and just start playing. We would do any gig,
[WM] Who named the band?
first tour of Australia. So it was their first tour,
anything. We did a lot of Battle of the Bands,
and their promoter, which ended up being
we didn’t win any of them. We would play [Peter] I can’t remember to be honest, we David Smallbone… we didn’t have a manager
wherever somebody would ask us. We would went from Changes to The News, then there or anything, I think they called my house and
do youth group events, and we would try and was Huey Lewis and the News. Aussies will asked if we wanted to come and open up for
do more Christian oriented type things, but our let you know if they like you or not, it’s not like White Heart. We were so small-minded, our first
first shows we’re really in pubs. these polite American crowds who are doing thought was, “Oh man, these guys are going to
the wave before the show even starts. With rip us off, they’re going to give us a bad sound
That’s really when we started to get out of the Aussies, you’ll get a beer bottle to your head if system”. It was so important to us, the sound
different time signatures, girls don’t like that they don’t like you. So when it was The News, it and presentation was more important to us
and they can’t dance, and that was important was like, “Where’s Huey Lewis?” So that wasn’t than the money. In fact, we didn’t even ask if
to us (Laughs). Honestly it wasn’t until we got working and so we went to the Newsboys. It there was any money, it was more about how
a call… somebody called us. We’d done a few was before there were ‘boy bands’, but there we’d sound. We were very young.
youth group events and different things where were the Choir Boys who were in Australia and we could, and tried to write our own songs. were a great rock band, and there were the So we went down and it was actually the
But our break, if you want to call it that, or our Beach Boys. So Newsboys seemed to work, opposite what happened. Christian McHugh
turning point really was we started to get a probably easier to spell. was the drummer at the time, a total sweetheart
good following in the youth groups and we’d
to me, he said, “Dude, just use my kit- it’s mic’ed
play the Youth Alive events. We didn’t really My Dad liked it because it was like we were up and sounds great.” And it did, it sounded
have any good songs, but we definitely had a bringing the good news. So our first break was, amazing. And Billy, and Tommy Sims, they
presence, there was something about the early as we got known in that area which was the were all amazing, like, “What guitar rig do you
edition of the Newsboys. By this time were Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Brisbane, and have? You should try this one”. (Laughs) They
called the Newsboys. Queensland Australia, and it was White Hearts were really helpful and we had a great show.
January 2019
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