The venue was small, the stage barely separated from the crowd. Just a few feet away, people were screaming, packed tightly together as The Hot Rileys’ rock music filled the space. Under the dim lights sweat and sound blurred together, and for a moment, it didn’t just feel like a regular show anymore—it felt real.

For The Hot Rileys’ guitarist and singer in the OMEA All State Choir,  Finn Riordan, ‘26, that night’s performance was the moment everything clicked.

“[With the audience] being so close to us, [they could] practically see all the sweat going down [our] faces… it’s so surreal being on a stage like that, so that’s definitely my number one experience,” Finn said.

Way before screaming crowds, Finn’s connection for music started with a knock on each door in his neighborhood. Jake Riordan, Finn’s father, WHHS English teacher and local musician, remembers Finn’s early forays into live performances.

“I remember one memory when [Finn] was about five or six, and I was like, ‘Do you want to go Christmas caroling with me to the neighbors’ houses?’ and he said, ‘Yes,’ and we dressed up in these little Victorian era top hats and little vests, and we wore bow ties and walked to the neighbors and sang Christmas carols,” Jake Riordan said. “And he was so into that.”

Jake Riordan, a founding member of Jake Speed and the Freddies, introduced that early excitement of performing to his son. Growing up in a house with a musician got Finn interested in music and performance at a very young age.

“He got up there and sang it and then went back to his seat and told his mom that his stomach felt weird,” Jake Riordan said. “And she said, ‘I think that’s the first time you’ve ever felt nervous stage fright,’ you know, butterflies in the stomach… it kind of overwhelmed him. But now, if you saw him perform, you wouldn’t think he’d ever had stage fright.”

Despite his initial stage fright, Finn first joined his grade school’s choir willingly. While in this choir class, Finn felt out-of-place but quickly found a friend in Stephen Chen, ‘26.

“When I was in elementary school, it was all these girls in a choir class with me, so I was like, ‘Dude, I can’t do this,’” Finn said. “Then he joined and I was like, ‘Yes! I have a male friend in the choir.’ So it was super fun because then we’ve just seen each other through this whole time.”

Having known Finn since kindergarten, Chen has watched his personality evolve while remaining just as memorable. Their long history gives Chen a unique perspective on both his growth and his character.

“He was just a crazy kid, [but] I immediately became friends with him and he’s an amazing person,” Chen said. “He’s a very fun and goofy person; we joke in class every day.”

Chen is just one example of the many friends Finn has made through choir, where he has found a close group of people who share his interests and make the experience more meaningful.

“There’s a bunch of cool people who I wouldn’t have met otherwise if I didn’t do choir,” Riordan said. “They just made it [into] a lot of fun… It feels like when I go into choir class, I’m already happy because I just see all my friends.”

However, Riordan’s experience in choir didn’t just stay in the classroom. Those same friendships often carried over into things outside of school.

“They would go to these gatherings for cross country, like get-togethers at people’s houses, and there would always be a piano there,” Jake Riordan said. “Aiden [Ward] would start playing “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis, and then Finn would start singing and they had just the best time. People would circle around the piano, and then those two sort of said, ‘What if we made a band together?’”

Those moments eventually pushed Finn, Aiden Ward, ‘25, Clark Sayre, ‘26, and Jonathan Rubin, ‘26, to start their own band together, The Hot Rileys, building off those informal jam sessions and turning them into something more structured and intentional.

“The first time we played with our band, I had never heard him play guitar before; I’d [only] heard him talk about it,” Sayre said. “ I had played with other people before, in other groups, and it was [always] hard to get started because we didn’t know each other musically yet, but when [Finn] started playing and I started playing, it kind of just locked in immediately… [it was] really, really cool.”

As a co-founder of the band, Finn had many tasks fall onto his shoulders, including songwriting. Throughout the years, Jake Riordan has given Finn advice on song production and lyrics because of his vast experience.

“One time he wrote a Christmas song, and there was a line where he was somehow kissing Mrs. Claus, and I thought it was kind of dumb and cheesy, but he decided it was too funny to take out,” Jake Riordan said. “So he doesn’t always listen to my advice, but I think our bonding has come through just discussing music and songwriting.”

That kind of lighthearted approach to music and feedback also reflects Finn’s overall personality, since he tends to stay relaxed and not let small problems affect him too much. This attitude is part of why his friends say he’s easy to be around and good at keeping situations from becoming stressful.

Finn has also developed into a role model for younger choir students. This year, Finn retook eighth grade choir to act as the middle man between the conductors and students, giving back to the community that supported him.

“[It’s] kind of a big deal for him because it showed that he really wanted to give back to the program that gave him all this confidence,” Jake Riordan said. “He’s been very passionate about that. He goes to their concerts; he feels a sense of connectedness to those kids.”

That special bond with the  music program also reflects how Finn approaches his own interests in a broader way, often staying curious about different fields and what he might pursue in the future.

“I always liked science when I was in elementary school,” Finn said. “I loved planes and I love cars, things that move… ‘Cars’ was my favorite movie. And so when I started taking science classes [like] physics and engineering, [and] started doing good in them, I was like, ‘We can make this a major, we can do this.’”

That interest in science and engineering has gradually shaped Finn’s next steps in his career, but hasn’t hindered the strong connections he’s built with the people around him along the way.

“I love Finn; he’s my bro,” Sayre said. “He’s going to UC for engineering, but I’m excited to see where his music goes.”

This story was originally published on The Chatterbox on May 4, 2026.