Q&A: The Long Awaited Return of Finish Ticket

Photos by Emily Entz

After an unexpected seven-year hiatus, indie band Finish Ticket has returned — and they are here to stay. Consisting of Brendan Hoye (vocals), Alex DiDonato (guitar), Ryan Blair (bass), and Gabe Stein (drums) — the band is back in a very big way with the release of their sophomore album Echo Afternoon on its way.

The band has released three singles in preparation for the full album, and now it feels as if they never left. They’re known for their catchy melodies, paired with blended elements of indie, pop, and alternative rock, which remain prevalent in these singles, and the album set to come out September 6th.

During their hiatus, the band dealt with obstacles that prevented them from releasing new music, but they have successfully overcome them. Pleaser sat down with Hoye and DiDonato to share some insight on these challenges and what fans can expect to see from them in the very near future.

PLEASER: You guys were on a pretty long hiatus, so welcome back! I know you had some singles put out over the past couple of years, but the last album out was back in 2014. What has the return for your new album been like?

BRENDAN HOYE: I know we’ve been away for a while, but it wasn’t necessarily intentional. We started an album on a label, had just come off of some of our most successful years, but had to halt touring to finish the album, [and]  that didn’t really work out.

ALEX DIDONATO: That was back in 2017. Our anticipated follow-up to our first record was supposed to happen pretty quickly, we were so excited.

BH: What was meant to happen quickly just turned into sending demo after demo to our label which extended the process. We met with great producers and we really admired them and the songs that they had made before for others — we thought these were the guys for us. The label ended up coming to us though to tell us they didn’t think they were the guys for us even though everyone else felt really good about it. It ended up turning into multiple years of working through creative stuff with them, and really didn’t work. We eventually realized that wasn’t right, so we got out of our label deal.

AD: The label told us that they didn’t want to hold us up any longer, but even when we asked them for our songs that we finished that hadn’t come out, they told us no. So, it became a year-long battle with them to try and get our new songs back which further delayed everything. Once we were legally allowed to start from scratch again, it was four months before the pandemic, so we started recording music just to have to stop all over again. It feels weird to start putting out songs that we wrote eight years ago.

You’ve said the album is based around being stuck in that sort of limbo. How did you guys personally navigate that period of time?

BH: Looking at just the album, or even the track listing, it really was such a long period of our life that we dealt with. Between two different labels and the pandemic, there was so much that happened individually to all of us. On the record coming out, there’s songs on there about my last long-term relationship that has since ended, but also songs about my new relationship and meeting my current fiancé. So, the album really captures that point of time in our lives. I’m really not sure how we navigated all of it, but at least it’s all documented in the album from when we were in this weird limbo that we never expected to be in. It’s a time capsule.

AD: We also moved away from our hometowns in the Bay area to LA during this time and got a change of scenery. Forming a whole new community and lifestyle down here has been cool. We changed our focus on stuff. Before, it was go, go, go, all the time, but for many years we didn’t even play a single show. That was a weird refocusing of what the band is for us.

BH: The two of us have been in this band since we were in high school together. We were 14 years old playing shows and we never stopped that momentum for about a decade. When you’re touring though, you don’t have a chance to really make a foundation for yourself and have a home. We’d always come home and re-integrate into our social groups, but it always felt like we missed out on a lot of things. That was the plus side in all of this; we got to make roots for ourselves and get comfortable finally.

A lot of people will be able to listen to the new songs and find relatability in different ways. Everyone goes through a time period in their life where they feel like they’re stuck in limbo with their own stuff as well. What do you hope your listeners will be able to take away from this album?

AD: We’ve always tried to show our own story and honesty because it helps us connect with others who are going through similar things. Brendan is the lyricist and he always tries to write from an open enough perspective that you can kind of attach your own story to it. 

BH: That’s kind of the goal: try not to be so on the nose with lyrics. I don’t like listening to stuff where I start to feel excluded from the experience. It’s a cool style for sure, but for me as a writer, I’ve always wanted to be open-ended with the lyrics just enough that you can take a lyric and spin it your own way. If I’m going through something, I’ll seek out the music that reinforces what I’m going through to make me feel validation of those feelings. I think this record is a good combination of being open-ended while also being very personal though. I hope people can apply it to themselves and feel connected while also feeling a sense of vulnerability on our end.

What does the band’s songwriting process look like? Are different sections created separately or always together?

BH: I usually write out the first verse and the chorus, stop at the second verse, never have a bridge, and that’s kind of where it always is. [laughs] After, I’ll show it to everyone, but I’m really bad at that. Even though we’ve been making music together for so long, I still get so nervous. You want to feel creatively free, but you never want to have a bunch of people around you who are just going to tell you something’s great no matter what. Feedback is a positive thing. That’s the great part about being in a band, you can bring ideas to people and it’s a collective group effort to make something great. 

You have a classic indie sound that can almost be described as nostalgic. Even in the new releases, the music captures that sound while also bringing in a fresh take to it. How do you guys feel your music has progressed over time?

AD: The last album being so long ago feels like a past life. We still sometimes reference that record, but it’s now 10 years old. We were very pointedly trying to go for a specific sound, which a lot of it stems from our time growing up in the Bay area. We were surrounded by an incredible music scene that we grew up in, in San Francisco that we were fans of. There were a lot of bands that we idolized at the time who never made it really far on a national circuit, but they really meant something to us. Our goal when we started the band was to become a part of that local scene. A lot of our sound originates from them, as well as some more well-known artists. 

Besides releasing your new album, what are some of the other goals that you have for the remainder of the year — or the future?

BH: We definitely want to be playing more shows once the album is out. Also, we want to have a fast turnaround with more new music. After being away for so long, we just want to be back for good and want to continue giving our fans music. There’s a running joke in our fanbase where we just kept telling them “soon” and then never delivered. It was out of our control, unfortunately. We want to be as ready as we possibly can.