Far From Finished

interview by Jason Walsh

A band with fierce determination began on the mean streets of New York before relocating to Boston. With more adversity than a Martin Scorsese film, Far From Finished struggled on to make their mark on the East Coast's street punk scene, showcasing their underground roots with flawless musicianship to create a unique sound that has been annihilating venues across the nation and throughout the world. Less than a month after their first release in 2005, "Eastside of Nowhere," the band embarked on their first tour and somewhere along a Pennsylvania interstate, their van collides with a deer, sending the van, trailer, and five members hurtling down a cliff to an untimely death. Somehow, they all survived, and so has the band.

Prior to their European tour, I caught up with Far From Finished at the Canal Club in Richmond, Virginia. Supporting Smoke or Fire, they played along with locals The Reserve and Friendly Fire. I had a chance to talk with the band's two newest guns, lead guitarist Adam Porris from Cleveland and rhythm guitarist Oscar Capps from Philadelphia. We talked about touring Europe, their friends from Boston, a new record in the not-so-distant future, and yes, even shitting on the side of the road.



JW: So you guys are kind of the new guys in the band

OSCAR: Pretty much. They threw us to the wolves with you, huh? (laughs)

JW: And I was just telling your guys last week I interviewed Madeline Albright and she was pretty tough so you guys should be a cakewalk.

OSCAR: Is she a cunt or what?

JW: No she was nice, but everything was Obama.

OSCAR: Oh yeah.

JW: Nanananana....foreign policy...Obama.

OSCAR: Obama, Obama.

JW: So you did a little short stint before you came down here?

OSCAR: Yeah, it was just four dates with Smoke and Fire. We did Boston, the Middle East, fucking awesome show. Then we did Philly at the Fire and that's always fun for me playing Philly.

JW: Home game.

OSCAR: Home game for me. So two home games in a row. Everybody else is from Boston. I'm from Philly. That was an awesome show. Great energy from the crowd. Then we got to get drunk, ridiculously intoxicated at my house.

JW: So you still have family there?

OSCAR: Yeah.

JW: Do you stay there still?

OSCAR: Oh yeah, yeah. I just bought a house in Audobon, New Jersey, right across the Walt Whitman and I can make the commute, more than I'd like to, but enough to keep it going, y'know. And then...ummm...what was last night?
ADAM: Baltimore.
OSCAR: Baltimore, then Richmond, and back home, and then we go to Europe. We have four weeks over there headlining. It's going to be our second headlining tour.

JW: Is this your first time or second time going with the band over to Europe?

OSCAR: This is my third time going to Europe.
ADAM: Second time.

JW: What's it like going over there? It's got to be a lot of fun.

OSCAR: Europe's a blast. Over here, like this show is cool when you find clubs that actually take care of you, y'know like appreciate everything, it reminds you of being over there. They really go out of there way to make you feel like you're at home. Most of the clubs have band flats or they spring for a hotel. It's always whatever you need they get for you.

JW: So as Americans, we could learn from that?

ADAM: Just the little things. The really little things. The first thing I check is a bathroom with a door that locks or like hand soap. I'm like, "Oh my God! A bathroom with hand soap. This is amazing." The first time we got there, that was the first thing I said to the bass player (Pesky), "Europe is awesome." They really take care of you. It's amazing. There just so excited to have you over there and it's a great feeling.

OSCAR: A bathroom with hand soap? This comes from the dud that shits on the side of the road. (laughter)

JW: (quickly changing subject) So, how long you guys going to be in Europe?

OSCAR: It's going to be four weeks. We have a couple shows with Rat City Riot, the Casualties, and, uh, anybody else over there?
ADAM: Descontrol
OSCAR: Descontrol man, is one of my favorite bands. They're from Basque country in Spain. They're like the only street punk band that sings in the Basque native language. We're playing in Sala 360.
ADAM: I've never been to this part of Spain but they talk about this as their favorite place to tour. It's great. It does take a day to drive in there and to drive out which sucks because we get all that down time when we could be playing.
OSCAR: Basque country. The people just go off in Basque land. It's that revolutionary feeling every day of the year and like punk rock just totally fits the type of people they are and that culture, y'know. They embrace it.

JW: How long have you been playing music?

OSCAR: I've been playing guitar since I was twelve and music 's always been a part of my life. I know it sounds like cliche but I don't even know if I'd be alive if it wasn't for music. It's one of the only things that keeps me from just fucking going off the deep end sometimes. Y'know, like if it wasn't for music and my family and like friends. Friends and family are like the same to me.

JW: Did you think when you were growing up and you were first picking up the guitar, trying to do the band thing, that you'd be going to Europe and doing these tours over there? Did you ever think it would come to something like that being a kid from Philly?

OSCAR: Yo, being a kid from Philly I know the first time you get off the block is like a whole new fucking world. I was lucky enough, y'know, my wife went to school in Ireland, so that was my first taste of another country's culture. Every time I get out of the country is just a blast.

JW: You know I had to join the military for that experience. How about you, Adam? When you were growing up, doing music, did you ever think you'd be going on tour in Europe and going across the country and doing the things you are doing now?

ADAM: Not a chance in hell. I was a little Jewish kid from the suburbs and if you told me when I was 15 that I would be touring the world in a rock band I'd be like "Ahhh...go fuck yourself. No way. Not a chance in hell." It's a dream beyond dreams. I couldn't ask for anything more. That's why would sleep in vans and not shower for days, so you could play music.
OSCAR: Shitting on the side of the road.
ADAM: Shitting on the side of the road. It's the best. I couldn't ask for more in life. Period.

JW: How did you hook up with the band?

ADAM: I moved to Boston in 2002. I went to school there and I auditioned for the band first time for his (Oscar's) guitar spot, but I'm not really good at playing rhythm guitar so it didn't work out too well. After their guitar player left, right before my first tour with them, this is like two weeks before the tour with the U.S. Bombs, I got a call from Marc (Cannata) the drummer and it just clicked from there. That's how I started playing with them.
OSCAR: Adam played in band called Lost City Angels with Sweeney Todd from Everybody Out and the Dead Pets and Rick Barton, formerly of the (Dropkick) Murphys and Everybody Out, which is one of my favorite bands right now. They're another band that just has great energy, y'know, like onstage. Every time you're around those guys, y'know Sweeney's so charismatic and always just takes the audience by the throat and fucking squeezes them.
ADAM: Sweeney is the man onstage. Scottish...Scotsman. And then there's Rick Barton, who is just another character, he's like "Hey! How ya doing?" I remember being in the back of a van one time with Rick and Sweeny in the front seat and they were just talking and Rick's like, "Hey! Sweeney, see that big field over there? I'm gonna buy it and just put a big roller coaster in there" and Sweeney's like "Aww, that sounds fucking great, man," and I'm like "what the hell is going on here?"

JW: So tell me about life in Boston, not being from Boston, being from the Midwest, from Ohio, and living in Boston. What's that like?

ADAM: I love it. Coming from the Midwest, midwesterners have a really natural way of being nice to everyone. It's just part of the Midwest. Then getting to Boston and you're just on a train and people are like "get the fuck out o' my way, fucking retard," and you're like "oh god."
OSCAR: Go Sox.
ADAM: Yeah, "Go Sox. Move it to the rear of the train!" I really love living in that city. I feel like I'm at home once I'm there. I'm just at a really good point playing in the band and living in Boston. It's great.

JW: What part of Boston do you stay at?

ADAM: I live in Allston which is between BU (Boston University) and BC (Boston College) which sucks because there's a bunch of college yahoos everywhere. There's some fucking Ya-dudes and it's kind of a pain in the ass.

JW: Your last record, "Living in the Fallout" came out this year. Tell me about the record. How did it do for you guys.

OSCAR: We get awesome response, y'know, from everybody that hears it. We're definitely making true believers out of people and I think it's just a matter of taking that same mentality that Marc had writing the album and just not duplicating that but starting from there and taking it to the next level for the next record. We're going to start demoing when we get back from Europe and recording eventually.

JW: How long does it take collectively to do a record?

ADAM: It's going to take about a year and a half from pre-production all the way 'til finish. You do the pre-production, you demo the songs, y'know about three tracks, and then you shop around for labels and once you finally find a deal you like, then from there it's actually recording it, getting a sound you like, and it's a long process. Marc's talked about it, the album's actually written, it's just a matter of us to get in there and start playing and learning the songs and from there.

JW: So you guys don't have a label you're actually working through right now? You're just going to put the music together and find one that works?

OSCAR: We're on Think Fast Records right now. How the last record came out, it was originally supposed to be out on Sailor's Grave and then shit went under with that label. They had an entire finished package with everything, artwork and all, and it wasn't getting released. It took a while for them to find somebody and we were lucky enough to have Think Fast pick it up and those guys have been awesome to us.

JW: And that's funny. Think Fast!

OSCAR: Yeah, yeah. Exactly. There you go.

JW: What else would you like to tell people? Why should they check you out? What are you guys all about.

OSCAR: You need to come out to our shows because whether it's 15 people in a hole in the wall or a couple thousand people, it doesn't matter because we give the same energy every night and it's a celebration and a good time. Have a couple beers with us and come out. It's a crazy live show. I can't control myself on stage. I act like a fucking retard. I think I'm Pete Townshend for 35 minutes.

JW: And that's not necessarily a bad thing, right?

OSCAR: A bad thing? Hey, you be the judge, y'know.