Finn Keane Talks Retiring EasyFun Name After Legal Issues, His New Compilation Album and Working With Ariana Grande on Charli XCX’s ‘Brat’ Remix: ‘It’s Unreal’
variety.comEllise Shafer Finn Keane is holding a funeral for himself — or for his pseudonym, anyway. On Halloween during his label PC Music’s Pop Crypt event in London, Keane bid farewell to the EasyFun moniker he’s been releasing electronic music under for over a decade by playing a back-to-back DJ set with himself.
He’ll now be going by his birth name, which has already gained recognition through his work as a producer and songwriter, most recently on Charli XCX‘s mega-hit album “Brat.” Over tea a few days before the event, Keane tells Variety that though he’d been “toying with the idea” of ditching EasyFun for a while, the change was also spurred on by a legal battle with EasyGroup, the owner of airline EasyJet.
Late last year, an official claim was filed accusing Keane of trademark infringement and brand appropriation. The company alleged Keane had copied their logo, using the same orange color and font, and took particular issue with the artwork for his 2015 EP “Deep Trouble,” which depicted an “EasyFun” plane in the ocean that EasyGroup said looked like the aftermath of a crash. “It all felt very fun and light and no harm was intended.
That was kind of the spirit of it, playing with branding and pop culture and regurgitating it in a funny way,” Keane says of the “Deep Trouble” artwork, adding with a laugh: “In hindsight, maybe I didn’t need this heat.
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