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Ready, Steady go for six

The Hold Steady. Picture: Supplied

The Hold Steady originally got together on Tuesday nights to jam, the same way others might play social sport or take a night class.

But 10 years after forming in Brooklyn around singer Craig Finn and guitarist Tad Kubler - both alumni of Minneapolis alt-rockers Lifter Puller - plus NYC bartender-turned-bassist Galen Polivka, the band of buddies are going strong.

Last month they unveiled sixth studio album, Teeth Dreams, in the US with an Aussie release next month.

"A lot of my favourite bands didn't get to six records," says Finn, who looks less like a rock singer than a website designer, mainly because that's the day job he quit years ago to focus on music.

Chatting from his Brooklyn home on the eve of an epic North American tour, the 42-year-old expresses amazement at how his life has changed. "I had barely left the country when we started this band and now, literally, I've been around the world".

The Hold Steady's weight can be measured in albums, particularly career-best offerings such as 2005's Separation Sunday and 2008's Stay Positive. Finn says it's near impossible these days to devise a set list that will satisfy all fans.

Speaking of fans, this is a band that inspired serious devotion, so much so that the Unified Scene fan club sprang up without the group's involvement.

The Hold Steady recently made the fan club official, after the death of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, concert promoter "Jersey" Mike Van Jura "the guy who was in the centre . . . the leader of the whole thing", according to Finn. The quintet played a gig in Van Jura's home town and released a covers EP to raise money for his family.

The singer says that taking over the Unified Scene has allowed them "to figure out where everyone is and who they are and how to reach them . . . It's cool to build our own Kiss Army, if you will, a real robust fan club".

Like the covers EP, Teeth Dreams is released on the band's new label, Positive Jams, which isn't the only fresh development for the Hold Steady.

The sixth album is the first to feature Memphis guitarist Steve Selvidge, who joined the touring line-up for previous album, 2010's Heaven is Whenever.

Finn jokes Selvidge had to join the band after it was discovered he has the same birthday as Kubler - June 29, 1973.

Teeth Dreams really showcases "the push and pull" between the two guitarists. "It kind of references a lot of stuff that we love, the obvious being Thin Lizzy - great two-guitar rock'n'roll," Finn says.

The only downside to Selvidge joining the Hold Steady was the "geographic hurdle" of him living in Memphis and the band being based in Brooklyn, which initially made the writing process seem overly "formal".

"We'd fly him up and say 'Right now, let's write'. It felt a little forced but we got through that," Finn explains.

The band headed down south to Tennessee again to work with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Evanescence) at his Rock Falcon studio in Nashville.

The Hold Steady guys decided to work with the Grammy award-winner after seeing him get teary-eyed in Dave Grohl's film Sound City.

"He's pure enthusiasm," Finn says recalling their first rehearsal together in Brooklyn. "We start playing a song and he's jumping around the room. He's jumping in front of our drummer (Bobby Drake) yelling at him to go to the right cymbal. By the end of the song, it was like 'This guy is producing the record'. He passed his audition."

Teeth Dreams was the first Hold Steady album recorded outside of New York.

"I think the out-of-town thing was brilliant," Finn says. "In fact, I never want to record in New York again.

"It's a focus thing. People have kids and all that. It becomes harder to put in a 12 or 14-hour day at the studio. It was cool to get away and we were kind of in the middle of nowhere, outside of Nashville."

The album follows Finn's solo debut of 2012, Clear Heart, Full Eyes.

"It was a quiet record and I really love touring it and I really loved making it," he says.

"I had gotten a little bit tired of being in this big, loud rock band and being the singer. You know, yelling at the top of my lungs every night and coming off the stage with a sore throat.

"But at the same time, when you play quiet music, people tend to react quietly. Even if they love it, they don't throw beer up in the air.

"After 10 years in the Hold Steady," Finn chuckles, "I think I need a little beer up in the air for validation."

'A lot of my favourite bands didn't get to six records . . . I had barely left the country when we started this band and now, literally, I've been around the world.'