Neil Finn performs on his current New Zealand tour. Picture / Martin Sykes

Neil Finn performs on his current New Zealand tour. Picture / Martin Sykes

By GRAHAM REID

Once again you are doing all this stuff all over again, the media, days of interviews both at home and abroad.

Yeah, I'm sticking my hand up, and it's good. Last year I didn't think I'd have the energy for it because it was a difficult year, with my mother [dying] and all that. But I've found a real burst of enthusiasm for the whole thing really since the year started.

Is that because the One Nil album is finished and you can read it as a compete entity and see what it was you think you were getting at?

It's more that it's lead me into another phase which I'm happy about. When you are making a record you're somehow out of the loop and in the musical process, but there's this real transition period where you have to take deep breath and say, "It's all about to start, have I got the energy for this?" I just wanted to put it out and start work on the next record. But in a way those processes are very valuable because once you get out and about you realise music lives in the moment and it's your performance on stage that night or whatever and suddenly you find new life in songs you got sick of. Or you get an idea of what you want to do next time, and you meet people and have experiences and that's what informs the next phase. And I'm really enjoying that, I'm particularly enjoying the performance.

Every time I open my mouth at the moment I feel I've got to give it every ounce of energy I've got.

I take from what you say there have been periods where you haven't enjoyed performance?

Not many actually, but particularly lately I've realised the only thing I can be certain of is if I give everything I've got every time I open my mouth, whether it's a rehearsal or whatever, that the chances are the music will be good. I can't really manipulate anything else. I can do the press and the promotion and the videos and all that stuff, but I can't determine how any of that's going to be received or how the record's going to go down. But if you can open your mouth and mean it and deliver it to the maximum, then good things come of it.

You said "another phase" do you mean the phase of doing the live thing or ... ?

Yeah, having a record out. In a way I feel like with the recent university tour, the Band of Strangers, this gig coming up [a five night stand with various guests including Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder at the St James in Auckland, starting Monday April 2] and a tour in July in Australia with the Australian Chamber Orchestra that everything I'm doing this year is completely unique for me and different to each other as well, so there's something wondrous in that. I've embraced my freedom and and am thinking, "I can do anything, so I might as well do it all!"