To the soundtrack of debut releases by Patti Smith, The Damned, the Ramones, and many others, Foy inevitably became a White Light employee. It was there that he developed a broader musical knowledge and established a rapport with the local alternative musicians of the day. Additionally he observed the new rise of independent record labels and bands, and their distinctive graphics.
The initial Punk / New Wave bubble burst in late 1997. White Light with it’s similarly steadfast attitude, died with it. Foy found himself in the real world for the first time, in need of a job. As an extension of a high school art interest, he scored a job as a trainee screen printer. After 12 months Foy had mastered most of the processes involved and had begun being bored with his outlook.
Entrepreneurial T-shirt screen printer Dare Jennings had meanwhile purchased White Light’s dormant stock to realise a long-term dream by opening a record store. In the process, he invited the former White Light staff into a partnership. Phantom Records opened with Foy gladly aboard.
As fate would have it, Foy asked one too many questions of his new-found employer / partner’s screen printing operation and eventually found himself being bumped from record retailing to T-shirt printing for his troubles. It was while at Phantom T-shirts that Foy was called upon by his inner-city musician housemates to design a poster for a forthcoming show.