About
It started when I was seventeen years old in a band called The Avenue in the pub scene of Melbourne Australia.
We were a four piece, very ambitious, writing our own material and gigging regularly.
But as so often happens, within a year differences emerged and our group imploded.
I was then a solo artist with no real artistic identity, grappling with personal issues and totally uncertain as to what the next step would be.
I began going to folk clubs, open mics and busking.
But in truth I was lost.
On my nineteenth birthday I headed to the UK for a period of hitchhiking, soul searching and more busking.
When I returned I was able to put together a good quality demo.
A hundred cassettes were mailed far and wide and to my elation EMI and WEA in the UK replied with requests to hear more and for more information.
I met with a local label as well.
It was heady time ripe with possibility but through a combination of immaturity, emotional insecurity and an unwillingness to heed advice the leads weren’t adequately followed up.
The opportunities went begging.
Some time after this my partner and I set off on a trip around Australia.
During that adventure, at the Shannon National Park in the south west corner of Western Australia we and our fellow travelling companions witnessed an awe inspiring display of The Southern Aurora.
Unheralded and totally out of the blue in those pre internet days we were uncertain as to what it actually was.
To a young mind it could perhaps have been the fallout from nuclear armageddon across the sea.
As someone with a naive belief in God but also an awareness I was no Christian that night I fervently prayed to Jesus Christ.
Sure enough the next day came, the sun shone, the birds sang and our travels continued.
In a matter of weeks we had crossed the Nullarbor and arrived in Adelaide.
There on the promenade beside the sea at Glenelg we were approached and spoken too by two people. In light of what was to follow it was strange that I never saw them again. I don't remember their names but their testimony was fearless and straight forward.
They spoke about God, looked me straight in the eye and informed me that being a Christian was more than a decision or a verbal confession without the deeds to back it up.
We were invited to a Pentecostal revival meeting to be held two days later.
I was aware of giving an undertaking and not following up.
We made that meeting.
It was held in a theatre with a balcony. From that vantage point we took in the proceedings.
There was singing, personal stories, a sermon and the laying on of hands for healing.
But the most curious thing was the voice gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Speaking in tongues, interpretation and prophecy.
I knew enough bible verses to know that Jesus said ‘My sheep hear my voice’.
That's what I felt as I heard the messages. I was being called.
It wasn’t traditional church.
We attended another meeting two days later.
Deep inside I knew I had reached a crossroads.
I knew a believer had to be baptised and that wasn’t me.
At the urging of the young guy who took us under his wing, I was baptised in a bath on a stage in front of hundreds of people.
It was a curious experience. The next day we left Adelaide but the elation and liberation I felt was palpable.
In a matter of weeks we were home in Melbourne.
I began attending meetings at The Forum theatre in the city and after one of those meetings I was baptised in Holy Spirit and my conversion was complete.
My involvement in the church fundamentally altered my view of life and my ambition for a career in music was left behind.
But in the church I found an outlet for my artistic expression and I was able to make some rudimentary recordings and to perform regularly.
I was also now a husband and father and the need for a regular income became paramount.
I was a hospital orderly, cleaner, painter, courier but life was humble, adventurous and fulfilling.
The music bug never truly left and as opportunity arose I would record some tracks here and there.
In 2003 the album ‘I know whats going on’ was completed and I began performing again outside church, open mics, cover gigs, support slots and festivals.
With each recording and performance your skills are continually being honed and your artistic voice and identity are being forged and that is the path I am on to this day.