Photo by Dustin Rabin

Canadian alt-rockers Finger Eleven have attracted a variety of fans over the years by approaching their base sound from a different angle with every release. From their funk-heavy early material, to their mildly metallic middle period, and the tight and catchy hard rock that would see them fly up the charts. Their latest album is 2015’s Five Crooked Lines, and it thankfully brings back some of the sonic rawness of their early albums following a couple of more slickly-produced affairs.

I recently met up with guitarist Rick Jackett before a jammed and sweaty set at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre to speak about how all their different styles actually come from the same place, the dangers of getting too comfortable in the studio, and the lasting effects of having an international chart topper.