Cut Throat Finches flock to a more uplifting brand of rock

Falling down just mean restarting/It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t dance.

— Reset, by Cut Throat Finches

Within the Funkytown music scene, it is axiomatic that a band touched by Taylor Tatsch is a band worth hearing. This guy has his hands in so many projects — as a musician and producer — and I never fail to be impressed.

So when I saw one of those bands, Cut Throat Finches, was playing the Live Oak, I got down there.

The band — Tatsch (guitar), Sean Russell (vocals, guitar), Draya Ruse (drums), Jacob Martinez (bass) and Eric Webb (keyboard, guitar) — plays rock, and it’s pop in the best sense of the word. It’s mostly well-crafted songwriting and tastefully structured musicianship.

I wanted to know more about what went into creating this mess, so after the set, I slipped backstage to talk to Russell.

“Music had this huge influence on our lives,” said Russell. “The writers, everybody around our music scene — music meant something that was so big it kind of identified who you were.

“I still look at the music I listened to in the ’90s, this is still who I am today,” he continued. “The idea of writing a song that means that much to someone else. It’s hard to quantify why that has value.

“It is so important to me to be proud of what I am doing and to record something or play something in a way that people can connect to it the way that I connected to music growing up,” he said. “It shaped my whole life, my whole outlook on life.”

For Tatsch and Russell, that connection is everything, and the quality of the product they put out is of utmost importance. These are people with a serious affection for the craft of making music, and a dedication to making it the best it can be that approaches religious fervor.

“You’ve got to be proud of a record,” said Tatsch when talking about his approach to making records. “If you’re on the fence about something, let’s get off of that fence. Make it to where you’re going to own that thing for the rest of your life.”

Russell depends on Tatsch and his honesty when crafting his songs. When working on Reset, a song from the Finches’ latest record, Tasch had a hand in shaping its direction.

“I had an idea for the song,” Russell said. “I had a really good verse, a really good pre-chorus — but the chorus didn’t hit.

“I made Taylor promise he wouldn’t just compromise. Either it really hits and is meaningful to him, or I’ll back out and rewrite the song, so that song, for instance, was completely rewritten. Because Taylor forced me to,” he said. “And what we came up with as a rewrite was way better than what we had originally.”

“I think the vibe of the song early on was like people live in glass houses — judging other people,” Tatsch explained. “Then all of sudden it turned into a love song. To me, because you went through a divorce, and [now] you’re with a great woman, a great force with you — and that song turned from a political commentary into a love song. I think the biggest thing really in this whole making of your record was your relationship with Honey [Godsey].”

David Wade of Luke Wade’s band introduced photographer Godsey to Russell. His relationship with her has redefined his outlook on life and music.

“I was writing some really sad songs, very self-deprecating. I grew up listening to the Smiths, so I think my filter is a little different than everyone else,” said Russell. “What is dark to some is just the top of the barrel to me.

“When I met her, she was listening to my songs and she made me break out of that.”

Tatsch, a longtime friend, and collaborator of Russell agrees.

“All these barriers you’ve set for yourself. You’ve met this great woman and so ‘All right, this is actually who I’m supposed to be,’ ” Tatsch said. “Her coming into your life was such a positive force that you’ve been lacking for years. She’s the coolest thing that could have ever happened to you.”

For both Russell and Tatsch, the ultimate goal seems to be to give that musical foundation to other people that they found in bands (such as the Smiths) growing up. A noble goal indeed, and musical connection that seems to be scarce these days.

“You’re fighting your way out of a cliché,” Russell said about coming of age, “which is how life presented to you as a kid. That’s why I think a lot of kids have so much problem transitioning out of high school and into being an adult.

“What have they been presented [with] that’s worth fighting for that matters? I think music used to be that.”

This story was originally published September 6, 2016 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Cut Throat Finches flock to a more uplifting brand of rock."