As soon as he speaks there’s a sense of excitement, yet a huge sense of pride in his voice. Last Saturday he opened for Enter Shikari at Wembley, on Wednesday he hit the pinnacle for any metal, rock or emo kid by featuring on a Kerrang! cover and now we’re here. With a beaming smile Noah explains what it was like getting up on that stage in Wembley last weekend.
“It was so exciting, well after I got over the nerves of agreeing to a show that big! I mean, it’s kind of hard to process playing that many people in a room. I feel like when you get past the first ten rows, everybody looks like sims,” he laughs. “I was worried that people would hate me, but I didn’t get that vibe. My band loved it, and it was a really great moment.”
The tour with Enter Shikari was a huge moment for Noah with him touring with two of his favorite bands (Shikari and Fever 333), but also two bands who have the same beliefs as him. “I have a lot of imposter syndrome, so I’m still just like, why do they want me? I’m just honored that they chose me to tour with.” Both of the other bands on the tour are very outspoken, like Noah about their beliefs and raising awareness for various things that are happening in the world now. “I think it was really cool that every single night on that tour, people were spoken to about the ongoing genocide in Palestine, transphobia, racism within the scene,” Noah explains. “I feel like Shikari have such a community-based audience, and it just feels so cool to be involved in it.”
The idea of building a community is something that comes across regularly in everything Noah does with him creating his own pocket of fans that have been drawn to him through both music and YouTube where his personality which shines through. An opportunity to expand that community, by touring with these bands was something he couldn’t say no to – especially with a debut album on the horizon. “The last month has been very overwhelming, it’s very nonstop but I’m excited about this.” Growing Up On The Internet is his debut album, and after a series of EPs now seemed like the right time for an album. “The idea of writing an album a year ago was terrifying to me, you can write 11 or 12 songs and put them in an album together, but does it work as an album, like a coherent thing?” Well, he did manage to create an album and it is distinctly NOAHFINNCE.
The album has a range of sounds that have come from a range of influences. ‘Lovely Ladies’ features on the album and was co-written by Danny Jones and Dougie Poynter from McFly The track is different to anything Noah has released before, taking a more classic punk approach as opposed to the pop-punk sound he’s established himself with. Explaining how the track got that sound he said “I’ve written a bunch of songs like that, but I’ve never had the confidence to sing on them and then actually get to a stage where it feels like something that I could release.” Speaking on how Danny and Dougie ended up helping with the track he laughs “it will make no sense to, I guess, anyone else but they love that shit! I’m very excited about that song. It’s been really fun to play live.”
Noah has always had a very varied music taste as he says “My dad showed me Nirvana and Rage Against Machine. Then I got really into The Misfits for one year, they were like my favourite. Obviously, The Sex Pistols as well but yeah, I’ve always enjoyed that kind of music. I think one of my favourite albums is still My Chemical Romance’s first album, which is what ‘Lovely Ladies’ was inspired by entirely.”
While he may have always had a varied music taste his own music hasn’t always been this punk, rock and pop-punk hybrid. Starting his career, Noah was posting ukulele covers which is a big step away from where he’s at now. “I just started doing covers and I’d do stuff like Bring Me The Horizon covers on a ukulele. As for ‘Asthma Attack’, that song was released purely because I was posting covers every week and people were like, ‘you should do an original’.”
Speaking about ‘Asthma Attack’, Noah explains how the track came around and why it’s so different to the rest of his songs “I wrote that song at a time in my life where I was like, everything fucking sucks. I hate life.” Coming out as trans in 2017, Noah believed the song was important to mark this point in his life “It was entirely about being trans. So, when I started testosterone in 2018, I was like look I’ve released hundreds of videos on the internet of me singing with the high voice that I had, and I can’t wait for my voice to drop but it feels weird to me not having an original song out with that voice. So, the only reason I released ‘Asthma Attack’ was because I was just like, look, I’m starting testosterone. Here’s a little song that I wrote.”
Being trans is something that Noah recognizes is a huge part of who he is and his story, yet he never wanted it to be a focal point, “I didn’t want people to know me as a trans person. I didn’t want to be defined by that and I don’t think I am defined by that,” he explains. “With the rise in transphobia becoming so rampant, to a point where I’m just like, ‘this is fucking insane’. I think it’s important for there to be a trans person in this scene saying stuff about it, because I think a lot of people don’t really know the extent of what’s going on.”
Noah has also found himself becoming a role model for his young fan base while only being 24 himself, “there are kids that follow me that are 13/14. I didn’t really have a trans person doing the kind of stuff I do to look up to when I was their age. So, I’m becoming way more aware of that.” Speaking about experiences of meeting young fans he adds, “I’ve met trans kids in Texas, and they’ve told me about their experiences, and it was fucked up. So yeah, I think it’s important for a trans person to be in this scene. It just so happens that I am trans and I like this kind of music. I guess I fill that role.”
Not only is it just his debut coming up, Noah is heading out to America for his third headline tour in support of the album. “There’s a bunch of songs from a new album that I’m excited to play,” he says excitedly. “I haven’t played ‘Growing Up On The Internet’ in the US, I’ve not played “I Know Better” in the US. Just most of the new album, I think it was more in mind what songs would sound like live when I was writing them. So, there’s some really cool moments that I’m looking forward to.”
“Yeah, this is fucking crazy year,” he says when Download is mentioned which he plays following his US tour. “June was usually when exams were when I was in school, so I only ended up going to Download once in 2017, the fact that the second time I get to go to Download I’m going to be playing it is so cool. I also love how controversial the lineup is. I’m really excited for it.”
Growing Up On The Internet is out March 8th pre-order/pre-save HERE
Purchase tickets to upcoming shows HERE
