Greg Anderson is an elder statesman of the FNQ original music scene. He’s been there pretty much since the beginning. He’s listed in the Australian Who’s who of Rock n Roll for his association with the band Gulf Klub, and been a key member of seminal Cairns original bands Meta4 and The Unknown. Greg now spends half the year in England and Half back in Cairns, this Thursday night at the Grand Hotel Resonate gig he is reuniting for the first time in several years with former Unknown member Simon Wynyard. I catch up with Greg ahead of the Resonate show this Thursday…
TM:- Before you started the unknown you were in a quite a few different bands including one that got you listed in the Australian who’s who of rock n roll book, can you tell our readers a bit of you pre unknown history?
GA:- Before and after GULF KLUB I played with a guy named Gary Pepper as a bass player (in GULF KLUB I was the drummer). Gary who was the person who taught me how to write a songs. Simon Wynyard had also played bass with Gary Pepper. A few years and a couple of other bands as a drummer or bass player, I decided that I want to play guitar and sing. As I had been writing songs and had always played in original bands I decided to get “The Unknown” together. The original line up was Simon on bass and Rainer Rusch on drums. After a year or so Geoff Pasche who I had known and played music with since our teens (Who also played with Gary) replaced Rainer on drums. I was lucky to play with the best funk rock rhythm section in our minds…. and soul. After playing together for quite a few years, we also created another band called “META 4” with Naomi Day on vocals. “META 4” was a much more full on rock band. We would do gigs where “The Unknown” would play first being all funky and “META 4” would finish rocking the house…
TM:- Where did The Unknown band name come from?
GA:- The name basically came from the fact that a lot of people would not take a chance and stay where they are (Good or bad) for the fear of “The Unknown”. Back then the pubs and clubs just wanted cover songs. I was lucky that all the bands I played in refused to play covers. It was about taking chances and believing in “The Unknown”. We also never showed our faces in our promo photos. I suppose we lived up to our name, cause I’m not even sure who we are….
TM:- What is your favorite memory from playing with the unknown?
GA:- As they say, if you can remember it you weren’t there but I would say, closing my eyes, drifting away and singing my songs. That was and still is my favorite bit….
TM:- You have been doing a few solo shows in recent times, what are you currently planning on doing with your music?
GA:- At the moment we are trying to record some of “The Unknown” and “META 4” songs. I live half the year in the UK and half here in Cairns. The good thing about the internet is we can record track and then email then to each other. I’m looking forward to playing with Simon on Thursday night as it is the first time for many years that we have played an official gig together. Who knows what the future will bring. That’s the good thing about believing in “The Unknown”…
Greg plays with Simon from the Unknown this Thursday night at the Grand Hotel Resonate gig presented by Pandamonium Records. Resonate kicks off at 7pm and entry is free. You can check out the Facebook event for more info.
Todd Macalpine
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