Finneas caught up with Billboard’s Tetris Kelly on the red carpet at the 2019 American Music Awards on Sunday (Nov. 24), chatting about what fans can expect from his sister Billie Eilish’s next record, whether or not the two of them get competitive when creating music, and what his process is like when writing solo music.
Asked about what people can expect from Billie Eilish’s next album, Finneas replies that with her debut When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, it was their first chance to make a statement and introduce people to who they are.
“I think so far, in album two…there’s just a lot of stories we felt we didn’t get to tell yet,” he explains. “We’re just trying to tell all those and we’re being a little bit experimental. I think if you’re not trying to change things a little bit, you’re not evolving. So I think we’re just trying to embrace everything that we are proud of in our music and also just try new things and experiment and give people stuff to look forward to.”
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Posed with the question of whether or not he and Billie ever get competitive when it comes to making new songs, Finneas notes that it never gets competitive, but that they do have “creative disagreements,” which he says is a healthy part of any collaboration.
“I think that’s probably the number one reason why collaboration is good,” he notes. “You disagree with each other about things and then what we always say is whichever one of us is more passionate about the issue is the winner because if you care about something enough to fight for it, that means it’s probably a good thing.”
In the interview, Finneas also discusses his solo music, revealing that one thing he always tries to do when making his own songs is to find a way to say things that “aren’t as broadly articulated in modern pop music” and to put his own twist on it.
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“I just try to basically give my observations about things,” he continues. “It’s a little bit like watching a stand-up special. To me, my favorite joke on a stand-up special is when someone says something and you go, ‘Oh my God, I’ve been thinking that my whole life, I’ve just never said it to anyone else.’ Those little kinda quiet, personal observations you make that nobody else has talked about yet.”
You can check out the full video interview with Finneas above.
dick clark productions, producer of the American Music Awards, is owned by Valence Media, which also owns Billboard.
