Audio Visual Production . . . background
From an early age I was alway interested in music. I remember, as a very young boy, in Scotland, that my great-uncle had a piano in his garage. I used to lift up the dust cover and raise the lid and try and see what sounds it could make.
At school I played a few minor roles in our annual theatre productions; but soon found a liking for lighting the actors instead of nervously, melting underneath them. Later, as a teenager I used to hang around local youth clubs and get involved with their music programs; often I would hitch hike into town to see bands like Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs play in a basement in Pirie Street. I soon made friends with some musicians and was eagerly lugging amplifiers and drum kits around for them.
I moved to Melbourne for a couple of years, and amongst other work (clerk, storeman, armature winder, dishwasher) I found regular employment working with bands and friends I knew from Adelaide. I did not enjoy the cold, foggy weather in Vicoria - so I came back home and found myself a job in a 'disco', operating lights and playing records between the bands.
At this venue I operated lights for some of the best bands I have ever seen: Split Enz, the La De Das, Dragon, Jo Jo Zep, Marcia Hines, Renee Geyer, Sherbet, the Ted Mulry Gang, Skyhooks, Mondo Rock, Richard Clapton - and many more. The local support acts were relatively unknown groups, such as: Cold Chisel, the Angels, Stars, Paul Kelly . . . after two years I was booking the artists and managing the promotion of the venue.
I left this nightclub after a change of ownership and went to work for a friend at local Adelaide hotels operating lights for many more local and interstate bands, artists, groups, musicians, comedians and performers. Then I went 'out on the road' for a while, touring around the country with a couple of rhythm and blues bands (Mickey Finn, Max Merrit and the Meteors).
I found myself back in Adelaide at one stage, between bands, with sound and lighting equipment that I had brought over from Sydney and began hiring lighting and sound production to local bands and venues. Soon it occured to me that if I were to manage some of these bands and get them some work, then they would use my sound and lighting equipment. Then I found myself promoting my own shows at hotels and venues around Adelaide, at places such as the Tivoli and Governor Hindmarsh Hotels.
Soon I was receiving phone calls from interstate artists who wanted to play at the venues I was promoting and I was able to develop a weekly circuit of local and interstate bands. Then I became the local agent for bands such as Cold Chisel, the Angels, Icehouse, Mental as Anything, Divynls, InXS and with the help of these artists, and their management, began copromoting overseas acts at venues such as, Festival Theatre, Apollo Stadium and Thebarton Theatre.
This all sounds glamorous, but it certainly had its ups and downs. I was always under constant pressure to "get a real job". Pokie machines and disc jockeys 'sucked the life' out of our struggling rock and roll scene and it became harder and harder to make a regular income. With a young family to support I was put under more and more pressure to find "a real job".
I became interested in computers and graphic design. Soon I had a few clients who kept me busy with design and typesetting work. I set up a typesetting and graphic design business. This presents a good place to end this page and move onto another chapter, as this marks the end of one era and my transition into other endeavours. However, in the years to come, I would return to sound, lighting and audio visual production.