Jody Porter
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Jody Porter is a New York City-based guitarist who has spent the past decade playing and co-singing in the Grammy-nominated powerpop band Fountains of Wayne, which have released three major label albums, including "Welcome Interstate Managers on S-Curve Records (Virgin Records) in 2003- a RIAA-certified Gold LP. The album spawned the hugely popular U.S. Top 40 hit- and number 1 music video- "Stacy's Mom".
Known for his impressive virtuoso abilities and British guitar pop playing style, Jody first garnered attention in his London-based band The Belltower with singer (and then wife) Britta Phillips in the early 1990s. Although the band created a buzz for itself overseas, their EastWest debut Popdropper sold marginally. The band relocated back the to US and eventually broke up.
Porter was then asked by friend, Adam Schlesinger (who had already been brought into The Belltower briefly), to join his newly-formed band, Fountains of Wayne in support of their self-titled Atlantic debut that was hot on the heels of Schlesinger's success as co-writer of The Wonders film song "That Thing You Do." Porter continued with FOW through their 1999 release, "Utopia Parkway". However, after the band was dropped from Atlantic Records in 2001, Fountains Of Wayne broke up- in part because of strained relations between lead singer, Chris Collinwood and bassist Schlesinger.
In 2002, Porter mediated a reuniting of the two, the band reformed and entered into the studio to do a spate of demos- which included "Stacy's Mom." Their original A&R man at Atlantic, Steve Yegewel ended up signing the band himself as new A&R man at S-Curve Records. And, "Welcome Interstate Managers" was released in late spring 2003.
Initially, "Stacy's Mom" stalled at commercial alternative radio in the US- and the single, LP and the band seemed doomed to obscurity. EMI Special Promotions Group, underfunded, had essentially dropped the ball. However, MTV- suddenly and magically- rescued the band from certain failure- and MTV President Judy McGrath championed the video for Stacy's Mom...and the rest is history.
Porter also once fronted the New York-based commercial alternative band The Astrojet, which has recently gone its separate ways. In 2002/2003, the band, with new management and fresh creative backbone, recorded 15 songs with co-producers Michael Bramon and Michael Tudor at their infamous TMF Studios in NYC (Strokes, Regina Spektor, Fountains Of Wayne, Mercy Fall, Moby, Fat Joe). These recording spawned a 2003 EP entitled, "The Mile Low Club." The Astrojet also shot a video for one of their songs, "Aurora" which was featured in the Top 20 of the prestigious Cornerstone Player. Some of the band's songs also received commercial alternative radio airplay on such powerhouse stations as Q101 in Chicago and various "EDGE" stations. In addition, two of the band's songs appeared on a Gordon Raphael UK compilation released on Boy George's More Protein label. In early 2004, even though the AstroJet had a WEA label release in the offing, as well as interest from RCA Records: facing pressure and having to choose between prioritizing The AstroJet or Fountains Of Wayne, Porter chose to stay with FOW. And departed The Astrojet soonafter.
Porter has also played with Ivy, Jesse Malin, David Meade, and Johnny Lives.
Porter was raised in Charleston, South Carolina, and The Belltower was considered somewhat of a local band in that city (although technically the band was formed in New York).
