Garton began composing music in the late 1970s and studied composition with composer and pianist, Sykes Rose in the early 1980s. Garton went on to perform, write and record with numerous bands, ensembles and free improvisation groups including Private Lives. By 1983 the line-up was Garton on keyboards and Don Brown on drums (ex-Flowers); Bob Morton on saxophone; Phil Munro on bass guitar; and Jon Needham on guitar. In September that year, Shelley Dempsey of "The Canberra Times" felt the group were a "not in the least unpleasant sounding Sydney quintet, feature a very stylish mix which is clever, but not too clever". His later groups were Astrobeatniks, Lingo Babel, White Punks on Hope and Back from Nowhere.