13th anniversary of Finger Eleven album

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Keep on strumming. Wikimedia Commons

Still making waves

As a distraction, while we continue to wait and see how things unfold in the world, I thought it would be a good time for another band interview.

This time, Canadian rockers, Finger Eleven. Originally coming out of Burlington, Ontario, this Juno-winning, platinum-selling group has had numerous singles, been featured in several different media outlets, and have become a staple in the Canadian rock scene. Rick Jackett, the guitarist for the band was able to talk about the 13th anniversary of the band’s 2008 album Them vs. You vs. Me.

The album itself was a massive success for the band, producing three major singles including the ever-popular “Paralyzer.” Other singles including the rock anthem “Falling On” and the acoustic-based “I’ll Keep the Memory of You Vague”.

For Rick Jackett’s comments on the album, you can find those just below:

So, the album Them vs. You vs. Me recently had it’s 13th anniversary, what’s it like looking back on everything that went into that album and what came out of it?

Yeah, it’s crazy that it’s been 13 years. That record was amazing. We wrote so many songs for that record, like we always take our time to write songs, we don’t just record the first ten or eleven that come to our mind, but for that record in particular I think we had written a hundred or so different songs and really all over the map with that record, as far as the song-writing. In some ways it was probably the most experimental time for our band. We were open to anything on that record, and I think when you hear it there are different musical styles on the record and we’re really proud of that, you know?

As far as what came out of it. That record changed our lives. Like “Paralyzer,” obviously. In hindsight, we just had really big success with “One Thing” and that changed our lives. We got two albums where we had a hit song and we never imagined having hit songs, we just always wanted to make records we were proud of. And, all of the sudden we have this hit song and for the first time in our entire career people were sort of paying attention to what’s coming next with it. And when we wrote “Paralyzer” at home, we felt like we had written something special. Just because we had written so many songs and we love them all. There’s just certain feelings you get about certain songs and “Paralyzer” was one of those songs. So, when that record hit and that song came out like it did, I mean that was a game changer for all of us. On a personal level, on a professional level, just on a band level. The level of experience that that song brought us too was amazing. That’s part of the fun of being in a band is being in the place that your music takes you. You know, you find yourself on a TV show or something, or some place you never thought you’d be in, and “Paralyzer” definitely took us to places we never thought we’d be.

And that’s the thing, “Paralyzer” is fantastic, and it will always be fantastic, but songs like “Falling On,” I must’ve listened to that song over a hundred times, I’m not ashamed to admit it.

And you know what, that song, that record just had a real positive sort of – well not positive but like an upbeat groove to the music-making on that. The band was firing on all cylinders, we were very confident when we were making that record. I think my favourite track off that record is probably “I’ll Keep Your Memory Vague.” Like that song to me was a total departure, it was like closer to country in that way, and that’s just a side of me that kind of really enjoys it. So that song was a cool departure from the band. That record, man, it was a really fun creative time to make music and I think it shows.

With the band’s last major album Five Crooked Lines approaching it’s five year anniversary, it’ll be interesting to see where the group is headed next.

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