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The Anyones

Broadcast 6.30pm on 05/05/2004

The Anyones rehearsing
  The Anyones are a five-piece rock band from Melbourne

GEORGE NEGUS: First up tonight, something contemporary. GNT's resident rock'n'roller Dave Morley has been hanging out with a band dead keen to make a genuine living – in fact, I suspect any sort of living – from their music.

Whether they will make it or not, is literally anyone's guess. And you'll see what I mean by that almost straightaway.

band members
  The band members believe they're at a time when they'll either crash or crash through
band member working
  The band members need to do other jobs to make things meet
Steve Pinkerton
  The band relies on their music to get them noticed, but it's a long process
Steve with baby
  Steve's dreams now affect his family as well

DAVE MORLEY, REPORTER: In the world of rock'n'roll, there's a fine line between underground acclaim and mainstream success. And it's a jump that most bands never achieve. But five guys from Melbourne may be on the brink of doing just that. They're the Anyones – Steve Pinkerton, his brother, Mal, Nick Murphy, Adrian Gardner and Rohan Brooks. They've been together five years, but they've now reached a crucial stage in their career. They might become huge or they might just disappear.

STEVE PINKERTON, LEAD VOCALIST FOR THE ANYONES: Yeah, it's a very important time for us. I guess it is a time when we either crash or crash through. We're going to be investing a lot of energy into the next stage. So we could very well implode, or we could break through and have success.

DAVE MORLEY: The Anyones have already had the sort of success most bands would envy – regular airplay on youth radio station Triple J, videos, and tours around the country. But even at this level, it's still a hard slog.

STEVE PINKERTON: It's not glamorous. The feeling on stage when it's going well, it's really like a rush. It is the drug and the reward that you're looking for every time you play.

DAVE MORLEY: What's the best thing about, you know, living in a rock'n'roll band?

ROHAN BROOKS, DRUMMER FOR THE ANYONES: It's the lifestyle, it's the travelling that I like. I dig it. You know, what do we say? Sex, drugs, rock'n'roll. I've seen none of it, except the rock'n'roll bit.

DAVE MORLEY: You must be pretty close mates. You live in each other's pockets most of the year. Is that tough?

STEVE PINKERTON: It's like jail. You do get attracted to each other a bit.

ROHAN BROOKS: How you going there, Kylie?

KYLIE: Good.

ROHAN BROOKS: Are you doing some dots?

KYLIE: Yeah. Dots.

ROHAN BROOKS: Then you're gonna fire it?

KYLIE: Yeah.

ROHAN BROOKS: That'll look great. I'd love to not have to work. Who wouldn't? For the moment, it's fantastic.

STEVE PINKERTON: Unfortunately, we have to do other jobs to make things meet. We've all had periods where we've just, um, done nothing and invested all our time in the music. But that's living on a shoestring. It's not a very comfortable way to live.

DAVE MORLEY: How much time do you devote to the band?

STEVE PINKERTON: My girlfriend probably says it's far too much. We could say, specifically, only on our stage for an hour. The amount of preparation and, um, wheeling and dealing that goes on just to get to that stage, also the fact you're always thinking about it. I think that really annoys my girlfriend, because she never thinks I'm actually there. I'm thinking about the next gig. For a while there, it was just my dream. And so you could just pursue that single-heartedly. But now I've got two people that are involved in my dreams. So if it all comes crumbling down, I'm tearing them down with me. So you've got to consider those issues. We used to think we could just rely on the music to get us noticed. And ultimately that has been true for us. But I think that's a very slow process.

DAVE MORLEY: They're currently in negotiations with a US recording company, a deal that could launch them to the next level.

STEVE PINKERTON: I can't see what's bad about having success, really, yeah, when you've done it like this. I'm sure we'll implode like every band. One sniff of success and everyone... "I hate you. You're an idiot." We might as well get paid lots of money because we already hate each other.

GEORGE NEGUS: Well, one thing's for sure – if the Anyones do make it, you could never accuse them of being an overnight success. Funny guys and good musos.


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