Following on from our review of Foundry Town Survivors’ new single and video, ‘Three Sisters‘, we speak with duo Mark Tomorsky and Tommy Johnsmiller about the song, the video, growing up in Michigan, and what’s next.
Hey guys! Mark and Tommy, what a story – longtime friends from the Detroit music scene, now making music from different cities with this unique back-and-forth style. How did you develop that collaborative process?
Necessity is the mother of intervention, or something like that…We didn’t have a choice. We started innocently enough, trading mp3s of ideas and soon upgraded to home studios with the ability to get some high-quality performances on “tape.” It also has the added benefit of letting things ferment a bit, and has lessened the knee-jerk reactions that sometimes go along with opening up in front of another person.
You rubbed elbows with the biggest names from Detroit’s garage rock scene in the ’70s – that’s incredible! How did that experience shape the Foundry Town sound you’ve created?
We grew up just outside Detroit, and garage bands were everywhere. A lot of them, like the MC5 and Iggy and the Stooges, were right in our backyards! Add that to all the Motown we heard on the radio and danced to at our school sock hops, and you have a recipe for some really unhinged music making.
‘Three Sisters’ tackles this terrifying maritime phenomenon from Great Lakes folklore. What made you finally dive into a nautical tale after all these years of the Foundry Town mythos?
“Dive in”, no pun intended, right? Three Sisters was one of our earliest collaborations. When we listened to the first demo of it, there were no vocals, only this haunting track that made us think of the power of the ocean. The Great Lakes have no shortage of folklore, so it felt like a logical combination. So, we finished it. We loved the mojo it had but hadn’t yet figured out a way to present it to the public. Like a lot of our tracks, it felt very cinematic. Enter our not-so-silent partner and co-director on the video, Bruce Gebhardt. He quietly grabbed the song and started working on an idea. We loved the direction he came up with – so we got to work finishing the video. We think it slips in seamlessly with the Foundry Town legend we’ve been building.
The song feels like a sonic reimagining of traditional sea shanties – those thunderous drums, slippery slide guitar, blazing minor chords. How do you create that storm-churning sound?
We mic’ed Mark’s Marshall with a washing machine…The sounds were created in a musical laboratory in a rundown building on the south side of Foundry Town. Mark was gone for three days, and when he returned, he was tired and starving, but he had the track nailed. Seriously, if we tell yo,u we’d have to kill you.
Tommy, you mentioned “time stands still” when you’re in the studio together. What’s that creative magic like when you two finally get in the same room?
We’ve been working together for years – so there is a level of comfort and at the same time, a kind of ongoing challenge to deliver the best stuff possible…If we’re lucky, the creativity takes over and suddenly, it’s time for dinner…
The video shows you as omniscient narrators telling this tale from the safety of the future. What was it like bringing these “villainous female succubi” to life visually?
It was tricky. We felt that they were a representation of “Mother Nature,” and we weren’t sure how to portray them at first. We tried several things, mostly evil, demonic looks, but that didn’t fit the “Mother Nature” vibe we were envisioning. We kept experimenting until we landed on a physical representation that looked innocent enough but was still edgy. As the story progressed, they became more powerful, threatening and just plain deadly. We knew we succeeded when we showed a rough mix to our lovely background singers, Marlena Jeter and Mortonette Stephens, the day they were recording, and they loved it.
Michigan and the Great Lakes are so ingrained in your identity as Foundry Town Survivors. How does that working-class, industrial landscape continue to inspire your storytelling?
It’s at the core of who we are and how we grew up – so we kind of go there by instinct – we just can’t help it…
Any final thoughts for your fans out there?
We really appreciate the support of our loyal fans, and we wish we could take them home with us…Foundry Town is lovely this time of year…
Watch the music video for ‘Three Sisters’ below, and find out more about Foundry Town Survivors and their music online on their official website, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.
