Finn Wolfhard on his new album: “These songs are less personal”

It’s 37 degrees outside and the air conditioning has just broken. So when actor and musician Finn Wolfhard declares to the camera that we’re in a “heat-apocalypse”, he’s only half-joking.

Despite the warm, muggy air wafting through NME’s sweaty video studio on Denmark Street, London, the 23-year-old Canadian is in fine fettle throughout our interview. Famed for playing Spielbergian teen Mike Wheeler in Netflix’s Stranger Things and for fronting several indie rock bands, Wolfhard seems pleased to be focusing on his own projects at last. In this case, that’s ‘Fire From The Hip’ – his first new album since the sci-fi juggernaut aired its final episode on New Year’s Eve.

“I wrote a lot of these songs last year,” he says. “I was experimenting with writing little stories, you know, songs that were less personal and more about people or characters.” It’s an approach that ties in with the DIY feel of ‘Fire From The Hip’ – a collection of homespun vignettes that sound like they’ve been plucked, unaltered, from the mind of this unpretentious Gen-Z troubadour.

For the latest in NME’s In Conversation video series, Wolfhard dives deeper into the inspirations behind his latest release, reflects on a failed audition to play George Harrison in Sam Mendes’ Beatles biopics, and updates us on his forthcoming film about Minnesota post-punks The Replacements.

Hey Finn, what have you been up to in London this week?

Finn Wolfhard: “I went to see Gorillaz at Tottenham Stadium. That was pretty cool… Someone was telling me that it was their first headline stadium show in London and I was so shocked!”

Historically, they’ve been a bit bigger in the US than in the UK…

“Yeah, they’ve done stadiums in Canada and the US… I think it’s a multi-generational thing. Kids really love Gorillaz because of the cartoon aspect of it.”

Tell me about your new album ‘Fire From The Hip’ – the cover art looks like if Wes Anderson made Barry Lyndon…

“[Laughs] Yeah, Barry Lyndon was definitely the comparison.”

Where did the nautical outfits come from?

“The English colonial-slash-pirate? This is the first record cover I’ve been on, so I wanted to do something striking… The record is about how you sometimes can have two versions of yourself. You perform for people and then have your own inner life. The idea behind the cover was to have me in a duel with myself.”

‘Maggie’ sounds a bit like ‘Digsy’s Dinner’ by Oasis – who’s the song about?

“I just love that name… I have a few friends named Maggie [but also there’s songs like] ‘Maggie May’ by Rod Stewart.”

Had you heard ‘Digsy’s Dinner’?

“No I hadn’t. Everyone tells me that I would really like Oasis but I haven’t [gone deep yet].”

Were you around LA when Oasis Live 25 came to town?

“No, but my friend literally traveled all the way from Vancouver to Manchester to watch them. Rock music at that level with that many people going and supporting it is really cool to see.”

Back to your album, there’s quite a few lyrics about loneliness in there – are you OK, Finn?

[Laughs] “Yeah, I’m alright. I’m not lonely with all the people in this room! I guess I have a job where I’m constantly traveling and meeting different people. It’s really amazing to have friends in different places and be able to come in and out, but at the same time, I’m living in a place for a few months and feel like I have a friend group – then have to leave.”

Let’s talk about your influences on these new songs – there’s a lot of country coming through?

“Yeah, the band that I play with… maybe they’re just folksy people. Two of them are from Kentucky, one is from Illinois… I also like listening to a lot of early Wilco and even the Stones. They have a lot of country elements to them.”

You last played the UK in October, at some pretty legendary venues in Glasgow’s King Tut’s and Electric Brixton in London – did that feel like a moment for you?

“For sure. Those were my two favourite shows on that tour. You can feel the history there from all the bands that have played.”

Are you gonna come back to the UK soon?

“Yeah, for sure. I don’t have any dates booked yet – but the minute I do, I will let you know.… I’ve never played a British festival.”

Have you been to Glastonbury?

“Yeah, I went last year…. I had such an amazing time. I saw Pulp. I saw some of the best shows in my whole life. But also it was so hot! I slept in what was basically a shed with a little foam top. It was basically glamping.”

Who did you go with?

“Djo [Joe Keery from Stranger Things] was playing… and a bunch of my other Stranger Things friends were there too.”

How did you avoid getting mobbed by fans?

“We didn’t get mobbed at all. It was amazing… [There seemed to be this] unspoken thing of: ‘OK, we’re all here together, let’s not bother so and so.’ Also, there’s always a better show to be watching – like, ‘we don’t care who you are!’ So that was really cool.”

Maybe you can play next year?

“That would be amazing.”

Last year, you directed your first ever music video – a stop-motion animation for George Harrison’s 1973 single ‘Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth)’. How did that happen?

“I was really lucky because I had gotten to know the Harrisons – and was friends with [George’s son] Dhani. They’re such generous people and I got to go and see Friar Park [the Harrisons’ 30-acre estate in Henley-On-Thames. It’s so beautiful and the gardens are amazing. He wrote all the best songs in that garden.”

What was the idea behind the video?

“I just wanted to do something pure, being such a fan of his and knowing Dhani and Olivia, something that he would be excited about.”

It consists of George and some gnomes floating down a river on a giant duck…

“He loved his ducks! It’s a reference to this music video that George did for [1979 single] ‘Blow Away’, which is him in a duck.”

Is George your favourite Beatle?

“It switches all the time. I think George, spiritually, is my favourite Beatle just because of what he was about and the films he produced with [his distribution company] HandMade Films and the Terry Gilliam stuff… But growing up, I thought John was amazing. And Paul was the reason I started playing music in the first place. And I love Ringo too.”

What are your top three Beatles albums?

“Right now, I would say probably ‘Help’, ‘Revolver’ and, honestly, I’ve been listening to a lot of ‘The White Album’…. Even though every album is so different, I think in their heads they were saying: ‘Oh, you liked the last one? Let’s see how much you like this one.”

Why did ‘Stranger Things’ never include a Beatles song?

“There was a moment, before they chose ‘Purple Rain’ for that scene in the finale, where they were trying to figure out what it could be – and I was trying to push [for a Beatles song]… They needed two songs to go back to back, because the whole point is that it’s timed to a bomb that’s gonna blow up. They have to start it on the B-side, so it needed to be the perfect B-side [which is ‘When Doves Cry’ for ‘Purple Rain’], but yeah, The Beatles would have been cool.”

And one last Beatles question, are you excited for Sam Mendes’ four biopics?

“Yeah, totally. I honestly, legitimately am.”

Did you audition for any of them?

“I auditioned for George, actually. I was like, ‘This is not gonna go anywhere, but I’m gonna try my hardest… Joe Quinn got it, and fuck, he’s gonna be amazing.”

What scene did you have to do?

“The audition was an interview that George had in the ‘60s. It’s basically paraphrasing. He’s very clear-headed in it. It was great.”

What’s happening with The Replacements biopic you’re co-writing with your dad?

“We’ve sent it off to the director and really, really wanna make it as soon as possible. That band means so much to me. I would love to be able to tell their story in the most cool and least Bohemian Rhapsody way. No shade to that movie, but they’re the antithesis of that kind of thing. I want to make something that’s maybe a little weirder.”

Finn Wolfhard’s new album ‘Fire From The Hip’ is out now