The Night Game

The Night Game is a rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 2016. Founded by American musician Martin Johnson, the band is composed of Martin Johnson and Kirin J. Callinan. In 2017, the group released their debut single, "The Outfield," which was premiered by Billboard magazine.

The Night Game
The Night Game live at Rock am Ring 2018
Background information
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Genres	New wave alternative rock indie rock indietronica synthpop
Years active	2016–present
Labels	Interscope Vertigo Real Johnson
Associated acts	Gotye Kygo
Website	thenightgame.com
Members	Martin Johnson Kirin J. Callinan

Career

2016–17: Beginnings and "The Outfield"

Started by Johnson in 2016, The Night Game began writing music and playing small shows under the moniker "Impossible Color."[1] Eventually Johnson changed the project's name to "The Night Game" based on a Paul Simon song.[2] Johnson performed with a full band, including Australian artist Kirin J. Callinan. During the production of the band's first album Johnson recalls "being angry at music" noting the it became "an office job" and thought about quitting.[3] For the first half of the production the music sounded very different being more in the singer-songwriter genre, most of these songs were eventually cut with the only one song, "Once in a Lifetime" making it onto the actual album.[3]

The group released their debut single, "The Outfield", on April 12, 2017. The song premiered on Billboard,[4] and in an interview with the company, Johnson spoke about the single and the beginnings of the group. "This song felt like the best introduction to what I'm trying to do and a really good way to segue into the project, it felt anthemic, without being a throat jammer." He also stated, "I didn't want to force something out into the universe without feeling like it was a genuine extension of my personality," he explained. "For once in my life, I had the luxury of time, so I just went into the studio and took the time it takes."

Australian music producer Francois Tetaz helped write, record, and produce "The Outfield" and introduced the band to Belgian-Australian recording artist Gotye, who provided backing vocals in the song.[4]

It was only two weeks following their release of "The Outfield" that the single was recognized by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter John Mayer via Spotify. Mayer took a liking to the song, exclaiming: "I heard this song. Then I listened to it again to make sure I heard what I thought I had. Then I asked them to open up for half the upcoming summer shows. This is that stuff we listen to new music for."[5]

The band accepted the offer and marketed the opportunity as "The First Tour", performing thirty shows as the opening act on Mayer's The Search for Everything World Tour, followed by independent dates during July and August 2017.[6] During the tour, they performed a full set of songs each night, though only having one single out for public consumption. This caused many new listeners to pay more attention to the band, asking and demanding more music, as the group gained a mass following via social media.

Following "The First Tour" accompanying Mayer, Johnson started to bring other works to the surface, starting with the music video release for "The Outfield" on August 22, 2017, directed by British musician Dev Hynes.[7] Johnson then collaborated with Norwegian DJ Kygo on the song "Kids in Love", which released on October 20, 2017 on the album "Kids In Love." An original band version of the track was released on February 2, 2018 as well.

Towards the end of 2017, Johnson followed up the success of "The Outfield" with a brand new song and video for "Once In A Lifetime."[8] The video and single were released on November 16, 2017. The video was directed by the band's photographer/videographer Michael Hili.

2018–2020: Debut album

Within the first month of 2018, Johnson announced via social media that the band would embark on the new "American Nights Tour" in the Spring of that year with the support of musical guest The Band Camino. The sixteen-date tour spanned across the United States, with debut appearances at Innings Music Festival, Shaky Knees Music Festival, BottleRock Napa Valley, and Firefly Music Festival.

On February 23, 2018, The Night Game released their fourth studio single, "Bad Girls Don't Cry." The band released their fifth single, "American Nights", on May 25, 2018. In addition to the single release, they also announced their self-titled debut album, released on September 7, 2018.

2020-Present: Dog Years

On May 18, 2020, The Night Game announced a record project called "Dog Years" that would be released in eleven singles. The first, "Magic Trick," was released May 29, 2020, and its music video debuted on YouTube on June 23, 2020. The second single, "One Phone Call," reached the airwaves on July 10, 2020.

Discography

Albums

• "The Night Game" (2018)

Singles

• "The Outfield" (2017)[9][10]
• "Once In a Lifetime" (2017)[11]
• "Kids In Love" (2018)[12]
• "Bad Girls Don’t Cry" (2018)[13]
• "American Nights" (2018)
• "Magic Trick" (2020)
• "One Phone Call" (2020)

As featured artist

Title	Year	Peak chart positions									Certifications	Album
		US [14]	AUS [15]	BEL (FL) [16]	CAN [17]	GER [18]	NOR [19]	SWE [20]	SWI [21]	UK [22]
"Kids in Love" (Kygo featuring The Night Game)	2017	—[upper-alpha 1]	94	—[upper-alpha 2]	73	90	8	19	33	99		Kids in Love
"—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released.

Members

• Martin Johnson – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, programming
• Kirin J. Callinan – lead guitar (former)

Notes

1. "Kids in Love" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but peaked at number twentytwo on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart.[14]
2. "Kids in Love" did not enter the Ultratop 50, but peaked at number tenth on the Flemish Ultratip chart.[16]

References

1. Daniel Kirby (April 15, 2017). "The Night Game – Live at The Satellite 3/28/2017". YouTube. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
2. LIBERTY, CAMI; LEVIN, MADDEN. "THE NIGHT GAME: INTERVIEW". Unlcear Magazine. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
3. The Night Game (February 3, 2020). "once in a lifetime" (behind the song). YouTube.
4. "Martin Johnson's The Night Game Debut Song 'The Outfield' & Interview | Billboard". Billboard.com. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
5. "@johnmayer on Instagram: "I heard this song. Then I listened to again to make sure I heard what I thought I had. (Yep.) Then I asked them to open up for half the…"". Instagram.com. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
6. "Boys Like Girls frontman Martin Johnson unveils new band, the Night Game—listen – News – Alternative Press". Altpress.com. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
7. "The Night Game – The Outfield". YouTube. August 22, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
8. "The Night Game – Once In A Lifetime". YouTube. November 16, 2017. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
9. "The Night Game's Song "The Outfield" Is a Future Classic". Noisey.vice.com. April 11, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
10. "The Outfield – Single by The Night Game on Apple Music". iTunes Store. August 18, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
11. "Out In a Lifetime – Single by The Night Game on Apple Music". iTunes Store. September 29, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
12. "Kids In Love – Single by The Night Game on Apple Music". iTunes Store. February 2, 2018. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
13. "Bad Girls Don't Cry – Single by The Night Game on Apple Music". iTunes Store. February 23, 2018. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
14. "Chart Search for Kygo (Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles)". Billboard.com. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
15. Peaks in Australia:
    • All except noted:
    "Australian-charts.com – Discography The Night Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
    • "Kids in Love": "ARIA Chart Watch #444". Auspop.com.au. October 28, 2017. Retrieved October 28, 2017.
16. "Discografie The Night Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
17. "Kygo – Chart History: Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
18. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Night Game". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
19. "Discography The Night Game". Norwegiancharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
20. "Discography The Night Game". Swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
21. "Discographie The Night Game" (select "Charts" tab). Swisscharts.com (in Swiss German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
22. "Kygo > UK Charts". Official Charts Company.

External links

• Media related to The Night Game at Wikimedia Commons