Crowded House


Given that the songwriting of Neil Finn has always been the creative core of Crowded House, it can be fairly claimed that they qualify as a New Zealand band.

His Australian comrades in the key first incarnation of the band, Nick Seymour and Paul Hester, added a chemistry that certainly aided their cause. Driving the group to the top was the killer combination of Neil Finn's consistently gorgeous melodies and a group persona that stressed spontaneity, humour and a genuine charm matched by few.

March, 2021: the reconfigured Crowded House makes a pilgrimage to Auckland's west coast. From left: Liam Finn, Elroy Finn, Neil Finn, Mitchell Froom, and Nick Seymour.
Photo credit: Kerry Brown
Crowded House, 1994
Photo credit: Koji Kumada Collection
Crowded House - To the Island (2021)
Four Seasons in One Day
Footage of the Woodface recording sessions, a montage edited by Neil Finn, 2021
Crowded House, Kings Arms, Auckland, 12 July 2007.
Photo credit: Simon Grigg collection
Nick Seymour and Neil Finn
Not The Girl You Think You Are
2010 UK flyer
Photo credit: Koji Kumada Collection
Don't Dream It's Over (Live)
The debut self-titled album from Crowded House, produced by Mitchell Froom (Capitol, 1986).
House Proud - 60 Minutes interview with Neil Finn and Nick Seymour (2016)
Neil Finn, Crowded House, Kings Arms, Auckland, 12 July 2007.
Photo credit: Simon Grigg collection
Private Universe (Hammersmith Apollo 9th June 2010)
Temple of Low Men, the second album from Crowded House, produced by Mitchell Froom (Capitol, 1988).
Crowded House, 1992 - Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Paul Hester
Photo credit: Photo by Dennis Keeley
The Together Alone studio at Karekare, 1993
Crowded House, 2024: a promotional photo at the time of the release of Gravity Stairs. From left: Nick Seymour, Elroy Finn, Neil Finn, Mitchell Froom, Elroy Finn
Nick Seymour's cover art of Crowded House's 2024 album Gravity Stairs
Something So Strong
Don't Dream It's Over
Neil Finn and Nick Seymour, with strings arranged by Victoria Kelly - Oh Hi! (BBC2 Piano Room, 2024)
Crowded House 60 Minutes interview, June 2021
At Karekare, early 1993
Mark Hart, Neil Finn, Nick Seymour - 1996
Photo credit: Photo by Andy Earl
Outside at Karekare, 1993
Crowded House - Teenage Summer (2024)
Nick Seymour, Crowded House, Kings Arms, Auckland, 12 July 2007.
Photo credit: Simon Grigg collection
Neil Finn with Crowded House, Kings Arms, Auckland, 12 July 2007.
Photo credit: Simon Grigg collection
Neil Finn, Paul Hester, Nick Seymour playing at a showcase gig in a living room, Paratai Drive, Auckland, October 1986
Photo credit: Photo by Kerry Brown
Crowded House's Dreamers Are Waiting album featuring Liam and Elroy Finn, and Mitchell Froom as keyboardist (EMI, 2021). 
Neil Finn is named NZ Entertainer Of The Year in 1996. Behind him is the head of the NZ Entertainment Operators Association, Phil Warren. For one year, 1996, the NZEOA and RIANZ awards were merged.
Weather With You
Mark Hart, Matt Sherrod, Nick Seymour, Neil Finn
Crowded House - Playing With Fire (2021)
Mark Hart, Paul Hester, Nick Seymour, Neil Finn - September 1993
Paul Hester, Nick Seymour, Neil Finn - 1988
Homegrown Profiles: The Finns (2005)
Neil Finn 1998
Photo credit: Photo by Zoran Gold
Better Be Home Soon
Neil with his 2001 APRA Silver Scroll award
Wanna see my picture on the cover? Crowded House on the cover of the quarterly Australian/New Zealand Rolling Stone, June 2024. The band was last on the cover of the Australian edition in 1988.
'Fall At Your Feet', UK poster
Woodface, the third Crowded House album, produced by Mitchell Froom (Capitol, 1991)
'It's Only Natural' UK poster
Photo credit: Koji Kumada Collection
Members:

Neil Finn - guitar, vocals, piano

Tim Finn - vocals, piano

Paul Hester - drums

Nick Seymour - bass

Mark Hart - guitar, keyboards, vocals

Matt Sherrod

Trivia:

On their second appearance on The Tonight Show With Joan Rivers in April 1986, Crowded House serenaded fellow Antipodean guest Dame Edna Everage by singing 'Throw Your Arms Around Me' from the sofa.

Nick Seymour came with a strong musical pedigree. His older brother Mark was leader of Hunters & Collectors, a hard-hitting Australian rock band having an international impact. Prior to that, the brothers, two sisters and mother Paula comprised The Seymour Family Singers, a group that played Irish folk music around rural Victoria.

The expensive video clip for Chocolate Cake was filmed by Australian director John Hillcoat. He later gained notoriety by making such bleak hard-hitting films as Ghosts Of The Civil Dead, The Proposition and The Road. He has also directed videos for Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, and many more.

Labels:

Capitol Records


Universal


Parlophone

Funded by

Partners with