Circa 2006

1. This is me at about 15, before accounting ever existed in my life and living proof that guitars and rock’n’roll have been a massive part of my life since a very young age. This is where it all started: the story of a wild heart youth who somehow found his way into accounting only to then shy away after feeling out of place. As my friend Timmy Rough of The New Roses sings, “Life ain’t easy for a boy with long hair”. I made it and I am now exactly where I need to be.

2013

2. In 2013 I completed my undergraduate degree in Bachelor of Business (Accounting) at Western Sydney University and was also representing CA ANZ on campus as a ‘Student Brand Champion’. I stayed in this role for two years and was around for the rebrand of CA ANZ which was an exciting time. This was when I had come out of a band on some pretty ugly contract terms with He She Wonderland and was entirely jaded by the music industry. Point in hand, here I cut my hair short. This look didn’t last!

2019

3. I welcomed my son Hendrix into the world in 2019 and it was also the year I decided to complete the last two modules of my CA Program after a many-year hiatus. I had left the accounting profession after feeling like a fish out of water in the corporate world. I was studying, working and learning to be a parent.

2020

4. Me in my happy place, onstage with a Gibson Les Paul, plugged into a cranked-up Marshall amplifier playing straight up rock’n’roll with the Choirboys. This was one of the first run of shows I did as part of Empire Touring’s Pure Gold Live after the first COVID-19 lockdown. It was possibly the biggest gig I have ever played to, a full house at WIN Entertainment Centre. It was also the last time I ever played with Lindsay Tebbutt (drummer and founding member of the Choirboys) who was diagnosed with mesothelioma shortly after this gig and passed away the following year.

2022

5. Me at Amplify 11 headquarters in Penrith, Sydney. The first industries to really suffer during COVID-19 lockdowns were entertainment and the arts. I had a lot of musician friends and colleagues who were reaching out to me because they knew I was an accountant in my previous life, and they didn’t understand how to qualify for JobKeeper due to their own perception that they weren’t considered a small business! They needed help from somebody who understood. So, it just kind of clicked: this is what I was meant to do.

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