Finish Ticket: From Gabe’s Garage to Bottom of the Hill

by Shruti Pal

photo courtesy of Atlantic Records

Realization. That is the one word Brendan Hoye, lead singer of San Francisco based alternative rock band Finish Ticket uses to describe their latest EP, When Night Becomes Day.  According to Hoye, every song on the EP describes a different type of realization. “Color” and “Wrong” both outline different types of personal realizations: the realization that things aren’t going to get better and the realization of adulthood.

Finish Ticket comprises of vocalist Brendan Hoye, guitarist Alex DiDonato, bassist Michael Hoye, drummer Gabe Stein, and keyboardist Nick Stein.

Nick and Gabe are brothers, as are twins Brendan and Michael. Brendan Hoye believes that his brotherly connection with Michael allows them to survive long months of being together. From a young age, they have always done things together, from sports to music. And now, Finish Ticket.

“Having two sets of brothers makes it really easy to tour, because everyone is so comfortable with each other,” says Hoye. “It’s very comforting to have my twin brother on tour with me; I can’t imagine what it would be like without him. Especially on stage, having him there is very comforting. It eases the nerves.”

Hoye is very grateful for the opportunities that the San Francisco music scene has presented to the band. “The best thing about the local music is both the quality and the quantity.” After growing up listening to and watching some of the Bay Area’s best, Finish Ticket knew that they had very high standards to meet. They started practicing seriously in their drummer’s garage, and had a whiteboard where they would write down all their goals. One of those goals was playing at the San Francisco venue, Bottom of the Hill, which they ended up achieving. Initially however, they found it very hard to be taken seriously as a young band. But they continued to set out baby steps for themselves, and accomplished things one by one, before eventually being signed by Elektra Records. 

Recently, they have opened for some of the biggest names in music, including The Black Keys, Ed Sheeran, and Twenty One Pilots. “In live shows, as an opening band, when most people don’t even know who you are, you really have to prove yourself,” says Hoye. He adds that so many of these artists always “remembered where they came from” and treated his band like equals. Opening for these artists has also been very important in orchestrating the success of Finish Ticket.

When asked about why he thought “Tranquilize” was so successful, Hoye said he didn’t know. “None of us saw it coming. It surprised everyone. We didn’t think it would be the song that would be so popular. And we’re not quite sure why it is.”

It’s refreshing to see that as a band, they aren’t choosing to analyze the success of their songs or trying and deliver a product that caters to the market they have been pleasing, but instead, they are choosing to create music that they enjoy and that makes them proud.

Despite being busy with touring, and accidentally erasing his iTunes library, Brendon Hoye continues to listen to a lot of music. It is always admirable to see musicians making time for other music, especially during the stage of exponential growth, where Finish Ticket are now. Hoye’s latest obsession is Wolf Alice, but he has also been listening to a lot of U2 and Fidlar.  

In accord with their success, Finish Ticket has played shows in Europe as well, where they are surprised to have fans. Hoye says that connecting with audiences abroad isn’t always easy because of the language barrier. He joked that the band always finds something to talk to the audience about, be it beer in Germany or Arnold Schwarzenegger in Austria!

Finish Ticket are very excited to be playing at The Foundry in Philadelphia on Wednesday, the 24th of February. Hoye says that the Philadelphia crowd is wild, and that they are looking forward to playing with Vinyl Theatre. He encourages you to check out Finish Ticket’s Spotify and come out to the show!