“We’re A Guinea Pig Generation!” Noahfinnce Speaks Out
Acknowledging the impact of the once groundbreaking invention known as the internet is not news worthy, it hasn’t been for twenty years. But when it is associated with an artist, who lives and breathes online platforms, a person who engages with all things digital with exemplary ease, the perception is more tangible.
This phenomenon happens to envelop punk-pop musician NOAHFINNCE’s narrative. Belonging to a generation of creatives who has only known digital, Noah Finn Adams’ engagement with the internet is so embedded in who he is as a person, how he lives life, that he took the decision to name the new debut album after it.
“Most people in my generation have a weird story about something that happened to them on the internet, we’re a guinea pig generation for that. Fifteen years ago kids didn’t grow up with access to everything they ever wanted on the internet, and I don’t think we fully realise the repercussions of that. There’s a dark side to it, I don’t regret finding that.”
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As a result recent full length release ‘Growing Up On the Internet’ is a remarkable document of the times. But while the concept of digital living is shared by many millions, Adams’ experience remains relatively unique. A YouTuber and content creator prior to emerging as a musician, the twenty-four year old Ascot bred songwriter has had significantly more exposure to being a public figure in the digital age than many people belonging to the same age group.
There is, in addition, something else to consider as part of the story. Up until this point he has found attempts to digest things to be hard going “In the past few years I’ve been coming to terms with the fact that I’m autistic. I got the diagnosis recently, so for some songs, while I was writing the record, it was knowing I’m autistic, but not having the diagnosis.”
“There is been a lot of processing,” he outlines. “Then writing down things on a page and singing about how angry it makes me. It’s about autism, transphobia and what growing up on an internet phone is like. Those are the three big areas and getting a sense of how you can’t really separate the three.”
While it’s easy to get carried away in enthusiasm of a powerful journey, only see the glamourous aspect of the story, Adams is the first to draw attention to the darker side of his own adventures. It’s one where not all has been plain sailing. Far from it, he is left with the hangovers of living with what appears to be a prolonged, ongoing process.
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Therapy is a tool to gaining increased awareness and understanding. If the first two EPs, ‘Stuff From My Brain from 2021 and ‘My Brain After Therapy’ from 2022, direct listeners to key themes, the debut offers an intense, more concentrated overview. “They are all quite personal. But for the two EPs before, I had started therapy, I realised how vast it all was, but this album is personal in a different way, it’s more focused.”
Acutely biographical in places, the record connects some key dots in his life. An authentic, individual account, lyrically free and outspoken, it packs a fresh, uncompromising punch. Tackling issues related to being transgender have come to mean tackling a broad range of reactions online. More often than not the reactions fluctuate at the extreme ends of the spectrum, where music becomes a useful outlet for addressing some of them.
“The big one is transphobia. In 2017 when I started out things weren’t perfect, they still aren’t, the conservative media transphobia has been there for a few years. Because I’ve grown with that, my audience has also grown with that and I’ve become outspoken about trans rights.”
The topic has not always featured on his mind quite to the extent it does now, but being in music, touring and meeting people in person have changed that. Feelings of anger are present throughout the LP, and although the nature of punk demands it, it is also evident that key issues are raised. The expression of anger, the articulation of political ideas seem to come easily to the lyricist.
Political activism is close to his heart. Resonant experiences of playing alongside electronic alt-rock band Enter Shikari is a reminder of a band who are unafraid to take a political stance. “That was what was cool about touring with them. They’re so political, they’ve always stuck entirely to what they believe in, I’d love to have an inkling of what they have.”
Growing up his father demonstrated how music and politics are combinable. “I remember the first time my dad introduced me to ‘Killing In The Name’ by Rage Against the Machine,” he recalls. “I read about it. The single most powerful thing I’ve seen in my life was watching them perform that song live and seeing the crowd go wild for it. The message behind it channelled anger towards being against the fucking government. It’s still inspiring after all those years.”
A fascination starting with My Chemical Romance, he also took an interest in bands like Fall Out Boy, Green Day, The Prodigy, Nirvana and Foo Fighters, they would continue to inspire his songwriting and leave a profound mark. Traces of the influential bands are found on the debut record, while he creates his own take on some of those artists.
The idea of attributing at least some creative autonomy to the process and its collaborators is not alien, however. The ability to thrive on strong creative relationships in the studio has been key to Adam’s experience, as he explains how it’s not just about getting through the process, but also being able to finalise it, without too big a drama.
Stefan Abingdon and Adams share common ground, which made things easier, whether it’s production or cowriting, it’s about chemistry and understanding the collaborator. Going into the studio early September for about four weeks, things felt right from the beginning. He wrote most of it, and Abingdon wrote some too.
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On reflection of the experience, they clicked. It was work yet it was like going in to the studio and hang out with a best mate. “We are both quite similar. He is also a YouTuber. I feel we’re very aligned in that way. I don’t know how to explain it, but we’re both a bit wacky. The way that we work in the studio is similar.”
The producer was adapt at translating the ideas Adams fed him. “I would go, can you make it sound like that? I’d try and describe it, and he would just understand it entirely. We both like weird shit, and we’d be like kids with instruments. We’d pick them up and just see how we got on with the aim of having as much fun as possible.”
Going from strength to strength, there is no question about the viability of what Adams is achieving. In the midst of a terrific North American headline tour the recent outings with Enter Shikari were a great education, they added fuel to an intense fire, and the idea of participating in similar live activity in the future, with stars such as YUNGBLUD or Waterparks, provides inspiring food for thought.
“Only now have I got to the point where I know what I’m doing, that’s the most exciting thing. I finally feel way more confident, I write more music that I am proud of, come up with some weird stuff with my friends and play more shows.”
NOAHFINNCE’s community of digital and face to face interaction continues to evolve and deepen. Inseparable, endlessly fascinating, the community is rooted in who he is as a person. As it’s likely to transform over time, in positive and negative ways, only he possesses the tools to tackle each contrasting pole as his popularity grows, because it most certainly will.
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‘Growing Up On The Internet’ is out now.
Words: Susan Hansen
Photography: Corinne Cumming
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