What are your roots

[DarkMark]

Geez I didn't know the local knocking shops were a broad church.

I suffered a similar fate though...getting sucked down the jazz hole.
I did see Count Basie @ the Perth Concert Hall in '79.

cheers, Mark.

Freudian slip? I need a proof reader.

[king casey]

Freudian slip? I need a proof reader.

No worries, I've stuffed it up also...unless 'porn shops' have a 'try-before-you-buy' policy.

On the topic though. Perth often missed a lot of the big acts due to location.
Managed to see the duo of Oscar Peterson and Joe Pass...also at the Perth Concert hall.

cheers, Mark.

[Fretworn]

As a pre-schooler I was so determined to listen to music all the time that I taught myself how to use the record player, much to my mother’s chagrin. One of the first albums I was fascinated with was an original copy of Switched on Bach. I also listened to a lot of jazz and orchestral music that my mother listened to. My dad never “listened” to music, it was always just background for him, but I think it was through him we had the comedy records - Bill Cosby, Allan Sherman, that sort of thing. I have two older sisters, the oldest is 7 years older than me, so she introduced a few rock compilations to the house where I got to hear AC/DC, Stevie Wright, Sweet, etc. My second eldest sister liked ABBA, Elvis and the Grease soundtrack. So I had music coming from everywhere.

[I’ll give it a go]

My music story is:

I’m not a musician, I can play a bit but wish I could play a lot better. Wish I started when I was a nipper and had more time on my hands.

I bought my first guitar (acoustic) because I wanted to play Elvis songs. I soon found out it was far more difficult than I thought. It sat in my bedroom for years until that is, I heard Oasis. I learned a track from a computer program called cast no shadow. From then on I would fade in and out of playing, found it very difficult. Still playing mainly Oasis songs (I’m surprised my missus never divorced me).

I’m now 50 and this year I want to learn how to play the blues. I’m getting there but very slowly. YouTube has been my go to.

My tastes I’m music are quite wide, Elvis, Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Foofighters, Nirvana, Madness, ACDC, SRV, just discovered Albert Collins, BB King and a bit of rap, Ice Cube and co.

That’s me done, who’s next.


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[FrankenWashie]

It is a very interesting little rabbit hole to wander down isn't it?

I grew up with my dad rocking Elvis, Marty Robbins, The Highwaymen, The Irish rovers, Kenny Rogers. I really didn't discover music that really moved me, until the early to Mid 80's. It was watching Carlos Santana do Black Magic Woman at Live Aid that made me want to pick up a guitar. I quickly found Cream, the Who, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, SRV, Midnight Oil. I had the privilege of seeing Albert Collins as my first ever live Gig just prior to his passing which just reinforced that i needed to play guitar. I was also fortunate to catch Hunters and Collectors several times in Auckland which blew my tiny little mind.

Then Grunge Happened. I lost the nineties to Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Mother Love Bone. My Brothers plugged me into Metallica, and the rest of the "Big Four" and my youthful teenage anger saw me belatedly find Public Enemy, NWA, RATM and the like. Of late i have rediscovered some of the Classical music my grandparents used to play, but its all gotten heavier and louder in the last decade or so. I've enjoyed a lot of the stuff that our forum mates have posted, and of late some of the more jazz oriented things i have are getting more airplay.

But there's always room for some monster metal riffs!

[Marcel]

Some great stories here.... I guess it's my turn.

Dad loved opera and classical orchestral music. Mum was a more Hank Williams kind of listener. We had a great stereo for it's day. 10W per channel in the early '70's. An uncle left an acoustic guitar with us and I often banged on it only to make noise. At age 12 my parents offered me lessons and a guitar that could actually be played, my F25 Fender acoustic which I still have to this day.

At 13 another uncle took me to my first concert. 5 bands. Dragon, Kevin Borich, LRB, Santana and Fleetwood Mac at Calder speedway.

At 15 I got my Ason strat copy. Plywood body monster that permitted imagination of being some kind of Hendrix style rock god... I wished... Also got the complete Beatles and Rolling Stones song books. I learned and could play every song in those books. My school friends were all impressed, as was school, they bought a Fender Jazz bass and amp to allow me to play in the school band and annual school drama play. It was here I learned that while I enjoyed being in the production I did not enjoy being on stage.

A 6 year stint in the RAAF finished with me getting a Diploma in Audio Engineering from SAE. My tearing apart the pro mixes of 'Everybody want's to rule the world' and 'all those zombies' earned me a position as instructor for a while, I soon diverted and hit the road pulling sound with touring bands around Brisbane. A side line that quickly grew was repairing amplifiers at the Musicians Pro Shop, followed by being the audio repair technician at Expo 88.

A few years in rural radio broadcasting followed by 6 years with WIN television meant the guitars found their way to the closet. 19 years in aviation meant the dust just got thicker. Redundancy 10 years too early, sickness and boredom had me wiping away the dust, and finding this site.

Back into radio broadcasting these days, Mostly 4RO and 4CC, and others like the KIX network and odd jobs for MMM... and lots of free time to practice what I thought I had forgotten...

[Sonic Mountain]

Bit late to this party.....

Where to start? Music wasn't really a big deal in my house growing up. My mum insisted I learn piano when I was younger which I really disliked. I did learn to read music so that was a silver lining. A few years later when I was about 12 I discovered we had an old acoustic guitar in a cupboard. My school was offering free afternoon lessons so I asked if I could put some strings on it and try to learn. My mum, having been through the angst of trying to get me to practice piano basically said 'whatever' and left me to it. That was probably for the best because without the pressure I found it a lot more enjoyable.

I wasn't very good, in fact, the only reason I can play at all is sheer bloody mindedness. I had a terrible singing voice and almost no ability to recognise pitch. This has improved over the years, but again only because I worked at it.

The music played in my home growing up was largely classical and opera, with a bit of other stuff sprinkled over it. It wasn't until my peers started listening to music that I really paid any attention. My first early loves were Def Leppard, Motley Crue and Faith no More. The latter has stuck with me, as Mike Patton has grown and explored I've followed him some pretty weird places.

The real revelation for me came in year 7 or 8. I was reading 'Issue One' comics and in particular Zero Assasin. One of the quirks of that comic was that it had a soundtrack listed to play while you read it. This particular comic called for 'Wave of Mutilation' by the Pixies. I had seen Pixies graffitti on the goth kids bags and asked one I kind of knew if I could get a copy of that song. He ended up giving me all of Doolittle and it was an absolute revelation to 13 or 14 year old me. This music was so weird and awesome, yet sounded like a garage band mucking around. Especially the lead guitar.. how was he making that noise??? So I went down a huge musical rabbit hole. I've heard it said that any teen who listens to the Pixies forms a band. I was no exception. That particular project is still going nearly 30 years later.

I became a bit of a musical snob for about 10 years and actually missed the real birth of grunge.. it sounded like a rip off of my favourite band but not as good to me. Funnily enough, years later and soon after his death I saw an interview with Kurt Cobain where he said the pixies were one of his biggest influences. Cue me tracking down as much Nirvana as I could find and learning how to appreciate it... and play it.

It took a while, but a have branched out hugely now and there are many bands/artists I follow pretty closely. Beck, Blur, Gorrillaz, Alice Donut, Arctic Monkeys, Regurgitator.. the alternate rock catalogue is pretty big and ever growing as I go back and look at my influences influences - Husker Du, Bowie, Queen, The Beatles etc etc.

The Pixies have stayed my main squeeze. They actually broke up the year I discovered them.. but when I heard they reformed in 2007 hell nor high water would stop me seeing them. That they are able to recreate their sound live almost flawlessly blows me away every time.. and I've probably seen them 6 or 7 times now.

So that's the extremely condensed version of my musical genisis......

[DarkMark]

The Pixies Doolittle album was my first ever CD, Sonic. I was 15 years old. Pixies (and U2) were the reason I wanted to pick up the guitar in the first place.

[I’ll give it a go]

The Pixies Doolittle album was my first ever CD, Sonic. I was 15 years old. Pixies (and U2) were the reason I picked up the guitar in the first place.

U2 are coming to Perth this year with the Chief himself Noel Gallagher supporting.


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[DarkMark]

U2 are coming to Perth this year with the Chief himself Noel Gallagher supporting.


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I believe they are doing the Joshua Tree anniversary tour. I would be interested but I don’t think I’ll be in the country when they come to Perth. I have a wedding to go to in Thailand in November.