Singer/songwriter keyboardist/guitarist Tim Finn was born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand. Influenced by not only British Invasion acts like the Beatles, the Move, and the Kinks, but also his Catholic upbringing and the communal sing-alongs of the native Maori people, Finn founded the '70s art-rock turned new wave band Split Enz, leading the band through several albums to moderate international success. The success of the between-albums solo project, Escapade, led to his leaving the band in 1983. He followed with the more ambitious second album, Big Canoe (1985) which went virtually ignored (it was unreleased in the U.S.