ONE ON ONE: AN INTERVIEW WITH NOAHFINNCE!

THIS IS HIVE MAGAZINE, I’M DANNI BAKER AND I AM HERE TODAY AT SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL WITH NOAHFINNCE HOW ARE YOU TODAY?

Noah: Hello! I’m good, yeah! I’m excited!

HOW HAS IT BEEN SO FAR BEING BACK AT SLAM DUNK? OBVIOUSLY YOU HAVE PLAYED IT A FEW TIMES BEFORE I BELIEVE?

Noah: Yeah, I played ‘21 and ‘23 but it’s amazing. I feel like the first time I played here was my third ever show, and McFly did a secret set before me on the same stage! So that was terrifying and I felt so out of place and like, all over the place. But now I’ve come back every year and now I’m just like friends with people, it’s really cool it feels like I’m more part of the community than I felt before.

I THINK IT IS ONE OF THOSE COMMUNITIES WHERE EVERYONE KNOWS EVERYONE, I EVEN DID (SLAM DUNK) SOUTH YESTERDAY AND I WAS RUNNING INTO EVERYONE LEFT, RIGHT AND CENTRE AND IT’S SO NICE FOR THAT KIND OF THING!

Noah: It is, I feel like there’s not many events like this, at least in the UK, where the alternative scene does get together. Like there’s Slam Dunk, Download, that’s it really.

SO OBVIOUSLY YOU ALREADY PLAYED YOUR SET AT SOUTH YESTERDAY, HOW DID THAT GO IN GENERAL?

Noah: It was really fun yeah! I had a great time. It’s interesting at festivals because obviously there’s like a wider demographic than the kind of people that come to my shows. After doing those two tours with (Enter) Shikari, I recognise some of the fans that came from Shikari which is really cool. It’s also really sweet because I think most of my shows are like 14 plus, but Slam Dunk obviously younger kids can come, so there was like a 10 year old at the front. It’s just really good vibes.

IT’S ALSO SO COOL JUST SEEING YOU MOVE UP THE STAGES OVER THE YEARS, IT IS AMAZING TO SEE, SEEING THE PROGRESS OVER TIME.

Noah: Thankyou!

YOU ALSO MADE AN APPEARANCE FOR THE AS IT IS SET YESTERDAY FOR ‘CAN’T SAVE MYSELF’, HOW DID THAT GO FIRSTLY?

Noah: I did! It was great, I mean I was fucking shitting it, I’m so used to playing guitar and singing I’ve worked out that move I know what I’m doing, I know what to do with my body. But when it’s just me and a microphone, I’ve no idea how to hold my body. I was watching Rae from Artio go on before me and they were just straight up killing it, they’ve got the moves and I just like ended up sitting on a corner for a little bit. I was like “no I can sing if I’m still!”, couldn’t move around but apparently it was good, I had a good time.

I WAS THERE AND IT WAS INCREDIBLE!

Noah: Ok good! It was fun being on stage with Ben and Patty, we’ve been writing together a bunch so it was good to see them in that way.

I WANTED TO ASK AS WELL, HOW DID THAT COLLAB COME ABOUT?

Noah: I was just asked! I don’t know. So, speaking about Slam Dunk, my first Slam Dunk in 2021 Patty Walters was one of the first people that came up to me and was like “Hey man, saw your set, love your new song” and I’m like “Patty Walters, why are you listening to my music?”. So we’ve known each other since then and ran into each other at events. But I just got a message from management one day saying “As It Is want you on a song, do you want to pick one?” and I was like, obviously ‘Can’t Save Myself’. Yeah it was pretty simple!

SO KEEPING UP WITH THE FEATURES AND COVER TRACKS, YOU HAVE ALSO RECENTLY BEEN ANNOUNCED FOR THE ROCKSOUND TRIBUTE ALBUM FOR TWENTY ONE PILOTS, AGAIN WITH THE SONG CHOICE ON THAT ONE, DID YOU GET TO PICK OR WERE YOU ASKED?

Noah: No, I was just given that one but I feel like it’s the one that makes the most sense out of the entire album, I grew up making covers and that was what I grew and audience through originally, like Bring Me The Horizon covers on ukelele and obviously Twenty One Pilots. I had a look and I’ve done like eight of them (Twenty One Pilots covers). I’d done the judge several times so we used a snippet of when I was 16 of like harmonies I did on a video and put those at the start of the song. Yeah so it’s very like full circle moment.

YEAH A LITTLE FULL CIRCLE MOMENT! ESPECIALLY AS THOSE ARE THE BANDS THAT WE KIND OF, GREW UP LISTENING TO, LIKE I DON’T WANT TO SAY TUMBLR BANDS BUT A LITTLE BIT!

Noah: You can absolutely say Tumblr bands! I celebrate Tumblr, I’m pretty sure any band that did well on Tumblr would be stupid to shit on it!

THEY WERE ALL THE BANDS THAT ARE THE REASON I AM WHERE I AM TODAY AND I’M SURE IT IS VERY SIMILAR FOR YOU AS WELL.

Noah: Yeah! Before ‘Blurryface’ came out, like when all the promo stuff came out I had a bunch of friends round and we fucking dressed up as them and took photoshoots with shitty flash cameras at like 1am! So it’s definitely been a thing, they’ve been in my life for a while!

I GUESS IN A WAY IT IS ALSO LIKE AN ‘I MADE IT MOMENT’ FOR YOU TOO!

Noah: Yeah!

YOU ALSO MENTIONED ON SOCIALS THAT THESE TWO SHOWS ARE YOUR ONLY SHOWS FOR 2025, IS THERE A REASON BEHIND THAT? JUST SOME WELL DESERVED REST? OR ARE WE WORKING ON SOMETHING?

Noah: There are reasons! But also a little bit of rest, I get burnout so quickly and we have been kind of touring, not non stop in comparison to probably a lot of the bands here, but to me, I’m autistic as fuck so I play one show and need like two days to make up for it. A lot of it is about needing rest but I am also having a writing year this year. So working on the second album and yeah, just having the time and space to work on that rather than being rushed. The deadline for the last one was crazy tight so now there’s just loads more time to get into it.

YEAH, THAT WAY YOU CAN GO AT YOUR OWN PACE AND PERFECT IT, NOT THAT THE LAST ONE WASN’T PERFECT IT WAS INCREDIBLE! BUT YOU DID HAVE A PRETTY HECTIC 2024! LIKE START OF THE YEAR, TOURING WITH ENTER SHIKARI

Noah: Yeah straight away stadiums, Wembley, cool!

THEN THE ALBUM CAME OUT RIGHT AFTER THAT

Noah: Yeah then straight to the US for a month it was insane

YEAH, THEN I THINK ENDING THE YEAR ON YOUR OWN HEADLINE TOUR OVER HERE IN THE UK WAS A NICE WAY TO END IT.

Noah: It was yeah! We had like Bludfest in the summer and Download in the summer too! Had like McFly and Busted shows. I was just screaming in my head the whole year last year. I’m glad I did it though!

HOW DO YOU FIND PLAYING SUPPORTING SLOTS AND FESTIVAL SLOTS IN COMPARISON TO YOUR OWN HEADLINE SHOWS?

Noah: I mean they are so different! I think now that I have been touring for a while, I’ve built up an audience of people that come to every show, so I know that regardless of where I play there are gonna be at least a couple rows of people that are there for me, know the words. It was so intimidating doing the Shikari shows! We did the underplay tour the year before, and it was like the biggest fans who got the tickets and they were like “Who the fuck is this kid?”. But second time round when it came to the arenas, obviously there were a few people that came for me, but I was expecting a lot more people to be pissed off at me for being there, but I felt really welcome. The Shikari team are the best in the way that they are, but it is quite intimidating. When it comes to festivals it’s like, Slam Dunk is probably always my favourite festival just because I know it is such a mix of people that grew up on the same music as me, there’s people that have followed me since I was a My Chemical Romance fan account coming to the sets, so it’s a good vibe here.

WITH THE SHIKARI TOUR AS WELL, DOING THOSE INTIMATE SHOWS FIRST POSSIBLY HELPED GET THEIR FANS A BIT MORE FAMILIAR WITH YOU WHICH I IMAGINE WAS QUITE NICE

Noah: Yeah I definitely needed that warm up I could not have gone straight to Wembley!

MY FINAL QUESTION FOR YOU TODAY, WHO IS YOUR DREAM SLAM DUNK 2026 HEADLINER?

Noah: Pierce The Veil! I don’t know if they’ve played Slam Dunk, I haven’t checked every lineup but they’d be a great headliner. They’re killing it in the US and just about everywhere, they’ve just toured with Blink-182, I see no reason why they couldn’t do it!

ESPECIALLY GIVEN THEY ARE ABOUT TO GO ON A MASSIVE HEADLINE ARENA TOUR OVER HERE TOO!

Noah: Exactly! I hope they become the next headliner!

EVERYONE IS SAYING SUCH INCREDIBLE ANSWERS, AND WILDLY DIFFERENT ONES TOO, I’M LOVING HEARING EVERYONE’S ANSWERS!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE WITH ME TODAY IT HAS BEEN AMAZING TALKING TO YOU!

Noah: Thankyou for having me!

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