A foundation of music covering alternative, indie rock, new wave and soul, After School Karate feature members from Australia, Scotland, England, Ireland and South Africa.
Fronted by Michael 'Jock' Brown, the group write their own originals and are about to commence a new monthly residency at The Indooropilly Hotel in Brisbane.Here, Jock shares a few tales from some chance encounters the band have had with some famous names over the years.
1: Backstage With Simple Minds
In 1996, I was a poor struggling musician receiving an arts grant otherwise known as the dole.We got to know the owner of RAM magazine who invited us backstage to a Simple Minds concert at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Having no money, we used the ticket stub of someone leaving and eventually managed to get backstage and started talking to lead singer Jim Kerr, who asked what we thought of the show; then had to explain that we skipped in as we were skint.
I was born in Glasgow and I think he took pity on us; he gave us five tickets to next night's show for the rest of the band plus a legitimate backstage pass.
Managed to slip him a cassette of our band (and no he didn't sign us up), but always remembered his kindness in taking an interest in a young band. This stayed with me and I always remember to treat other musicians with respect.
As a side note, Simple Minds were managed by John Reid (made famous from the 'Rocket Man' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody' movies, and another Scot) who was manager of Queen and Elton John, and I got a chance to chat to him as well.
2: David Bowie's Sydney BBQ
We were invited to a BBQ in Sydney during David Bowie's 'Glass Spider' tour where all of David Bowie's backing band were there.Our guitar player at the time was a little too tipsy (or something like that) to tune his guitar. He sought the help of the guy standing next to him who we found out later was Carlos Alomar, who co-wrote 'Fame' and other Bowie classics. We had no idea who he was but he was very kind, considerate and encouraging.
3: Sharing A Urinal With Nick Cave
In a Sydney pub known for its cavernous toilets, I'm at the urinal when Nick Cave came in and just started singing to himself. Just me and Nick (I don't think he realised there was anyone else in there). Sounded great; not an inspirational story, just strange.4: U2 Mishaps
U2 at Festival Hall in Brisbane, 1984. First song was 'Gloria' and when they finished it, Bono said "who would have guessed we are one of the biggest bands in the world with a tone deaf bass player".After that, they got angry with each other and played one of the most powerful concerts I have ever seen. Moral of the story: always take music seriously and tune up.
5: Kings Cross Bouncer
I was the singer in a Brisbane band (Peso Kim) and we relocated to Sydney, hence all the Sydney stories. We used to do a lot of supports for another Brisbane band, Ups and Downs.One night they were playing at the now defunct Kardomah Café in Kings Cross. I used to sometimes get up and do backing vocals for one of the songs in their encore. This night I told the bouncer that I was singing and got in for free (please refer to poor musician statements previously mentioned).
This night they finished, but did not get enough response for an encore. I then felt a tap on my shoulder and it was the bouncer who said if I didn't get up to sing he would break one of my body parts. I didn't ask which one, but none of them seemed like a good idea.
I then had to get backstage, begged them to do an encore or they were going to have to come to my funeral. Luckily for me they did and I'm still here. Moral of the story – don't muck around with a Kings Cross bouncer.
After School Karate's monthly Sunday residency at The Indooropilly Hotel (Brisbane) starts 7 November.
