Hello and welcome to So the Jerker on Songwriting, episode 294.

I'm Simon, here with Brian, and joining us today as a hugely talented Canadian actor and musician

who first came to global prominence almost a decade ago via his pivotal role in the Netflix

Juggernaut, Stranger Things.

Earlier this summer, he dropped his gleefully low-fi debut solo album,

Happy Birthday, recorded in Chicago with Lifeguards Keis later on co-production duties.

We're very happy to welcome the excellent Finn Wolfhard to the show.

Finn was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2002.

His parents instilled in him a love of both movies and music from an early

age and would often play classic albums on long family car rides. Finn's lifelong obsession with

the Beatles began around the age of seven when his mum played him the Help LP, and it was also

via his folks that he discovered bands like Weezer, Grizzly Bear, The Replacements and Doves.

Inspired by a combination of Paul McCartney and the Rickenbacker-wielding eponymous hero in the

movie Scott Pilgrim versus the world. Finn started learning to play bass before he'd even hit

double figures, later picking up the guitar. Even his first acting job was music-related,

a part in a video for fellow Vancouverites Facts. He went on to

appear in shows like The 100 and Supernatural before landing the life-changing parts of Hawkins

Indiana resident Mike Wheeler in 2015. Finn's newfound fame was not going to derail his

musical ambitions, however, while attending a summer music camp with his pal drummer Malcolm Craig,

the pair befriended guitarist Ayla Tesla Marbe,

who in turn introduced them to bassist Jack Anderson.

Christening themselves Calpania,

...