A Conversation with The Presidents of the United States of America’s Jason Finn – HuffPost 2.12.14

Mike Ragogna: After twenty years together, it’s about time you were asked who is or was your favorite president of the United States, you know, like you’ve never been asked that before.

Jason Finn: As Michael Bolton said in Office Space: “I guess I sorta like ’em all.”

MR: Bill Clinton, “W” and Barack Obama. What would you ask each president?

JF: I’d ask them what specifically each would change about the track sequencing of Physical Graffitti. Obviously, it would be a trap question, since it’s a perfect double album.

MR: How did you approach the material this time out and how is it different from your last one?

JF: We booked a couple of days last October with no material or preparation, purely for fun. We were truly shocked when those yielded four or five complete songs. Surely, this was a fluke! So we booked a few more in November. This time, we ended up with 6 or 7 more. Clearly, a crisis was brewing, so we gave up and admitted we might have an album here. Snuck up on us! Is that an approach?

MR: Yes. Yes it is. So you’re on your 7th album, Kudos To You. Kudos to who exactly and why can’t we all have kudos? Where’s our fair share?

JF: Mike, you’re selling yourself short. You CAN have kudos! Everyone who wants some kudos can get a dose of it with this album, and I’m enclosing some extra here for you!

MR: Whew, and thanks. No really. Jason, your first single was “Crown Victoria” with the Long Winters’ John Roderick. What’s the story behind the team up?

JF: John and I go way back to the early ’90s, when I regularly ejected him from a bar I worked at. He dropped into the studio one day–I think we had lunch plans, or perhaps he was on the run from his bookie. He immediately announced, “Which song needs the signature John Roderick vocal treatment!?” Crown Vic only had bare-bones vocals on it at that point, so Chris ran out and did a reference track on the choruses and we were off to the races. I can’t say much more because we are suing each other over who eventually picked up the check at lunch.

MR: Right on. “Lump,” “Peaches” and “Mach 5.” Which of your hits can you not wait to still play at your concerts?

JF: They are still in there every night, and we love ’em….if you don’t get a charge from a crowd going nuts, you’re in the wrong business. Plus, we keep our touring to a pace we can enjoy and handle physically, which keeps it fresh. PLUS, they are all under three minutes, so….

MR: Does Cleveland still rock as you and the song’s writer Ian Hunter once suggested?

JF: We played it at the Cleveland Browns home opener this last season, and it definitely rocked. For his part, Ian has suggested in many an interview that he loves our version, and the new deck it built on his home! Drew Carey is a co-owner of our own Seattle Sounders MLS team, so we actually see him more often now than ever.

MR: If video killed the radio star–as you suggest in your cover of The Buggles’ hit–what the heck killed the video star?

JF: I don’t want to say anything that might get me in trouble….but definitely this guy.

MR: What are some of your favorite moments as a band over the last few years and how would you say the group has evolved?

JF: We’ve done so much incredible stuff. Honestly, we are simple men and every time we emerge from a plane and a bus and a taxi and show up at a theater and help 2000 people spend an hour smiling, we know how lucky we are. Again, we have achieved this by finding the level of activity that nurtures not only our band, but our lives and families. And degenerate gambling habits.

MR: Are there any acts out there right now that you would mentor?

JF: The music biz is so different now than the one in which we ‘made our bones’, that any mentoring we could hand out would be pure speculation on our parts. If anything, we could probably use some basic twitter tutoring from some of these younger folks!

MR: What is your advice for new artists?

JF: I suppose get your reps in….get good at your craft…take every gig until your live show is the best thing about your “brand.” Also, YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!

MR: What do you think is The Presidents Of The United States of America’s
most important legacy?

JF: When things started happening for us in earnest, I thought to myself that it would be amazing if at the end, we could be our decades’ Violent Femmes. No idea whether we are pulling it off, but a guy can dream!

MR: How do you see this musical office five to ten years from now?

JF: We think we’re in our final Five Year Plan….but we thought that five years ago too, so……