1972–1984: Split Enz In 1971 Finn commenced a
Bachelor of Arts degree at the
University of Auckland. There he played in music practice room 129 (later the name of a
Split Enz song) with friends and future Split Enz bandmembers
Mike Chunn, Robert Gillies,
Philip Judd and
Noel Crombie. Music soon became more important to him than his studies. In 1972 he quit university. A few months later, Phil and Tim formed the group
Split Ends, renamed
Split Enz in 1975, shortly before they left New Zealand for Melbourne. Between 1975 and 1984, the group released nine studio albums. Split Enz played its last show on 4 December 1984 in Auckland.
1981–present: Solo work Finn had his first success away from Split Enz in 1981 when his discarded demo "They Won't Let My Girlfriend Talk to Me" became a top 10 hit for Australian band
Jimmy and the Boys. In 1983, Finn recorded his debut
solo album,
Escapade, while still a member of Split Enz. to premiere in Brisbane by
Queensland Theatre Company in November 2015. As England and New Zealand went into
COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, Finn and
Phil Manzanera began working collaboratively on an album
Caught by the Heart. The album was released on 26 August 2021. The album is produced by the two of them, with Manzanera doing the lead instrumental and Finn doing the vocals.
1995–2005 : Finn Brothers as the Finn Brothers. . In 1989, Finn began playing music with younger brother Neil, for an intended Finn brothers record. After working together on some songs, Neil later proposed incorporating the tracks onto the latest album of
Crowded House, the group Neil had formed after Split Enz dissolved. The Finn Brothers resumed their collaborative work and released
Finn in 1995. A second and final album was released in 2004 titled,
Everyone Is Here. A
Mojo magazine review stated that it contained "some of the most haunting music to bear the Finn imprint".
2020–present: Forenzics, Ihitea Aveia In 2020 Finn co-created
Forenzics with former Split Enz keyboardist
Eddie Rayner. Forenzics is an experimental project with the debut album
Shades and Echoes (2022) as a transformation of the songs of
Mental Notes. Alongside Finn and Rayner are
Noel Crombie and
Phil Judd, who were in Split Enz during the recording of the original album - and also
Phil Manzanera who was involved in the redevelopment of
Mental Notes into
Second Thoughts. Initial singles "Chances Are" and "Premiere Fois" were officially released in November 2021, however "Walking", "Strange Stars" and "Abandoned" were all released before on YouTube (from early 2020 until early 2021). In 2021, he collaborated with Tahitian novelist
Célestine Hitiura Vaite and Tom Mcleod for an opera based on the life of
Tupaia titled
Ihitea Aveia for
New Zealand Opera. In 2022, Tim Finn involved himself in the
Waiata / Anthems project producing a
Māori language cover of the track "
Six Months in a Leaky Boat" (as "Ono Marama Takerehāia"). ==Personal life==