The Studio is Over - For Now…!

Hey,

I hope you’re doing well. I’m right now in my office on a cloudy and sad Monday morning but I’m very thrilled about the week ahead since Oli just arrived yesterday and we already had such a blast all together eating Ben’s Vietnamese soup and setting up the rehearsal space! 

Great week ahead as we’re leaving for Europe this Sunday! Stay tuned on Alex’s socials and Substack for loads of unique moments around music! 

Our last week in the studio has been a memorable one as we truly are aligned with Alex’s new album…! Here are parts of what happened in our creative universe! 

🎧 What I’m listening to

The Ramones - Rocket to Russia 

I’m feeling very tired this morning after what has been such an intensive recording session stretch for the past 6 weeks, and as we’re now about to switch into touring pre-production mode later on this afternoon and evening, punk rock has always been my go-to music since I was a teenager!

Some mornings, headbanging and loud sing-along tunes are way more effective than any strong double espresso! It’s loud, it’s fast, and it’s about self-expression, creativity, and counterculture! It’s exactly what made us who we are, and I can’t tell you how many times The Ramones have been heard being played loud in either Alex’s or my office for as long as I can remember...!

“If a man can tell if he's been successful in his life by having great friends, then I have been very successful.” - Johnny Ramone  

📖 Reading highlight I’m pondering

Burning Down The Haus - Tim Mohr

We have a pretty cool reading culture where Alex challenges me to read at least 5 books a year, books he always buys and gives to me around Christmas time, since this is the best time of the year for me to dive into deep readings, as, normally speaking, we don’t have much happening and it’s a good time to rest...!

A few years ago, Alex gave me this wonderful book, one of my all-time favorites, and as I was putting this missive down, I remembered that after reading this book, I realized even more how punk was never just about noise or chaos, it was about reclaiming your voice when the world tried to silence it. It was about turning limitations into liberation and transforming pain into purpose. That’s the fire I’ve always felt burning beneath everything I’ve ever written, sung, or built with this community.

Like those East Berlin kids who risked everything for a song, we too create not because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary. We make music as a declaration of freedom, not the kind sold or streamed, but the kind you have to live, one fragile, defiant heartbeat at a time.

For me, art is still the most radical form of rebellion. Not because it shouts the loudest, but because it whispers what we’re not supposed to say, that love is stronger than fear, that connection is more dangerous than control, and that hope can survive in the ruins of any system built to divide us.

It’s easy to burn things down, but it’s so much harder to make space for something real to rise, something human, something imperfect, but something free…!

🎧 Podcast I’ve Enjoyed The Most

Turned Out a Punk - The Clash War 

I really love two things about this podcast! Number 1, The Clash has been one of my favorite bands ever, and in the early days when I first started to hang out with Alex, Sef, Ben, and Miss Isabel, Alex and I would always end up listening to The Clash records for hours, talking about music, social justice, freedom, and so on. That band has been at the very core of our relationship, especially since Joe Strummer sadly passed away right when we started hanging out together for real...!

Second, the host of the podcast is Damian Abraham, singer of a Canadian band I also like called Fucked Up.

In this podcast, Damian and Chris Estrada argue about some punk bands and some punk history, where The Clash are at the center of it all. I had countless of those conversations with friends, and it’s always a lot of fun to see one’s opinion on the origin and how a band influenced another and so on...! I’m sure you had loads of those too, and the funny thing is no one changes their minds in the end, but it’s simply fun and passionate conversations!

To me, it’s quite simple: John Lydon is the punk’s brain, and Joe Strummer is the punk’s heart! Also, to me, punk is British and hardcore is American!

I’m of course quite open for a conversation about these statements!!!

📸 My Picture Of The Week 

As Alex has been sharing a lot about since he started exposing himself and the entire band vibe and culture on Substack, I couldn’t help but talk about it when I saw these words! For me, brotherhood isn’t about the noise of late nights or the easy comfort of being understood. It’s not about sharing the stage or the spotlight. It’s about standing in the dark together when no one else will.

Alex and I have shared more than music; we’ve shared silence, exhaustion, anger, doubt, and faith. We’ve seen each other through the moments when everything seemed to fall apart, and it’s in those moments that the meaning of brotherhood revealed itself, not as companionship, but as conviction.

True brotherhood is about pushing each other toward greatness when the world turns away. It’s about reminding one another why we started, even when we’ve forgotten ourselves. It’s about carrying the weight when the other can’t, and still finding the strength to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

It’s not romantic or sexy, and it’s rarely easy. But it’s real. And it’s the kind of love that builds everything worth holding onto.

💬 Shared in the Long Shadows Chat this week

Our chat has been on fire since last week following the Champions of Nothing series Alex shared on his Substack! Can’t be more punk than this on every possible level!

Over the past week, Alex has been sharing a deeply personal series on Substack called Champions of Nothing, a meditation on those of us who keep showing up, even when no one’s watching. Through these entries, he’s been exploring the quiet dignity of failure, the beauty of doubt, and the sacred rebellion of refusing to give up on meaning. Each piece feels like a hymn for the overlooked, for the dreamers, the wanderers, the broken, the believers who still carry light into the dark without asking for anything in return.

Champions of Nothing isn’t a call to triumph, it’s a reminder that existing truthfully, vulnerably, and compassionately in a world built on noise is, in itself, an act of courage. It’s about finding grace in imperfection and turning that grace into a way of life.

Keeping this culture alive means protecting what’s real in a world that often trades authenticity for convenience. It means choosing human connection over algorithms, handmade art over mass production, and meaning over numbers. It’s the promise that no matter what lies ahead, art should be made with intention, and that connection should never be automated.

As you know, what has always defined Alex Henry Foster isn’t success, image, or trends but a deep, almost sacred belief in the do-it-yourself spirit. For us, community isn’t a marketing word, it's the heart that keeps everything alive, where every concert is an act of devotion to that family we’ve built together, imperfect, passionate, but fiercely and proudly independent.

This is what the punk attitude really meant to us growing up, not only fashion, loud noise or anger, but the courage to build a world that reflects what you believe in, no matter how fragile or impossible it may seem.

This is what our conversations have been made of all week long! 

Let’s be great to one another! 

Your friend and Chief Operator, 
Jeff 

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