When the D.C. rock quartet U.S. Royalty broke up in June 2017, it seemed its members, who had enjoyed a wave of buzz after appearing at the South by Southwest and Sweetlife festivals, might lay low for a while. But instead, its bassist ventured headfirst into the electronica world with the duo Foreign Air.
“I just wanted a fresh start and reinvent the way I was making music and approaching music and [to] challenge myself,” says Jacob Michael, formerly of U.S. Royalty and now half of Foreign Air.
Imagine if the members of Alt-J had British DJ Goldie as a babysitter growing up, then you get the idea of the musical stylings of Foreign Air. Michael partners with lead vocalist Jesse Clasen—formerly of The Bear Romantic and HRVRD—on the project: Both are stepping away from the rock shadows of their respective bands.
Foreign Air’s thumping electronic music has already been featured on TV shows including Animal Kingdom and How to Get Away With Murder. Now they’re celebrating their success on a tour titled Everything Is Good Now, named for their forthcoming album.
Though their band’s ascent is recent, Michael and Clasen met roughly 10 years ago.
“[Clasen] was an opener on the bill and I was just blown away by his voice,” says Michael. “So we started talking and became friends and stayed in touch for many years.”
They started collaborating while U.S. Royalty was still together, allowing Michael to branch out musically. He learned how to play recording-based software instruments to incorporate into their sound.
“That’s kind of even where the name ‘Foreign Air’ came from,” Michael says. “A reinvention of the sound and trying and experimenting with foreign instruments.”
What was essential to Michael was having Foreign Air remain independent, something he credits to his D.C. upbringing.
“When I was a young kid, I would take the Metro down and see shows at 9:30 Club and go to Fort Reno,” says Michael. “I grew up in that scene and that culture where bands made their own t-shirts and wrote their own songs and recorded with their friends. If you go to L.A., there’s an industry there and D.C. doesn’t have that. … I think the more you do it on your own, the more power you have, the more artistic you can be, the more control you have of everything and I think that’s important.”
Michael uploaded one of their first collaborations “Free Animal” to SoundCloud in 2016, which Nike licensed for a national campaign. Foreign Air signed with licensing agency Ghost Town, which led to more music placements on TV shows and commercials. Michael was able to quit his job as a bartender at Little Miss Whiskey’s. (Asked about his bartending skills Michael jokes, “I’m very friendly. I don’t know how good of a bartender I am, but I can talk to you.”).
So it makes perfect sense that they named their album and tour Everything is Good Now, given that with this new financial freedom the pressure to earn an income elsewhere is off and they can now focus on the music solely.
“When we first started the project we were bartending and trying to figure out how to do music full-time and figuring out what the next move was going to be and how we were going to do this thing,” Michael says. “Fast forward three years. Here we are, able to tour and make music full-time and everything just feels really good right now.”
Foreign Air plays U Street Music Hall on Friday with special guests Honors. 7 p.m. Tickets $15.
This article has been updated to reflect that the Goldie being referred to here is a British DJ, not the English pop-rock band.
