Welcome to the Underachievers

Having nearly but not quite set Bolton, Manchester, England, The World alight with his first band the Irony Board, John Hartley packed his musical alter ego Johny Nocash into a bag and travelled down the M6 to build a new life on the periphery of London. The sequel to the acclaimed musical memoir 'Capturing the Wry', John Hartley's 'Welcome to the Underachievers' picks up the story in the mid-1990s. In the unlikely setting of a first floor unit in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Southall he finds a musical kindred spirit in Jacques Cachecarte and the pair embark on a plan to subvert the world of indiepop. Featuring evening residencies in upstairs Highgate tearooms, car-crashing record company executives in sheepskin coats and a foreword by Richard Blackborow of legendary UK indie band BOB, 'Welcome to the Underachievers' is a must-read for anyone familiar with hopes, dreams and unfulfilled ambition.