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Fin Greenall, aka Fink arrives in Soho’s Bar Chocolate in somewhat of a whirlwind. Not a man with problems thinking of things to say he immediately launches into a vivid account of his day, covering his morning in the studio, radio interviews, his favourite retro shops and the excitement of being back in Soho.

It rapidly becomes clear this is someone not content with his lot as a guitarist and singer, running record labels and diving back into dance music with Sideshow. It seems entirely possible he would create a new record in the middle of the crowded bar had the opportunity or the challenge arisen.

“This is total revolution. It’s really levelled the playing fields.”

The last time I saw Fin he was coming off stage at The Big Chill with a pleased look of disbelief about the reaction he got from a huge, if rather laid-back crowd, a far cry from Cargo on a Friday night.

So how is he finding his new persona? “It’s the most natural thing I’ve ever done is where Fink is right now,” he said. “It’s a fantastic new career for me - I couldn’t love it any more.”

That said it’s not long before he’s raving about Sideshow his straight-up dance project with collaborator Will Saul started in 2003. He said it relieved some of the stresses of the bigger Fink, “I’m doing proper grown-up Fink, big all singing and playing and songwriting and scary pressure and Sideshow is really not - it’s just fun”.

There seems to be an element of the willing underdog about Fin, a side that wants to shun the mainstream and get back into the creative margins. “[Sideshow] is maybe a little more like my old career with Ninjatune, where you would do a track, the label love it, they put it out, you do a remix, you do a couple of DJ gigs,” he said. “You’re part of a small label trying to make a name for itself and survive, break even and carry on. It’s a bit more like the old-school fight. With Ninjatune when it started there was no guarantee it was going to be a huge global indie at all.”

“One of the things about Sideshow is we’ve released it as download only - there’s no packaging, no environmental impact at all apart from the electricity it took to generate my equipment to make it. Apart from that it’s totally eco-friendly,” he continued. “I mean, that’s not the point, it’s just a bi-product of this digital revolution: there aren’t going to be huge landfills full of shitty boy band records anymore. And the charts this year going download - I think it’s the best thing that’s happened to the charts. This is revolution, it’s total revolution. I think it’s really levelled the playing fields.”

Fink’s hotly awaited follow-up to the autobiographical Biscuits for Breakfast is almost finished and is tipped for release in June.

“It’s got to be something more ambitious than “wow man, you’re so sensitive and deep”. I’m not sure I want to be that guy.”

“I’ve a much better idea of who the fuck I am now as an artist,” he said. “This Fink thing has developed from me working in a studio, to being a real band. It’s more ambitious now. I don’t want to be like a singer-songwriter because in a year that’s going to be uncool. I’m really proud to be on Ninjatune: it’s a label that isn’t about jumping on a band wagon, so I’m not going to jump on it either, even though it’s tempting to do an acoustic album right now.”

“There’s going to be some fat beats on it, there’s going to be some dub there’s going to be some soul, some folk. It’s got to be something more ambitious than “wow man, you’re so sensitive and deep”. I’m not sure I want to be that guy.”

As well as his February dates in Paris, New York and LA, keep an eye out for Fink at the summer festivals and Fly has got high hopes for the new album.

Links:
www.finkworld.co.uk
www.myspace.com/finkmusic
Fink’s profile on Ninjatunes
Simple Records/ Will Saul