Where's Jimmy frontman Hugh Westcott is fresh off the plane from France, but the excitement in his voice is palpable.
"I can't really believe it, to be honest, still," Westcott says. "It was crazy."
The Newcastle-based band's maiden foreign tour was the stuff of pure rock'n'roll dreams.
Across 20 days Westcott and bandmates, Nick Worrad (drums), James Pansini (bass guitar), and Jed Pratten (guitar) played 16 gigs in France and Spain, including four shows at the Binic Folks Blues Festival, which drew 30,000 punters to Binic-Étables-sur-Mer in Brittany over three days.
Binic's website said the band "come from Newcastle, a remote town two hours from Sydney, on the edge of the bush, where life revolves around a single pub..."
Despite the language barrier and the French having no clue what Westcott was singing about on VB (Victoria Is Better After Victoria Bitter), Where's Jimmy's AC/DC and Angels-style rock riffage required little translation.
Westcott's trademark energetic performances, complete with roundhouse kicks, all the while barefoot and bare-chested in footy shorts, captivated the French.
"The crowds, the people going to watch the music, they were just so into it," he says.
"They just get around it so much and support it all so much. We were just blown away."
Before Where's Jimmy's French tour, the band had rarely played shows for more than a couple of hundred people in pubs, except to play Zest Fest last October for 3000 people in their hometown of Orange.
The opportunity to play Binic Folks Blues Festival came after a chance encounter with the event organiser Ludovic Lorre when Where's Jimmy played a set at Melbourne's iconic pub venue The Tote last year.
Lorre was blown away by the primal rock energy.
"He just happened to be there watching Eddie Current Suppression Ring play a reunion gig," Westcott says.
"He turned up at the bar the next day with his Australian mates and saw us and said, 'You're coming to France' pretty much."
The French tour was also perfectly timed for Where's Jimmy.
On July 17 the band released their second EP, the five-track Staring At The Wall, which was produced by Frenzal Rhomb frontman Jay Whalley.
It followed their debut EP Paycheque Blues in 2024.
Staring At The Wall was also pressed on vinyl by French label Beast Records, who have previously released albums by Tex Perkins, King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard and Cash Savage and The Last Drinks.
It's a considerable step up in quality for Where's Jimmy, especially the hard-hitting title track, Hanging On and VB.
"We've had lots of people coming back, saying that they bought the record and that they've come back at another show to watch us to tell us that they've listened to it and that they love it and can't wait for the next one to come out," Westcott says.
"It was just awesome. We sold hundreds of vinyls."
Westcott says there are already offers and plans to return to Europe next year.
"We've been in touch with Beast Records since we left, so when we boys have a regroup, we'll have a chat with them and then we'll see," he says.
"But obviously, we definitely want to go again as soon as we can."
