FINGER ELEVEN Members Discuss Escape Rooms, Gaming, Hockey And Collecting Unusual Keepsakes

The Canadian hard rock band FINGER ELEVEN recently went on Side Jams With Bryan Reesman to talk about the activities that bond them as a group, including escape rooms, gaming, hockey, and collecting unusual keepsakes.

"We work well in an escape room," said singer Scott Anderson. "We've done over 50 on the road. They're great. I think if you're not with the right mix, escape rooms can be a slog. But if you've got a group of people that see things the same way, but just a little different, then you can get through this really cool puzzle and it's very satisfying."

"It seems to activate the hive mind of the band, the same sort of thing we sort of tap into to play shows," added guitarist Rick Jackett. "Everybody knows there's a role to play. We all take over and we all separate, but we're all working on the same goal." He added, "Escape rooms are just basically a bunch of puzzles, right? I love that kind of stuff. So to do it in real life, the tactical part of it's awesome. I remember one [where] we had to disarm a bomb, and the siren was going off and we had to crawl through these little tunnels and snip wires and stuff. Where else do you do that?"

In another escape room, they had to play airplane passengers flying to Vegas who, due to certain circumstances, became the pilots. The solution to this escape room was unusual. "We had to dance the Macarena," said Jackett. "But there was no sign that we had to do that. So all of a sudden, we're just in the cabin and we're dancing the Macarena to no music. Then, boom, everything comes on and the lights come on. It was the solution, but at the time the suggestion to do it would just seem like a crazy idea, just dance the Macarena."

The members of FINGER ELEVEN have also collected some interesting things over the years, including a howitzer shell turned into a beer stein after they played for a tank regiment. "They put a spigot on it, and then they presented it to us like a nice big trophy," said Anderson. "We were going to pass it around like the Stanley Cup every couple months. You know, Rick gets it, then Sean gets it... And I've hoarded it for years now, so I was hoping they forgot about it. Cat's out of the bag now."

Jackett held on to the band's invitation to Courtney Love's birthday party on a cheese tray and a business card from Billy Gibbons acquired during an interview with the ZZ TOP rocker that simply said, "Friend Of Eric Clapton".

The most unusual item is what Jackett called a "Regis Philbin dick pic" obtained when the group played on "Live With Regis And Kathie Lee" many years ago. "It was part of a prop that he did in the opening monologue of the show," recalled Jackett. "[Regis] signed it to the FINGER ELEVEN guys. He was drawing a map of taking his kids to school, but it ended up looking like a dick. So they just joked, Oh, that's too rude, and they threw the card away. I asked the guy [that worked there], Hey, can I have that card? I guess he asked, it came back signed, and I just kept it over the years. Those kinds of mementos I gotta keep. You just get in these weird places through music, and you just find yourself in these situations that as a civilian you're not gonna get to go there. So when you get a memento from it, I'll usually try and keep it."

FINGER ELEVEN's first new studio album in a decade, "Last Night On Earth", is due out November 7 via Better Noise Music.

Originally from Burlington, Ontario and now based mostly out of Toronto, FINGER ELEVEN has released a series of consecutive hit albums and become among the greatest live bands to ever emerge from the great White North. Their self-titled debut album broke the band into the international mainstream, achieving gold status in the United States and platinum in Canada, and smashing the first single "One Thing" across the radio and Billboard charts. Their 2007 album "Them Vs. You Vs. Me" launched the single "Paralyzer", setting radio records in the U.S., peaking at No. 1 internationally and going five times platinum, the band's second million-plus seller. They won the Juno Award for "Rock Album" the following year and set an incredible run at rock radio, with an unbeaten 14 weeks at the top spot. "Life Turns Electric" was nominated for a Juno Award for "Best Rock Album Of The Year". 2015's "Five Crooked Lines" continued to electrify audiences the world over and their 2023 "Greatest Hits" includes their biggest smash hit in a decade, "Together Right", which topped the radio charts for an amazing five-week run at No. 1.

After rocking a busy festival season this summer, FINGER ELEVEN will hit the U.S. with ALIEN ANT FARM and BRKN LOVE or a flurry of concerts leading up to the new album's release. This will be followed by their biggest Canadian tour ever, with fellow native sons HEADSTONES and TEA PARTY joining them. Tickets are available now on the band's official web site.

Photo credit: Myles Erfurth