Neil Who?

 With trusty Telecaster 2011

I started learning guitar when I was around 10 years old, but didn't last long, my (even then) "bassist's fingers" making the fretboard too narrow to manage.  Played live for the first time in a school talent quest when I was 17 (we won), and then went on to find a number of groups of guys (it was always guys in those days!) who were learning their skills by assaulting neighbours with noise on weekends.In 1970 I joined a never-named band on bass with Rob Hicks, Mal Goudie and Gary Goddard, and I think we might have even played a few gigs. 

From there I was lucky enough to be invited to play bass with the Northern Sydney Beaches band "Marastique" in 1971 or 2 - a groovy band of the times playing a mix of originals and covers.  Lots of harmonies and mellow vibes :)  We played a lot and jammed with some great Sydney musicians from Tully, Tamam Shud, Air Supply amongst others - I even got to play bass for Tamam Shud on one occasion.  We split up after a booking issue saw us exiting the Hordern Pavillion after our sound check when booked as support for Frank Zappa and the Mothers.   Oh well :(

Marastique circa 1972 - myself, Graham Hilzinger (kneeling), 
Gary Frederiks, Ian Robbins and Graham Butchart.

After the Zappa fiasco, Marastique disbanded and I joined "Meadowband", a nice subtle folk trio with country influences.  With the addition of Warren Sparke on drums and me on bass, nice, quiet Meadowband became "The Rusty Dusty Brothers", a loud country rock outfit doing Byrds, Burritos and a significantly large amount of original material written by singers Joe and Peter.  Great playing and some good times.

The Rusty Dusty Brothers circa 1975 - me, Joe Cannon, 
Peter Garrity, Warren Sparke and Roger Ilott

I left RDB rather unwillingly in 1975 or 6 and went travelling in Europe after a bass stint in a very enjoyable band called "The Great Dividing Band" playing bars in Sydney.  Came back to Sydney, did a year's training as a school psychologist and moved to the Far South Coast of New South Wales, where I played bass with Cliff Jahnsen, Louise Harnett and Dennis Richards in Harnetts Chips - it was way better than it sounds - in local pubs and clubs.

Harnotts Chips 1979 - Cliff Jahnnsen, 
Dennis Richards, me, Louise Harnett

 Then 26 years of family, work, promotion, mortgage etc.

In 2005 I discovered Garageband and www.macjams.com, and started writing and recording my own music (never knew I could write or sing before!). That encouraged me to jump at the chance to join up with a ragtag bunch of ex-musos and beginners in the form of PBGB in my south coast village.

PBGB 2010 - Brian Kille, me, Chris Ralfs, Heather McLeod, 
Ken Vatcher (on drums), Gus Washbourne and Peter Reid

PBGB is a musical co-operative, always with a core of regular players, but with an ever widening circle of talented local musicians joining the "PBGB Family".  It was exactly what I needed to develop my guitar and vocal skills as well as accelerate my progress on the steep learning curve of musical production.  We've played a few live gigs (nowhere near enough as far as I'm concerned) but have recently had a rather ironic shortage of bass players, leading to the demise of any gigging opportunities.  I'm hoping that might change in the near future.

In 2012, after producing PBGB's recording efforts in The Shed for a number of years, things fell into place for me and The Shed, and we started to record some local luminaries with outstanding success on the audio front.  Two videos of one such session were made by Bill Brown from the local ABC (with my audio track), and have been placed on the National ABC website.

Recording in the PBGB Shed 2012

As we enter 2013, I'm looking forward to working with more great musicians locally - both playing and producing - and also to the prospect of getting a band to do showcase local gigs.  We'll see what happens!

It's now 2015 - how did that happen?!  I now have 4 albums "released" and available online and as CDs, plus a catalogue of 115 recorded original songs, as many again collaborations with musicians around the world, and a steadily developing set of skills in the studio.  The current iteration of PBGB (and there have been many) is as good as we've had, and looks like it will get a reputation locally as "that band that only plays occasionally, but is really good" :)

PBGB 2015 - John Drews, Rob Smallwood, Neil Porter, Jen Halper,
Peter Reid and Chris Ralfs at the Cheeky Mango.