach the live performance as trying to put on a great show, have a good time and really just try and involve people. I want it to feel like everybody who’s there is all connected in experiencing this thing, and I go for that regardless if it’s my solo performances or with Monophonics, it’s the same approach. With the records, Monophonics allows me to color outside the lines. I push the sonic boundaries and I really try to allow myself to experiment more during the creative process, whereas with my solo stuff, I’m trying to craft these incredible soul and R&B albums. There’s obviously a different mindset and approach, but while I say that, there’s so many similarities in the creative process.
It’s hard to put it into words without getting deep into the weeds where I start talking your ear off about all the things that are very similar and the things that aren’t. I would say all and all, I feel lucky that I have both these things to ping pong off of because it really allows me to flex different muscles, but it also keeps me excited about things. I don’t get too drowned or caught up in Monophonics, I’m allowed to jump over here and focus on this, and when this gets a little heavy or hectic, I can jump back over to Monophonics. I’m very lucky.