Finney: Duct Tape and Hope

Words: Darci Jackson

Photography: Izzi Glover

'This band is made on duct tape and hope,’ confesses keyboard player and visual mastermind Mitch Rindom of Stoke-on-Trent’s resident dynamic indie pop four-piece Finney.

Finney are Adam Finney (guitar, vocals), Tommy Finney (bass), Mitch Rindom (keyboard) and Zak Barnett (drums).

But, like a lot of things, Finney didn’t start out on the path to sparkly riffs amidst a multitude of genres. It started as the solo project of Adam Finney, with guitar heavy catchy tunes.

‘It did start with just me with a loop pedal just trying to be the cool kid that could do it all on his own,’ admits Adam.

‘My brother Tommy played bass and then we stole Zak from another band and then Mitch was like… you know School of Rock, that guy with the tape around his neck that was designing all the stuff? [Mitch] was like ‘you’re doing all of this wrong, oh by the way I can play piano!’ and that was it.’

Finney rounded out 2024 with a stellar headline at The Sugarmill, as well as recently revisiting the independent venue for support slots with Toploader, and fellow local outfit Camens.

‘The Toploader show was the biggest support we’ve had so far so that was really cool,’ mentioned Adam.

In their own words, you can usually find Finney ‘under a pink neon sign,’ as well as dazzling on stage outfits and unexpected turns in their set. It leaves you waiting with bated breath as you watch the four-piece glide through their live shows with pin-point accuracy and a dreamlike state.

‘I don’t want to take all the credit but I think it’s very much my brainchild from being very into pop music and pop music culture,’ cites Rindom.

‘I’m very into the visuals and the costumes and the costume changes and the lights. It sets us apart a little bit.’

One thing the band are known for is their exploration into so many different genres. Their 2023 album Technicolour Daydream is an amalgamation of snippets across such a wide spectrum of noise. Put perfectly by Rindom: ‘‘the best way to describe Finney is that you cannot describe Finney.’

‘We’re like a situationship. Don’t want to be labelled,’ helpfully added Tommy.

As we skirt past the halfway mark of 2025, Finney are certainly not putting any pressure on the brakes just yet.

‘There’s loads of stuff behind the scenes, we’ve got quite a few songs that we’re working on. They’re all about 27% done. One’s at least 38% done so we’re gonna get there,’ mentions an optimistic Adam.

‘We’ve got to get the ingredients right before we start cooking.’

‘We’ve got so many ideas, it’s hard to take just one to the finish line because we want to play with everything a little bit.’

A truly dazzling band that take everything just that one step further, Finney really are a gem of Stoke’s diverse music scene.