If you could assign a sound to sloppy, starry midnights in the big city with all your best friends (omitting all the cheesy bar-rock and the club bangers), it would probably sound something a little like Birmingham-based Johnny Foreigner. What that actually means, however, is a bit difficult to pin down.
“I always liked the term that [Glasgow band] dananananaykroyd coined, ‘fight-pop,’” wrote bassist and vocalist Kelly Southern in an email. “We’re just a scuzzy indie shouty fight-pop band. I don’t know!
Johnny Foreigner are making their Madison debut Friday, Nov. 16 at the Sett, part of their extensive and much-overdue return to the states. “We’ve heard super good things about [Madison)! We’re really excited about the show,” wrote Southern.
To fund their trip (their last U.S. tour, as enchanting as it was, ended up being a financial loss for the band) the group auctioned off a plethora of memorabilia and paraphernalia, from autographed material to original copies of their stellar album art.
“We were super grateful that people cared enough to want to get involved and bid,” wrote Southern. “The response was heart-warming. It was bittersweet letting go of a part of our history but nice knowing the artwork was going to people who would appreciate it. It was something we had to do; I think [singer and guitarist] Alexei [Berrow] put it as, we were letting go of old memories in order to create new ones. That’s apt.”
In celebration of their home-away-from-homecoming the boys plus girl have recorded and released a new EP, succinctly titled NAMES, released through their website with accompanying swag in the form of a T-shirt or badges.
“I wanted a name-related title ‘cause there’s a lot of name checking in the songs, which is kinda something I’ve mostly always stayed away from before,” wrote Berrow. “We used a bit of magic making the record and it all tied nicely together. It’s called NAMES in capitals, cos names are important.”
“NAMES is my favourite ‘cause adding an extra guitar is so much fun,” he added. “I think we’ve found the secret Weezer chords.”
The band (originally composed of Berrow, Southern and drummer Junior Elvis Washington Laidley) recently expanded to a four-piece, adding both guitarist Lewis Herrot and a deliberate sense of chest-thumpery to their recorded music and live shows. NAMES benefits heavily from it, augmenting their already distinctly chaotic cocktail with boisterous interweaving guitars.
“We always knew it would be easier to replicate the songs on record better by getting a second guitarist,” she said. “Herrot was the obvious choice; he had been as much a part of the band as the rest of us having done our art pretty much since the start. The songs sound BIG now, which is the way we intended them to sound.”
The band’s most recent full-length, the meteoric Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything, should still be fresh in everyone’s mind as one of the defining albums of last year, whether everyone knows it or not. Despite struggles with financing and recording, the band is reaping happy results from the release.
“We’re totally happy with how everything went,” wrote Southern. “From a financial side everyone recouped and our average guarantee has gone up, and from an artistic point of view, we made a double album that sounds exactly like we wanted to.”
It’s not all fancy drinks and red carpets yet, though: “Drake still hasn’t called.”
Someday, guys, someday.
When asked about their future plans, Southern’s response was nihilistically optimistic.
“I think our plan is to come back and stay [in the United States] foooreeeever. Do another record at some point, tour some more. HAVE LOTS OF FUN!”
Personally, I hope every word of it ends up being true.
