Mark Johnson Welcome to the first installment in a new series of interviews that I’ve entitled “10 Questions”. As usual I’ve tested this out on my friend and fellow contributor Mark Johnson first, with instructions to pass the questions on to a few others. Stay tuned for more in what should be a great series. Mark Gibson.
1. What was the first instrument you played & how old were you? I was probably like everyone else who attended public school. My first instrument was the recorder and I was 8 years old. I didn’t jump on the guitar till I was 11.2. Who were your early influences?

Well Skyhooks kicked it all off for me. After that it was a bit of a hodge podge until Kiss came along in high school.

3. Have you ever had formal lessons?

Yes I have. I started out with a guy named Randal Waller, who lived in the local area, and I went to school with his brothers John and Kendal. They formed a band called Avion in the early eighties and I believe Randal is now playing with Shania Twaine. Later I had some classical lessons, but that didn’t really hold my interest.

4. What was the name of your first band?

It was in 6th grade, and I think it was called Flyte. All originals, which wasn’t bad for 12 year olds. We had no bass player. It was all done on keyboards. We could have been an early Genesis I suppose.

5. What was the best piece of advice you’ve been given & who gave it to you?

That’s a tough one. I’ve been given heaps of advice over the years, but one that stuck with me was from a keyboard player, Rod Crundwell, who I worked with on and off for a few years. And it was really a one word piece of advice, and the word was,”Diversify”. What he was saying was, that if you want to keep working consistently, you need to be able to play just about anything. Great advice. Don’t put all your musical eggs in one basket.

6. What was the best show you’ve ever played & why?

Another tough question having done so many over the years. For sheer audience size I’d probably say Purga Creek bike show in QLD with Bandanna. 14 000 bikies going off and the band was really pumped that night too.

7. What was the worst show you’ve ever played & why?

Oddly enough, this one’s easy. It was the Bleach Boys, a Beach Boys show from the mid eighties. Dapto Leagues club. For some inexplicable reason we went on for the first set to a sold out show and each one of us started thinking about what we were playing. A show we’d done at least 500 times before, and we were suddenly conscious of our instruments and what we were doing. The whole band. It was a struggle, it was uncomfortable, and it sounded awful.

We went out to the carpark during the break to try and relax and unwind, which is a euphemism for rolling a couple of illegal cigarettes. When we returned for the second set we were fine.

8. What was the best show you’ve ever seen & why?

The best “show” I’ve ever seen would have to be Kiss. You can’t beat them for a live performance. They are the masters of showmanship. Musically though, I’d have to say Yes. I felt like euphoric after that one. Almost like I’d spent two hours in the presence of God.

9. Name your 5 favourite albums in no particular order.

Yes - 90125

Pink Floyd - The wall

Kiss - Revenge

Santana - Inner Secrets

Skyhooks - Living in the seventies

10. Name your 5 favourite musicians/bands in no particular order.

Steve Morse - Guitar

Trevor Rabin - Guitar/producer

Hank Marvin - Guitar

David Gilmour - Guitar

Billy Joel - Piano/ songwriter

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