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Eve Parker Finley Throws An Underground Disco on “Fall Into Me”

Filmed in the historic Brockton tunnel and featuring some hilarious skits, the multifaceted artist’s latest video finds her tapping into her inner Bad Girl Queen. 

by Ben Boddez

Photo by Stacy Lee

If you’re looking to get in touch with the inner workings of your mind – and the different versions of yourself within, possibly wearing elaborate and post-apocalyptic costumes – an underground tunnel turns out to be a great place for soul-searching. Filmed in the Brockville Railway Tunnel, a historic and now-defunct train track residing underneath the downtown core of the Ontario city of the same name, the comedian, TikTok star and indie-pop multi-instrumentalist Eve Parker Finley’s latest video, “Fall into Me,” finds her unlocking her inner Bad Girl Queen – a personification of the rebellious part of her personality discussed extensively in therapy sessions.

Directed by Finley’s close friend Brittney Canda, who also lends her choreography skills to the video’s impressive dance routines, the song itself previews Finley’s upcoming album In The End and represents a new sonic direction for her. Following the same chaotic and creative whims that the song’s lyrical content gestures at, she combines her usual penchant for string arrangements with a dark disco backdrop. Also featuring Finley starring as two other characters – Go Getter Girl, another version of herself, and a therapist – the track finds her speaking about refusing to follow the rules held up by the oppressive systems of our society. 

What was it like being on set?

First of all, it’s always raining in the Brockville tunnel. Always. It’s wet. And incredible. 

This shoot was an absolute blast and also one of the most physically demanding things I’ve ever done. The Brockville tunnel is open to the public during the non-snow months from 9am-9pm. Which means we had to shoot overnight from 9pm-9am. I gotta say, there’s nothing like the delirium of filming close ups and dancing at 7:30 in the morning, and my years as a DIY raver circa 2013-2016 prepared me so well for this moment. 

 Brittney woke up on the morning of the night shoot and said to me, “Time to go to Home Depot and build a moving platform.” After a few moments of gender euphoria amongst the chains and bolts, Brittney’s dreams of a moving platform for the therapist scene in the tunnel and chains on the Bad Girl Queen boots were realized. 

 The subject matter is serious, but the video is still a lot of fun – how do you go about interspersing some of your comedy background into your music?

Honestly, this question of how, if at all, my comedy and musical practice can intertwine is something I’m constantly thinking about these days. Music for me has always had a very sacred emotional role in my life. Comedy, on the other hand, over the last few years has emerged as this place for me to let loose and just not take things so seriously. It really hasn’t been until this video that I’ve truly found a way to include both art practices together without taking away from either. 

 

Eve Parker Finley – “Fall Into Me” Single Art

 

Can you explain the three different personae you play in the video? How do they all relate to parts of you and what is the meaning of “your inner Bad Girl” to you?

I’ve been in therapy for over five years with the same therapist. One of the schools of psychotherapy we explore together is Internal Family Systems, which is basically where we personify these different internal dialogues to better understand the inner workings of my stress responses and anxieties. Bad Girl Queen represents my inner rebel born largely from a response to a transphobic world; and Go Getter Girl (aka “Eve” in the video), the anxious and ambitious former student council president-type. The third character is *a* (not *my*) therapist.

While Bad Girl is a huge source of power and strength for me, she also frightens me and tends toward vices in ways that are not always helpful. However, as we explore in the video, all these different parts of myself need to learn from each other. It’s a journey, but I’m constantly trying to embrace Bad Girl and I think we all should with our own Bad Girl sides. 

The track seems to tackle the problems with and the tiredness of social norms – how do you want your art to exist outside of these boundaries?

When I was a confused, rebellious, genderqueer weirdo circa early-mid 2010s, I would use clothes as armour. I wanted to make people uncomfortable and, as I wrote in a song from an early former solo project of mine, “give them something to look at.” It was in this moment that the Bad Girl in me was born. Even though the wardrobe has changed, Bad Girl’s encouragement to live life fully and rebelliously remains. 

I do and don’t want my art to exist beyond boundaries. As a trans artist, sometimes it can feel like no matter what I do, I’m always “breaking boundaries” in some way. But if Bad Girl’s taught me anything, it’s to embrace the power of my chaotic creativity and share that fully without reservations. How my art gets understood within a system is, for the most part, out of my hands. And that’s an approach I find great peace in, when I can remember to believe it. 

 What can we expect from your upcoming album, In The End?

This album is truly a journey and fully exemplifies the kind of chaotic creative energy I’m trying to let flow through my artistic practices. There’s dancy pop tracks, there’s moody introspective ballads, there’s a thick noise/ambient meditation based on nature samples from our time at the Phi Nord residency, there’s contemporary classical interludes, there’s orchestral ethereal bangers; there’s something for everyone! 

 The whole album is based around this idea that I’ve been meditating on since the spring of 2020. In the early days of the pandemic, I think one of the big collective traumas we experienced was this loss of our concept of the future. I realized that my experience with transitioning taught me how to meet anxiety about the future, my future, with creative hope. And that’s the energy I think this album represents.

By Ben Boddez

The Grammy-winning producer on crafting cinematic soundscapes, learning from his sister Billie Eilish, and staying true to himself on new LP, For Cryin' Out Loud!