THE ENERGETIC TURBO CHARGED BRUMMIE GUITAR SLINGERS HAVE BEEN BLAZING THROUGH THE UK FESTIVAL CIRCUIT THIS SUMMER WITH THEIR NOISY BLEND OF SONIC YOUTH ON TOO MUCH SUNNY DELIGHT PUNK POP. Here Johnny Foreigner offer up their top student tips...
Is Birmingham a good place to be based? For a small touring band like us, it’s perfect. We’re rarely more than four nights away from home and it’s near enough to the centre of the world (London) to commute for music business stuff. For a student I dunno. You sure you shouldn’t have gone for Liverpool?
What did you study ay college / uni? Between us we’ve attended every Ndip Pop Music course in the city. We didn’t learn much but it certainly encouraged us to work even harder at what we were doing. We all forsook Uni in favour of band stuff which, in retrospect, was pretty unnecessary.
What’s the best Chippy / Balti / Kebab shop in Birmingham? I don’t know if we’re that qualified, we’ve been touring since January! However, Bombay Spice in town is open late and super friendly, but there are places in Sparkbrook that are better if you want to mission it. Salt’n’Pepper in Digbeth does the best chips but it’s a dangerous place after dark, and all kebab shops seem to be of varying quality. If you see a queue, it’s probably good.
How was student life for you? Learnt how to skin up and what drinks not to mix. College was fun the teachers/lecturers seemed as bored and flippant and drunk as the students. We mostly went to Snobs, each other’s shows or the nearest bit of grass near the college. What’s the best-kept secret in Birmingham? Rhiannon Jones’s band photography; the musical legacy of the Flapper and Firkin - The Starries and Distophia; the fact that we used to have the greatest scientific library in the world till some chavs burnt it down about 200 years ago; that there is a nuclear war proof bunker under the Rotunda. What advise would you give to new students just moving into the area? Always haggle your fare in taxis; choose Resurrection and Panic over Snobs and the Academy; find one of the parks near Selly Oak and go picnic in it; sort a dentist out NOW.
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What do you miss most about Birmingham when you are away? Our friends. Knowing where the nearest Subway/Tesco/Greggs is. Not having people take the piss out of the way you speak, and, when we’re burning ourselves in hot countries, the shitty grey weather and the smell of rain on the pavement. It’s a Friday night, you’re in the City Centre and gagging for a drink. Where will we find you and where’s best to avoid? Flapper and Firkin is nice and friendly, Sunflower Lounge and Island Bar are good when you can sit outside, but nothing beats sitting in Pigeon Park with your own booze in summer. Anywhere on Broad Street is good for chavfights, though its calmed down a bit recently. Moseley, the last real village community, is good as long as you have a high scenester tolerance.