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HISTORY - EARLY DAYS
I was brought up in the hills east of Melbourne. From what
I could gather my peers lived on a strict musical diet of 70's stadium
rock. Never was I exposed to the cool driving rhythms of the Velvets or the
raw power of the Stooges who influenced the early years of many people I
know now. My early years were immersed in a wash of my older sister's
record collection. Albums Rachel would thrash (and still does) included Van
Halen, Gary Moore, Triumph, Heart…etc. I would sift through this
pot-pouri of power chords and gravitate to riffs and progressions that gave
me a 'charge', but it was not until Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix filtered
through the walls of my sister's room that this 'charge' was to hit me with
unprecedented impact…
The first band I ever played in was called Satan. It must have been
around 1986 when this hard rocking outfit made its' debut performance in
the year 9 portable. With Josh on vocals, Davey on drums, Seb on bass and
Nick and me on electric guitar. Our influences were bands such as AC/DC,
Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Ozzy Ozbourne, Jimi Hendrix etc… We rehearsed
quite regularly and started to build a reputation from our spirited live
shows during recess. Josh and Nick who were also the main songwriters
formed the band before I came on the scene and thankfully were looking for
a second guitarist. Being a member of this group was not merely a musical
experience but a gateway into an adolescent brotherhood of mischief and
adventure…these tales of irrelevance may be divulged at a later date, but
first an assessment should be made as to whether anybody really needs to
know.
At this time I'd also been navigating my way around the local music
community with my acoustic guitar. I started busking at some of the
markets. Experimenting with open tunings and bottle neck slide. The
troubadours and pickers at the Selby Folk club would get a surprise to see
this bright eyed youngster quietly getting his guitar out of its' case.
Moving a couple of empty wine casks to make room for himself, he'd then
join the session. Following peoples hands to learn new chords and looking
around the smokey little room with wonder and intrigue.
Satan continued to grow as a band with all of us contributing more
to the song writing. We entered a Battle of the Bands competition at the
Ferntree Gully Hotel and walked triumphantly away with the prize of two
packets of guitar strings and a pair of drumsticks. Things were moving
along fast now and we went on to shoot a live video of one of our school
performances (the where-abouts of this footage is unknown). After many
debates we'd even come to agreement on an issue very important to all of
us. The style of lettering to be used when writing the band name. I can't
remember whose idea it was to do the 'T' out of SATAN as a devils pitch
fork but we all agreed it was a stroke of genius and would most likely spark
off a number of copy cat compass tattoo designs.
We were beginning to consider recording an album when suddenly the
band called it a day. It happened one night on the train ride home from
school. Davey and I broke the news to the other guys that we were leaving
the band to pursue other interests (I can't remember what they were now).
Josh and Nick didn't take it too well and tensions were nearing violent
levels by the time we reached our station. The sudden jolt of the train
stopping and the mad rush of people getting on and off the train seemed to
cool the situation a little and after a weeklong stand off period we were
all friends again. It wasn't long after this drama that I left that high
school and relocated to a technical school a couple of suburbs away. I
think this must've been late '87… |
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