Gringo Star: Gringo Star Shines On
By William Cane
Photo by Skylar Reeves

From 2002 until late 2006, thousands upon thousands of Atlanta citizens were befuddled by hand-painted wooden signs placed next to many of the city's main roadways. The signs were simple, about three feet tall, and held together with wire. They always listed a date, the name of a local venue, and the phrase "A Fir-Ju Well" in white paint.

While at first it came off as a private joke, more and more people began to recognize the signs as the promotional trademark for A Fir-Ju Well, one of Atlanta's hardest-working independent rock bands. Copycat groups tried similar promotional tricks in the months to follow, but none were as consistent, notable, and (obviously) original as those of A Fir-Ju Well.

Their continual touring, first throughout the Southeast and then the nation, along with their reputation for swapping instruments frequently and effortlessly, gained them notoriety in many musical scenes and circles. The constant obstacle, however, was getting new listeners to understand how to pronounce (and thus remember for next time) their name. In conversation they would say it, inevitably end up repeating it, and often resort to writing it down.

"Every night it's just like, 'A Fir-Ju what?'" says Matt McCalvin, the band's newest and youngest member. "Then you write it down and they say, 'What the fuck does that mean?'"

McCalvin also admits, "I used to tell people it's an island off of Greece...but one time this girl said, 'Oh yeah? I used to live over there. What island?' I was busted."
The band also offered the (equally false) explanation that "it's just a combination of four languages," but the detriments that came with the name outweighed the amount of self-amusement they derived from creatively "explaining" it to potential fans.

Brothers Pete and Nick Furgiuele (pronounced "Fir-ju-well"), along with band-mates Peter DeLorenzo and Matt McCalvin, decided in 2006 that a name change was in order. They needed something easy to spell, pronounce, and most importantly, remember. Something that was unique, yet already seemed familiar. Rather than telling fans and local press that they were simply undergoing a change of moniker, however, they spread the word that the final A Fir-Ju Well show would soon be taking place at East Atlanta's The EARL, the venue at which the band had played its first show.

It was only after the band's sweaty, strange, and sold-out "final" show that the word really got out: A Fir-Ju Well was changing their name and launching some new material, but they remained united as a band. Many were relieved that the act was still together, others were glad to hear that the confusing name was being jettisoned, and still others felt toyed with (Georgia publication Stomp and Stammer accused the band of "wasting everyone's time," for example). The new name itself also got mixed reviews, being called both catchy and kitschy. The important thing, however, is that "Gringo Star" is much easier to recognize and remember than what, to most, had appeared to be a series of nonsense syllables.

Born into a family with a rich tradition of music, Nick and Pete Furgiuele are the grandsons of Georgia music legend Edwin Mendel, who is slated for induction into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame by the end of the year. On his radio show, Mendel aired music from African-American performers such as Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and The Supremes while tensions were still high in the racially divided South of the 1960s. Mendel also owned an independent record store, promoted shows firsthand and managed several bands, including Grammy-nominated act Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson. Encouraged by their family, the Furgiuele brothers began playing music together at a young age, and started the King Street Blues Band while Pete was still in elementary school. Nick is only one year older, "but it's an infinity," Pete concedes.

DeLorenzo didn't come from such a musical family, but also felt the need to express himself through music early on in life. He too had a band with his brother, but they had few resources at their disposal.

"I was in a band with my brother when I was a kid called The Aardvarks," DeLorenzo says. "But we didn't play instruments. We actually had some songs ... but they were all just from our voices. A cappella." DeLorenzo began playing tangible instruments as he got older, and by the time he crossed paths with the Furgiueles, he was a serious multi-instrumentalist.

McCalvin, the onetime bass and guitar player for punk act The Blame Game, began playing in church at age fourteen. He built his chops alongside his father, who sang and played for a congregation of Southern Baptists.

"My dad was in the Army, and he was gassed over in Germany," McCalvin says. "So he didn't work anymore, he just got paid by the government. So he became a preacher."

The entire, original A Fir-Ju Well line-up worked side-by-side at Eats, a "meat-and-two" comfort food restaurant on a shabby stretch of Atlanta's Ponce De Leon Avenue. DeLorenzo started bringing home the restaurant's discarded corn crates, which eventually became the now-famous wood-and-wire signs. McCalvin was a co-worker whose musical taste and passion overlapped with those of A Fir-Ju Well's members, and he began playing with DeLorenzo and the Furgiueles in 2004.
By the time Matt McCalvin had joined, A Fir-Ju Well had been together for over three years and had made a strong (albeit hard to spell) name for themselves. They'd started by recording their first full-length, The Dangerous Life of the Insect, at DeLorenzo's home studio in Decatur, Georgia in 2001.

Originally conceived as just a studio project, A Fir-Ju Well rehearsed for nearly a year before they began performing in Georgia and DeLorenzo's original home state Illinois. Even from the start, the band took promotion seriously and hit the streets to get the word out. The hand-painted sign tradition started, in fact, as promotion for their very first show at The EARL.

Becoming renowned as a solid live band, A Fir-Ju Well quickly followed up The Dangerous Life of the Insect with a self-titled album in 2002, recorded at Atlanta's posh Tree Sounds Studios. As usual, the band played as many shows as possible, promoted them thoroughly, and won over more listeners.

Impressed by their following and work ethic, Georgia label International Hits then signed the band and paired them up with engineers Ed Rawls and Justin McKnight, who helped them put together El Torero, a seven-song EP that is still available online. The band subsequently toured America, and built solid relationships with bands, promoters, and venues along the way.

Absolutely A Fir-Ju Well, the band's second (and final) International Hits release, was the first project with McCalvin on board. Capitalizing on their new relationships, the band criss-crossed the U.S., making sure to hit the smaller markets as well.
"I think the smaller towns are way more connected," DeLorenzo says. "In the bigger cities there's so much going on, there's so much attention on something else."
Although A Fir-Ju Well loved playing in New York, Atlanta and Chicago, their favorite touring cities also included Little Rock, AR, El Paso, TX and Chattanooga, TN.
"Last time we played Little Rock it was awesome," says Pete Furgiuele.

While blowing through St. Louis, the band recorded material for a new 7-inch, to be released by Atlanta label Rob's House. This was the final A Fir-Ju Well release; although still building momentum, the band changed its name to Gringo Star shortly after the vinyl hit the streets.

"Since Matt joined it's a new band anyway," DeLorenzo notes.
One of the first orders of business for Gringo Star was a tour of England.
"We were there with another band from St. Louis, and we met a couple promoters," Nick Furgiuele says. Their first English go-round went much better than expected and they forged a tight bond with promoter/tour manager Roger Humphries. Before Gringo Star returned to the United States, Humphries and the band discussed a future tour of England when they had new material to promote.

In early 2007 Gringo Star made its first official release, a six-song, self-titled EP recorded in Montana with Paul Durham (formerly of Geffen and Epic Records). The songs were released on CD through My Anxious Mouth, the band's own label and each track can also be purchased through their MySpace account.

In typical fashion, DeLorenzo, McCalvin, and the brothers Furgiuele take turns singing and vary their instrumental roles from song to song. The release features some new tracks, along with a couple of newly-recorded versions of A Fir-Ju Well songs, including the DeLorenzo-sung "Transmission," which remains one of the band's most popular songs.

Gringo Star quickly returned to England by February, this time with a CD to sell and a friend who could help them out. A chain-smoking, middle-aged rocker with long hair and a penchant for dirty jokes, Roger Humphries did everything from booking to promotion to transportation and even supplied instruments and lodging.
"He does a lot of the live sound, too, and he drives and supplies all the equipment," says Pete Furgiuele. "And he loves our band, so he's not charging us much money, either."

McCalvin chimes in, "There is absolutely no way we could do this if it wasn't for him. It's ridiculous how much money we're saving per day. We couldn't even get a van rental, per day, for what we're paying; yet we get the van, the driver, the equipment, [and someone] running sounds and setting up hotels."

Early in his career, Humphries played with a fairly established band called The Scapegoats.

"He toured with The Rolling Stones in 1964," says Nick Furgiuele, "and even put a record out on Decca." Having paid so many dues, Humphries understands the ins and outs of being a true road warrior. With the help of business partner Ian Flavill, Humphries has done both administrative and grunt work for Gringo Star, and, when necessary, gone to bat for them.

"He's been touring for so long that he won't take any shit. He's blunt, but it's all justified," says Nick Furgiuele. "This one night we played he got in a big fight with this promoter because he thought we were getting the shaft. He had this guy in the back room threatening his life. This door opens from the back, the promoter walks out, and all I hear is [the promoter] saying, 'That guy's a fucking cunt.'"

The tour was a success, and within three months Gringo Star played through England yet again."We make steps each time," DeLorenzo humbly remarks, but the band has moved from steps to full-fledged strides.Pete Furgiuele reflects, "I think when you start out a band it's just an evolutionary process, and I feel like we've gotten pretty far."

Still sought-after by independent labels, the band plans to keep making releases through My Anxious Mouth.

"Most smaller labels, we kind of know what they're going to do if they have a release anyway, so if we can just fund ourselves doing that, then in the end we can have more control over every aspect," says Pete Furgiuele.

Like most bands, Gringo Star's goal is to be a sustainable entity that will allow them to quit their jobs. At the rate they're going, they should start hoarding corn crates now.

www.myspace.com/thegringostars