you know

one thing i realised

is that you guys want me to write about music

more than anything else

after all thats why youre here

so i’m gonna write about music for a while

i’m gonna write about what i know about

and thats my own music

on that i am at least an expert

lemme see

i first encountered music at an early age

music seemed really important to my father

he constantly sang musics praises to me

we listened to the radio together on drives around town

and he talked to me about what he heard

and of course he could play the piano

its his birthday tomorrow

he woulda been 90 i think

anyway

it was certainly inculcated in me that music was a very good thing

i spent a bit of time thinking about music

when the beatles hit i was 9

and after that i was up and running

i wrote a couple of songs in my head at age 10 or 11

they were ok i guess i was certainly no mozart

i took piano lessons but fell out with my teacher

when she wanted me to play classical stuff only

i wanted to learn something i liked

“march militaire” was the final straw i s’pose

some stiff old boring fussy racket

i wanted to play paperback writer or paint it black

so

me and her parted ways regretfully

she said i had the makings of a good pianist

but my idiot/savant brain was going somewhere it didnt like

it never had, it never has , it never will (good name for a song)

so at age 16 i became obsessed with the bass guitar

(who wouldnt?)

master this plank and youre cool i thought

eventually through much trial n error i learnt to play the bastard thing

the mystery of music revealed itself little by little

how it kinda worked and all that stuff

i learned about chords and keys and riffs and basslines

i learned about amps and guitars and PAs and microphones

i learned about choruses and verses and codas and intros

i learned about timing and majors and minors and sevenths and suspended 4ths

i learned about vibrato and tremolo and muted palm ostinato

speeding up n slowing down and volume and tone and sustain

and haircut and clothes and boots and attitude

and booking gigs and moving gear and being on the road

and all that jazz my friends

in the end i got lucky i guess

at the relatively late age of 25

i formed the church

peter k would be an asset to any musical endeavour

but for the church he was essential

already at 24 a beautifully accomplished guitarist

who already was thinking outside the box

it didnt hurt at all our chances that he was tall n good looking either

i was lucky to know him

the 1st drummer i was not so lucky to know

that was a bad move to have him

marty came along and i knew he was right tho

ploogy came along and the puzzle was solved

and then tim when ploogy was tired of drumming

one would have to consider oneself lucky

to know these characters really

and this kind of luck cant be fabricated

i was furiously writing songs

just going for it!

the initial burst of success made me write even harder

a revolving cast of characters often including russell k

and members of his band were there in the room

i produced songs out of thin air for all to hear

i was lucky to have this gift

altho many watched me do it

few could reproduce it

i could spot a good thing for a song a mile off

the smallest sound sent me off

it still does

i am always on the lookout for a spark for a song

i could spot things no one else ever seemed to hear

some feeding back echo

some drum thing

some chord or some word or some name

i guess i was a born to do this

i used to think this was random

but after so long so many people have assured me of the pleasure

they enjoy upon hearing my songs

i am forced to conclude it was meant to be

ive made some people happy here in this world

just an awkward  skinny oaf from canberra ACT

i was writing stuff that made people happy

i got paid quite well too

i never made a huge fortune

but i did alright considering it was music

defying all odds and predictions

i made money out of my music

of course by the time this was happening

i was embroiled in my soap opera

LSD trips , swedish girlfriends,

getting signed and dropped and signed and dropped

imagine how it feels getting dropped by a label

pretty fucking bad i tell ya like getting sacked from a job

we spent months in studios recording

we were big in london n new york and briefly even europe

gee i lost myself somewhere in there

we had millionaire managers with rocks of coke and swimming pools

malibu here we come

the fragrant bud the burning nostril the free guitar

restaurant on cafe on snort on drink on smoke on girls

interviews and tourbuses man

famous friends and gullible geese

motels and airports and truckstops and bars

then wham

adulation comes

oh steve you are my hero oh steve you are my man

are you serious

fuck yes look they are…!

these people will do anything for you man

how will you handle that then?

will you pass the test?

probably not…i’d say….

still the music

glowing reviews awful scathing ones too

gets confusing to oscillate between best n worse

too bad theres a photo shoot and a interview

youre late for dinner now old boy

youre letting down your friends

youre too thin or putting on weight

wait youre looking old now

wait youre looking ok

wait theyre not opening the curtains for another ten minutes

wait! they need to rewind the tape

all the time producers engineers agents roadies managers girlfriends wives children breakups

steve come n meet the folks from blah blah records

steve come n meet the folks from hoo hah records

arguments by the tons

everything was arguments where we was eating or staying or playing

you can well imagine

the little blips we get on here is nothing

i am immured to it all

cock? cunt? ive been called that in about 23 languages and 7 dialects

poser wanker donkey and ass

they called me good things too

but i refused to believe any of it

i am a lucky bloke

i led a good life and i met some nice people

i played my music without fear or favour

i hardly ever compromised my music for anything

my music isnt like that

you cant really compromise it or it will die or wither or something

ha ha

so theres some insight into my music

i’m not what anybody thought i was really

neither good or bad

i was lucky and persistent

i had some good DNA from my dad in regards to music (and painting)

i knew some good people

i was in the right place right time (sydney 1980)

cos it was just blossoming into something intense

never before had so many bands jammed so many punters

into so many venues

the church were picked up and hurled along with this explosion

we have survived luckily but for how much longer?

who can tell?

theres some more insight

it isnt up to me all the time

i dont cause everything or not cause everything

still here we are 2013

i rock on regardless

i know that idyllist and skins n heart are miles apart

somehow i reckon tho the 25 year old me would have liked it

i’m still carrying the flag for whatever it is

i love music still

my obsession is tempered but my ardour is strong

the songs were all out there

i just perceived em first

love is a good thing

sk bondi march 2