Amongst Myselves' inroads to electronic/atmospheric music began when he first heard the works of the early electronic groups like Tangerine Dream eg. "Atem" and "Alpha Centauri". During this period he was also exposed to Schulze, Synergy, Gandalf, Peak and the more commercial groups including Kraftwerk, New Order and Vangelis. National radio programs like "Dream Time" and "Scratching the Surface" were two of the few outlets where he could hear such work. This line-up of influences started Amongst Myselves twiddling knobs on his own synthesisers. So with the help of a couple of old cassette decks, a couple of synthesisers and lots of enthusiasm Amongst Myselves started composing.
Amongst Myselves starting writing under the guise of Southern Garden not to mention also performing to friends with his New Year's Shows being a great hit. He also released six cassettes worth of material, his most praised being the post-apocalyptic "The Last Day".
In the late 80's and during the early 90's he diversified into playing keyboards and guitars in many local bands of which the guitar based post-punk "Spaghetti Machete" and "The Lost Tribe of Ubobo" were successful with regular appearances at some of Adelaide's old haunts like the Royal Admiral Hotel, Royal Oak, Exeter, Austral and the Tivoli. The styles of music were very eclectic ranging from "Australian Pub Rock" through to world music. Four cassettes of music were produced and sold for both groups.
During the 90's he became more
aware of neu-Ambient with the likes of Future Sound of London, Steve Roach,
Robert Rich and Aphex Twin not to mention a new interest in the Eno's
(Brian and Roger). So with the help of advances in computer based synths
he took a great interest in the ambient/new age/drone arena.
Amongst Myselves released "The Sun In The Bottle" in 1999 which
was a retrospective of pieces written during the previous four years.
The style of this album was definitely new age in its basis with a hint
of electro-acoustics as heard on tracks "Before Now" and "The
Last Woman on Lysithea". "The Sun in the Bottle" had extensive
airplay in Europe and the USA.
During 1999 and 2000 he started work on "Still Life" feeling
at ease with the ambient/space/drone direction his work was taking. There
are still reflections of new age coming through but as reviewer Hans Stoeve
of PowerSpot FM mentions in his review of "Still Life" - "....he
has resisted the urge to compose dramatic music".
