
FINNEAS and Ashe Talk Confidence and Collaboration in the Music Industry Days before his sister Billie Eilishs new album announcement, producer and songwriter FINNEAS joined singer-songwriter Ashe BM '15 onstage for Berklees Career Jam keynote panel.
By
Andrea Recalde
April 16, 2024
Left to right: Songwriting Department Assistant Chair Jonathan Perkins, FINNEAS, Ashe BM 15, and Paul Wachter shared the Berklee Performance Center stage during this years Career Jam keynote panel discussion.
Image by Kelly Davidson
Fresh off an Oscar win for Best Original Song with his sister, Billie Eilish, and days before the announcement of Eilish's new album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, songwriter and producer FINNEAS took the stage at this year's Career Jam, Berklee's annual career festival, for a conversation with two long-time collaborators. Joining him onstage were singer-songwriter Ashe BM '15, whose breakout hit Moral of the Story (coproduced by FINNEAS) was featured prominently in the Netflix film To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You; and businessman Paul Wachter, founder and CEO of Main Street Advisors, who helped make the crucial connection that brought FINNEAS and Billie Eilish into the Barbie soundtrack, which led to this year's Academy Award.
Listen to Moral of the Story by Ashe, cowritten and coproduced by FINNEAS.
Each panelist readily acknowledged their Berklee connections and affections. Ashe spoke consistently to the crowd about her Berklee experience ( CWP, anybody? Yeah! You can't say that anywhere but here, she joked at one point), and she explained how her classes in big band and orchestra writing influenced her approach to songwriting. FINNEAS recalled learning music techniques in high school from watching videos on Berklee's YouTube channel. And Wachter, a member of Berklee's Board of Trustees and founder of the school's Wachter Fellowship program, talked about the uncommon energy and sense of community he finds whenever he comes to campus.
In a conversation moderated by Jonathan Perkins, assistant chair of the Songwriting Department, the panelists discussed the value of confidence and authenticity, the crucial role of collaboration in music-making and business, and the realities of life in the music industry. FINNEAS also offered insight into his approach to producing the new Billie Eilish album alongside his sister.
Collaboration in Art and Business
Left to right: Paul Wachter, FINNEAS, and Ashe at Career Jam 2024
Image by Kelly Davidson
Collaboration was this year's Career Jam theme, and it especially shined through in the panel's conversation. FINNEAS discussed how the collaborative dynamic with his sister Billie has evolved over the years. He noted that when they made her first album (When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?), he sat in a chair at his computer and she sat on his bed with a microphone; then on the second album (Happier than Ever), she sat on a couch and he was at the desk; and finally, working on her upcoming third album, Hit Me Hard and Soft, their collaboration was more like the two of us at the desk, like copilots on an airplane.
I made a point to teach her over the last two records how to do all her vocal engineering, he said, describing his sister's extremely meticulous process of selecting the perfect vocal takes for her songs. She is an incredible vocalist, and I am but a puppet if Im comping with her.
FINNEAS went on to talk about his role as a producer and a songwriter in other scenarios, saying, I try to fill the empty space, you know? Sometimes, you get in the room with an artist, and they fill like 99 percent of it. And thats awesome. . . . And sometimes you get in the room and somebody, even if theyre incredibly talented and they can sit and write songs on their own, and that day theyre just like, I want a lot of help.' Thats the other thing. Its different day to day.
Ashe was able to speak about her own years of producing and cowriting music with FINNEAS. Weve done a lot together, she said, and then turned to speak to him directly about one specific instance: I was working on my first album [Ashlyn], and I wrote the bones of Till Forever Falls Apart' . . . I texted you and asked just to ask you if you wanted to be a part of it, and you rewrote the second verse, which she said, self-deprecatingly, became the best lyrics of the song. The song became the album's opening track, and we got to do all this amazing promo together [for the song]. You just hang with your buddy. It was so good. From a professional standpoint, collaboration is essential to everyone in this industry, but as the panelists showed, it can also be an excellent opportunity to meet people and spend time with friends.
Watch the music video for Till Forever Falls Apart by Ashe and FINNEAS:
Of course, collaboration takes many different forms throughout the industry. Wachter, whose professional network includes numerous Hollywood creatives, described hearing about the Barbie movie soundtrack as it was coming together, and realizing that Billie Eilish and FINNEAS would be a perfect fit. It seemed to me that they were missing a song like that [What Was I Made For]. They needed . . . a serious, great song. They had a lot of dance numbers. Im not a musician like they are, but I know enough to say, Okay, I know who this is perfect for.' And that is collaboration, he said. Im not writing a song, but Im at least out there in the world thinking about the people I work with and what opportunity that Im hearing about or that Im seeing is right for a certain person.
If youre songwriters, or performers, or producers, or business people, whatever you are, youre going to meet people who are potential collaborators and partners for you, said Wachter about the importance of choosing the right p
Most recent headlines
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
18/04/2025
WASHINGTON The FCC's call for public comments and suggestions on outdated regulations that it should be eliminated, has prompted a slew of fillings from bro...
18/04/2025
In a ruling that could have a major impact on the digital advertising market, a federal judge has ruled that Google has monopolized some types of advertising te...
18/04/2025
PEARL RIVER, N.Y. Global media solutions company Active Media Services (AMS) has formed a new relationship with VideoAmp, a measurement company for linear, CTV ...
18/04/2025
Netflix reported generally positive results for Q1 2015 with revenue up 13% YoY to $10.543 billion and operating income growing by 27% to $3.347 billion. Both w...
17/04/2025
Emilie Blichfeldt attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of The Ugly ...
17/04/2025
R-GPS gives warfighters a decisive battlefield advantage by punching through adv...
17/04/2025
This year's NAB Show in Las Vegas marked a noticeable shift in the priorities of media and broadcast organisations. Gone are the days of chasing flashy, or ...
17/04/2025
class=attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail f-align-center alt= decoding=async data-lazy-srcset=https://www.antonbauer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Amy-Daniel-1...
17/04/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Roku and Adobe have announced that they are collaborating on a real time data platform made possible by a a new integration of the Roku Data C...
17/04/2025
NEW YORK Internet advertising revenues demonstrated strong growth in 2024, increasing 14.9% year-over-year to $258.6 billion, according to the IAB Internet Adv...
17/04/2025
SDVI Earns Both Product and Project of the Year Awards at 2025 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 17, 2025
0 Comments
Left to right, Geoff Stedman, CMO, SDVI...
17/04/2025
Singapore Polytechnic Readies Aspiring AV Professionals for Live IP Productions ...
17/04/2025
Calrec Wins 2025 NAB Show Product of the Year Award for True Control 2.0
Brie Clayton April 17, 2025
0 Comments
Image: The Calrec True Control 2.o on ...
17/04/2025
In Return to Berklee, Lucius Looks Back and Moves Forward From mood boards to live demos, the alumni band gave students an exclusive look at the process behin...
17/04/2025
DirecTV's free streaming service MyFree DirecTV has just added another eight channels from NBCUniversal....
17/04/2025
LOS ANGELES The virtual production company GameChanger has announced that it is expanding its global footprint by bringing its virtual production technology to ...
17/04/2025
DENVER The International Broadcaster Coalition Against Piracy (IBCAP) has announced that it has developed a proprietary, automated software-based system to iden...
17/04/2025
Pixalate's new CTV Device Market Share report for Q1 2025 shows that Roku has the highest open programmatic CTV device market share in the United States, wi...
17/04/2025
Edward J. Lewis III Named Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement Lewis has more than 20 years of industry experience, leading fundraising initiati...
17/04/2025
April 17th, 2025 Press Materials Available Here
Tribeca Festival 2025 Announces TV & NOW Lineup
World Premieres and Exclusive Cast Panels with Apple TV '...
17/04/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Cisco's Bryan Bedford on Providing End-to-End Support for Clie...
17/04/2025
FIFA's Oscar Sanchez on the Task of Producing a North American World Cup The head of host broadcast production spoke during SVG Europe's Football Summit...
17/04/2025
NBA Playoffs 2025: As Play-In Tourney Continues, TNT Sports Preps Escalated Game...
17/04/2025
NBA Playoffs 2025: ESPN's Postseason Run Highlighted by New Cameras, Player ...
17/04/2025
Back to All News
Dear Hongrang' Blends Mystery and Romance in New Period D...
17/04/2025
Back to All News
The Making of Frozen Hot Boys': Real Training, Real Sculp...
17/04/2025
Back to All News
A Charming Prince, A Feisty Commoner and One Unexpected Love S...
17/04/2025
Back to All News
Made in New Mexico: A Look Behind the Scenes at Our New Drama ...
17/04/2025
Big shout out for our Managing Director Simon Couchman who is running his 50th and final marathon ahead of his 50th birthday in fancy dress!
Simon hopes to ach...
17/04/2025
The broadcast industry is on the brink of a transformative revolution, and at th...
17/04/2025
Festival programme promises a feast of drama, an action-packed fringe festival a...
17/04/2025
Gold prospecting in Venezuela has led to a malaria resurgence, but researchers h...
17/04/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Thursday, 17 April 2025 - The next step has now been taken in the Franco-German armaments project Main Ground Combat System (MGC...
17/04/2025
RT 's Ireland's Wild Islands wins Best Series at the 2025 International ...
17/04/2025
As the days grow longer and the flowers bloom, GFN Thursday brings a fresh lineup of games to brighten the week.
Dive into thrilling hunts and dark fantasy adv...
17/04/2025
A better way to predict a patient's risk of coronary artery disease Scripps Research scientists developed a model that more accurately identifies patients a...
16/04/2025
At a time when Sudanese women journalists face unprecedented challenges, She Speaks Sudan has provided a critical platform for training, mentorship, and collabo...
16/04/2025
It's an understatement to say that the Peabody Awards are major. The winners...
16/04/2025
Finalists announced! Five stand-out brands shortlisted for SBS Media's Susta...
16/04/2025
L3Harris completed a $125 million expansion at its space manufacturing site in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The expanded 95,000-square-foot facility will support the De...
16/04/2025
Calrec is today announcing that its True Control 2.0 is a Remote Production winner in the 2025 NAB Show Product of the Year Awards. This official awards program...
16/04/2025
SAN DIEGO Sony Electronics has commercialized its AS-DT1 LiDAR depth sensor, a 1.14-inch wide by 1.14-inch high by 1.22-inch deep unit, excluding protrusions, t...
16/04/2025
NEW YORK A new report from Nielsen's The Gauge shows the NCAA men's basketball tournament helped drive cable's traditional March increase, the Oscar...
16/04/2025
Arcade Expands Creative Roster with Editor Alex Pirrone
Brie Clayton April 16, 2025
0 Comments
Arcade is thrilled to welcome Editor Alex Pirrone to it...
16/04/2025
Triveni Digital, a trusted leader in ATSC 1.0 and 3.0 service delivery, data broadcasting, and quality assurance solutions, along with key partners Sinclair and...
16/04/2025
When international cinematographer Jamie Ramsay was brought on to lens independent feature film Goodrich, he faced a unique lighting challenge. Shot on location...
16/04/2025
Riedel Communications announced today that Scotiabank Arena has implemented Riedel MediorNet decentralized routing as part of the venue's reimagination, wit...
16/04/2025
Riedel Communications today announced that the University of Notre Dame has successfully implemented Riedel's RefBox solution, part of the company's Sim...
16/04/2025
Riedel Communications today announced that outside broadcast (OB) production company Game Creek Video has chosen Riedel's advanced solutions for its newest ...