_{The Tommys on tour in a tuk tuk:  Robert Lastdrager, Jonathan Lickliter and Ollie Laurie.}

1. Getting the band back together after 20 years.
Playing numerous Melbourne inner-city bars in 2024 with The Tommys has been a blast.

2. Touring regional VIC and NSW with Cambodian Space Project on their April Oz tour.
A real treat to play beautiful venues like the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine, George Lane and Memo Music Hall in St Kilda to such appreciative crowds.

3. Marrickville Bowlo
We flew into Sydney and out the next day. Played a rowdy loud evening of garage R&R topped off by sinking a flotilla of schooners with old mates I hadn’t seen in 20 years!

4. Sydney
I arrived in Sydney in 1985 with nothing but a car full of drums and knew no one. To kill time, I drove constantly to acquaint myself with the new city. It was The Saints who kept me company.

5. We were invited to play Garage Fest Cambodia with CSP and tour Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Battambang and Kampot on a bus during May.
The Kingdom of Wonder was experiencing its worst heatwave on record when we landed, followed by ten days of 45c max and nighttime min temps of 38c. The swimming pools were like hot soup while the countries’ aircon units hung on by their fingernails. Luckily the beers were ice cold, the nightlife fantastic and the local Khmer people such music fans that we played and partied hard and long!

6. A Tuk Tuk took my baby away
There’s a definitive humane energy to Phnom Penh’s city traffic as everyone circles the massive roundabouts at 30km per hour top speed. The Tuk Tuks create a comforting confluence of congestion in the heat, like swarms of bumble bees looking for flower$, where everyone gets to where they’re going, and no one is ever in danger. A very courteous, continuous and Zen like experience.

7. Tama Imperial Star 1975 snare drum
Sometimes it’s astounding how the introduction of a single new instrument can reinvigorate a band.

8. Sound Park Recording studio
By November we wanted to get a few tracks down for a 45-release in 2025. It happened to be on US election day which made for a surreal atmosphere. It’s been a while between drinks, and it felt and sounded great to record in an old analogue studio again.

9. Music Swop Shop, Carlton
There’s a reason I’ve been going back for over 30 years: Rare, quality gear! The Swoppies knowledge, selection and pricing is an oasis in a desert of mass-produced, overpriced and characterless instruments. This Melbourne institution is a ‘must see’ tourist destination for any visiting muso.

10. Burning Vinyl, Radio 3CR
Every Friday from 2-4 pm for as long as I can remember Matt has produced a show for new and underrepresented emerging acts to promote their music and gigs around town often playing live in the studio. All hail Burning Vinyl and 3CR. They are the vanguard in mono.