Jody Porter

Career Early career As a teenager, Porter fronted the band Foreign Aid, playing in nightclubs in Charleston. He also played in several local bands including a short-lived cover band called The Sound Committee, and The Waltons, performing original music. He later joined The Fields in 1989.

The Belltower Known for his impressive virtuoso abilities and British guitar pop playing style, Porter first garnered attention fronting and writing the songs for London-based band The Belltower in the early 1990s, along with Britta Phillips. their singles didn't chart and their major label debut Popdropper sold marginally. The band came back to the US and eventually broke up in 1996. Porter continued with Fountains of Wayne through their 1999 release, Utopia Parkway. However, after the band was dropped from Atlantic Records in 2001, Fountains of Wayne went on hiatus. The band received two Grammy nominations in 2004 and released Out of State Plates, a collection of B-sides and rarities the following year. They reassembled in 2007 for their next studio album Traffic and Weather which was said to have been recorded largely by Schlesinger and Porter. By 2013, the band had broken up without any official statement, though members of the group were speaking of Fountains of Wayne in the past tense. The band performed together for the first time since 2013 on April 22, 2020, as part of a charity livestream event to raise funding for the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund. The performance was a tribute to Schlesinger, who died of complications from COVID-19.

Porter is not involved in the most recent revival of Fountains of Wayne, due to health issues.

The AstroJet Jody Porter also once fronted the short-lived New York-based alternative band The Astrojet. The 12-song album bridges the gap between the sonic atmospheric stylings of the Belltower and the guitar-driven power pop of Fountains of Wayne. The album was first released in Japan by FAEC/Rough Trade on July 2, 2008, and was later picked up by Engine Room Recordings and slated for worldwide release on May 11, 2010. On writing the album, Porter stated he wrote "from a stream of consciousness [...] I thought I'd be less lyrically inclined to write about things I don't know about. So I pulled from my personal experiences. Seventy-five percent is my point of view and there is some of the stuff that may be about someone I know."

Porter's second solo album, Month of Mondays, was successfully funded via Kickstarter on July 24, 2013. He played drums on the album which was recorded at Treehouse Sound. In November 2016, he released the song "Pick Yer Poison", ahead of the release of his third album Pacifier. Released on February 24, 2017, it was self-produced and features appearances from fellow Fountains of Wayne member Brian Young and touring musician Cobb Ervin, who both played drums on the album. He started writing the album the year prior in Los Angeles, and was recorded in one month at Intrinsic Recording in Stafford, Virginia. Another single from the album was released in July, titled "Sunsick Moon". On December 15, 2020, Porter first released his third studio album Waterways onto Bandcamp, before releasing physical copies of the album in September 2021. Finished in early 2020, the album was influenced during his time living in England. While he was living there, he had sparked an interest in psychedelic and shoegaze music.

Musical equipment and playing style Jody has used an arsenal of vintage guitars over the years, most notably a three pick-up Les Paul Custom, several early '60s Fender Jazzmasters, Fender Telecaster various vintage Gretsch models, and more recently a '57 Les Paul Junior that belonged to his father and a new signature guitar. His signature guitar is a SchoolHoused BeachBlaster which consists of a surf green finish and three Seymour Duncan Whole Lotta humbuckers. His guitar amplifiers consists of a '66 Bandmaster, Vox AC30 and Marshall JCM800.

Discography Studio albums + List of studio albums with selected details Title Album details Close to the Sun Released: July 2, 2008 Label: FAEC/Rough Trade, Engine Room Recordings Format: CD, digital download Month of Mondays Released: 2013 Format: CD Pacifier Released: February 24, 2017 Format: Digital download Waterways Released: December 15, 2020 Label: Rare Rock Format: CD, digital download Sunflowers, Vol. 1 Released: December 3, 2024 Label: New Departure Format: Digital download

Extended plays + List of extended plays with selected details Title Album details EP I Released: July 22, 2023 Format: Digital download EP II Released: February 10, 2024 Label: New Departure Music Format: Digital download EP III Released: April 30, 2024 Label: New Departure Music Format: Digital download