Stephen John
Above: Phillip John in Tanunda Band uniform 1960
Above: Warren John and Frank John 1960
Above: Christine and Galvin John in Tanunda Main Street.
Above: Ben, Hugo, Martin and Arthur John circa 1920s.
Above: Frank John Australian Champion circa 1937
Above: Arthur, Martin, Hugo and Ben John Tanunda Band Quartet circa 1930s.
Above: Arthur John cornet champion circa 1930s.
Above: Peter, Galvin, Warren, Phillip and Stephen John, 1976
Above: Program notes from Frank John's time in New Zealand.
Above: Program from a concert in 1954 conducted by Frank John to welcome home one of New Zealand's greats, Ken Smith.
Above: Frank John front and centre with the best in New Zealand.
Introduction:
Stephen John is classy but not class conscious. A character trait inherited, amongst many others, from his father Galvin, who was a legendary figure in SA banding for decades. He is genetically hard wired for high achievement and hard work and is also generous and warm-hearted. I was in awe of his dad who always gave me the impression that he was delivering the adjudicators closing remarks when I conversed with him. In an interesting turn of fate, it turned out that Gal was the adjudicator at my very first solo contest!
In case you’ve missed the point I am very fond of Stephen John. As the son of a trade union leader and grandson of a Lancashire train driver I am surprised that I’m drawn to the company of a bloke from the Barossa Valley Heartland, but that’s brass banding for you! We come together and make our music, drink our wine and form bonds that last a lifetime
Stephen’s working days are now behind him and a revival in his interest in playing the trombone is gathering momentum, hardly surprising when you cast your eyes over his banding lineage. He was part of the golden era of brass banding, not that any of us who lived through those days thought that we were riding the crest of a wave. We just kept going to band practice because it was what was expected and for the most part felt good and right. Stephen’s views on contemporary banding are commensurate with mine, cautiously optimistic but with a nod to a past that is unlikely to be repeated.
I invite you to read all about Stephen John and his family’s musical history.
If you would like to read more about the John Family and their banding history please click here: John Band History
Geoff Meikle,
25/4/2023.
Stephen John, Brass Band Profile interview transcript, 2/2/23
Geoff Meikle; “I’m here with Stephen John, who has been a wonderful bandsmen and dedicated musician over the years. Where were you born Stephen?”
Stephen John; “I was born in Angaston in 1952, my parents’ names are Galvin and Christine.”
GM; “Instruments?”
SJ; “I started on tenor horn when I was about 7 or 8 then within a couple of years I was on trombone. My uncle was a famous trombone player. After he passed away in New Zealand, Dad went over there, brought his trombone back, gave it to me and said ‘You’re playing trombone now’.”
GM; “And you play eupho of course.”
SJ; “Latter days I played eupho for about 5 years.”
GM; “Same as your brother Phillip. You’ve provided me with a very comprehensive list of your lineage and family history, which contains an impressive list of achievements. Who were your first influences and who gave you your first lessons?”
SJ; “Dad gave me my first lesson and my last one, which was about 2 weeks later! I remember when he gave me the trombone, he said ‘Well I’ve never played the trombone but these are the slide positions away you go’…..and that was it, so I was basically self-taught.”
GM; “When you look at your family history and the number of people who were playing, you must have been surrounded by good sounds all the time and that counts for a lot.”
SJ; “Absolutely. Our house was always open to any brass musicians. Dad was always in constant contact with the brass section of the orchestra and he also used to go to the Police Band every week and listen to them. That was reciprocated when those people used to come around home and have meals and socialise. So, I was always influenced by some very high-class players.”
GM; “Has there been a particular time in your life that has been important in shaping you as a musician?”
SJ; “I guess when I was in my teens, I was principal trombone at Tanunda...because there was no-one else, so I had to achieve–and the band was achieving. During that period the band won eleven consecutive test pieces and that was very influential. The band was very highly regarded around Australia, although we didn’t tour much…. we didn’t have any money. The amount of players that used to come up and play with Tanunda ….. we basically had half the players in the orchestra play with us regularly as well as guys from the Police Band. Dad used get players from all over the place which was fantastic.”
GM; “And a great hymn playing band I seem to remember.”
SJ; “Absolutely.”
GM; “I seem to remember that Gal was particularly fussy about playing hymns if I’m not mistaken.”
SJ; “Yeah, he always claimed if you could play a good hymn, you could play anything. That was all to do with tuning and playing together and so on. The band struck a record of hymns called ‘Barossa Brass’.”
GM; “I’ve got a copy of that from the second-hand record shop at Port Adelaide Markets.”
SJ; “That was actually funded by the Lutheran Church. It was made so that small churches in the country that didn’t have an organ could use the record to sing their hymns. It was interesting also that I ran into Professor David King when he came out to Australia several years ago, I was with Tanunda Band and struck up a conversation with him. He said to me ‘John, John….. is your father’s name Galvin?’ I said yes, he then told me that he had a recording at home of hymns which is the best recording of hymns that he’s ever heard, which was just a ‘WOW’ moment for me.”
GM; “I remember being in a rehearsal with Gal and he used the expression ‘Let’s warm the sound’. You’d get other conductors who would say the same thing but use different words. Jimbo (Jim Dempsey) would talk about getting a ‘dark sound’, but Gal’s way was to ask for a warm sound.”
SJ; “He actually hated the sound of a raucous brass band.”
GM; “He was a eupho player so I guess his ears were attuned to a warm tone. So, contesting. Is it worth the effort?”
SJ; “Haha!….That’s a really interesting question. I think as far as maintaining a high standard in the band the preparation in leading up to a contest was extremely important. Who wins and who loses is not necessarily so important. In the early days it was all about contesting because there was nothing else and that’s what you really concentrated on. These days my mind has changed. I firmly believe that you should always be striving for some sort of perfection. When we were handed these test pieces, which were extremely difficult at the time, we would try to achieve our best.”
GM; “I have given a lot of thought to this subject. I’ve actually said to a few of the participants in ‘Bonded by Brass’ that if I never entered a music contest of any description ever again …that would be soon enough for me. Jim Dempsey’s response to this question was interesting. He said that growing up in Scotland it was just a natural part of what you did – you’d be the same, I was the same.”
SJ; “On that same theme Dad left Tanunda Band in 1976. He was forced to resign after an incredibly successful career ... but ... he actually brought that on himself because he was striving for excellence all the time and pushing the band harder and harder and harder to achieve. There was a section of the band who were right behind him .... loved it, but there was a minority who didn’t want that any more. They wanted the social side of it but not the competition side so that went out the door. It was interesting ….. but he used to push so hard.”
GM; “I remember you saying to me years ago that if someone didn’t turn up to band practice Gal would go around to his house and say ‘Why weren’t you there?’ (SJ; ‘Absolutely’), try that now haha!”
SJ; “You know you talk about Gal being tough and demanding, I didn’t ever know my grandfather old A.P. He died just before I was born. However, I was speaking to one of Tanunda’s old principal cornets, Aubrey Kernich, one night. I said ‘Aub, what was he like as a conductor’ and he said ‘He was a lot tougher than your father!’.”
GM; “What are your preferred styles of music?”
SJ; “Oh that’s an interesting one. I guess I like all styles, contemporary not so much, I certainly love the Baroque style in smaller groups. Really enjoyed playing with Barossa Brass for quite a few years. That was a lot of fun. I love the traditional classical works, especially the big works by Berlioz, but I also love trad jazz and unfortunately, I’ve never been able to play – just one of those things……. didn’t ever have the right genes to play that.”
GM; “Who are your favourite musicians, bands and musical associates?”
SJ; “That really is a hard one…”
GM; “You don’t have to name them all ….. your brother must have been amongst them?”
SJ; “He was an extremely good player. Interestingly, Phillip had to work for his achievements. He used to rehearse every day, I used to rehearse once a fortnight. I just had this natural thing that I could just pick up a trombone and play but he couldn’t ….. if he put the eupho down for two weeks it’d take him two weeks to be able to play again. The guys who inspired me were people like Jack Traeger, better known as J C Traeger, who I played alongside. He was Australian Champion several times over….. beautiful player. The next one was Ernie Alderslade (GM; ‘Beautiful sound!’) Then there were guys like Billy Bird, not many people know Bill ... not the greatest player in the world but he gave me so much help along with Bill Polain, Warwick Tyrell and many others.”
GM; “What would you do differently?”
SJ; “Rehearse a little bit more, I was a bit slack on practising. I always was able to achieve what needed to be achieved but I would never push myself to go further, unless I really had to when solos came up and so on. If I had troubles, I would work on it but I’ve been very lucky with what I did.”
GM; “Apart from anything else, I’ve known you now for forty years, maybe a touch more, and I feel that one of your great characteristics is your work ethic. You’ve only recently retired and I can remember when you were wine making you’d be travelling long distances to buy fruit, you ran your own show for a while and that must have had its moments. Music would have had to fit in between all of that as well.”
SJ; “Well music has always been a big part of my life. I was only talking to my wife last night about my current playing situation, band rehearsal with Kensington and Norwood is only a fifteen-minute drive for me, whereas for the last forty years it’s been an hour’s drive.”
GM; “What effect has banding had on your family life? My impression of you has always been that you are very much focussed on high achievement both in music and your work, which would have to do lot with your family background. I know already that you are an excellent family man. What can you tell me about your family life?
SJ; “As a kid my earliest memories were of being surrounded by brass bands, it was inevitable, it was part of our lifestyle so we just went along with it ….. both sides of the family, my mother’s father was a brass player. So, I was influenced greatly to be part of banding, which was fantastic. I got a photograph of my first time in a band uniform; I was five in 1957 I was the mascot of the Tanunda Band for the Australian Championships …. I guess that was the start of it. My brother was in it, the whole family were involved in brass. I didn’t push that with my kids, I’ve got four daughters and they knew my interest in music. My eldest daughter Nicole is an extremely talented musician on French horn. She won junior and senior championships when she was seventeen. (GM; ‘Kerry Hewett speaks very highly of her’) ... she’s very dedicated and still plays with the ASO on occasion. My second daughter played saxophone in high school and showed great promise playing jazz, she was a natural but gave it up because it was too easy!! My third daughter took up cello but she’s now in the medical profession, she was a beautiful cellist and, in fact, played in the Australian Medical Orchestra. My fourth daughter…. no interest in music at all ... zippo! They’ve always supported me, coming along to rehearsals etc. I can remember a Sunday years ago when I went to Bill Polain’s house for a solo piano rehearsal. I had two of the kids with me, they sat behind the door while I practised my solo with Charmaine Polain. They’ve never forgotten that time, they said it was fantastic. I never pushed them but if they wanted to, they could give it a go.”
GM; “One of my enduring images of you comes from the late 80’s. I remember after an Elizabeth Band rehearsal at Wolf Blass Wines in Nuriootpa there was a barbeque where Gal cooked some lovely steaks, we were drinking beautiful wine and your three girls were stuck like glue to your legs, they couldn’t get enough of their Dad. I thought at the time ‘Well that bloke is doing something right’…...absolutely beautiful, a pleasure to behold. We talked about Gal before. Was he an engineer or a shepherd?”
SJ; “Definitely an engineer. He worked very hard at his craft; he was totally untrained. Interestingly he came from a family of ten kids. His eldest brother Frank went to the Conservatorium and his youngest sister Maureen went to the Conservatorium but with eight kids in between he didn’t, so he was trained by his elder brothers and his father to play an instrument. With conducting he took that over because his father passed away and there was no-one else to do it. He took the band to an Australian Championship; he was the youngest conductor to do that at the age of 32 or something. He used to work like hell on all that. As soon as a test piece came out, he would go and buy the LP and listen to it every night and rehearse his conducting to that LP. He would take the music to the Police Band and get them to play it, while he watched Alec Radcliffe conduct ….. they were his mentors if you like. He would then take that back to the band and ‘engineer’ the band to achieve that style.”
GM; “I’m interested to know what Gal was like at home. Did he say ‘You find what you want to do and I’ll support you’…. I know you played a bit of footy etc.”
SJ; “Yeah, I’d say my brother and I were pushed into it, most definitely. I played football and so did my brother at a fairly high level and interestingly in all the years I played football he only ever saw me play once, but he was there with music all the time. If we had a gig or rehearsal on a weekend, I had to be there. I was very keen on car racing and always wanted to go to Bathurst but I never, ever went to Bathurst because we always had rehearsal prior to the contest on the Sunday so I couldn’t go. My father refused to let me go, banding always came first. He was a perfectionist and a high achiever, which I think came about because his father was such a high achiever and respected musician. Also, his eldest brother Frank was renowned across Australia as a trombone player, so Gal was always under pressure to achieve the same level.”
GM; “It takes a bit to do that, a lot of sacrifice. I remember Gal as always having a classy look about him and always sounded classy, but I wouldn’t really say that he was class conscious.”
SJ; “He had an image and an aura about him. He was hugely respected by his peers in the music industry. He did a lot of adjudicating and went to the UK; he had a great rapport with Geoffrey Brand.”
GM; “Has banding influenced your social life?”
SJ; “Of course, a big part of my life, that’s a foregone conclusion.”
GM; “What are your other interests?”
SJ; “Wine making, wine drinking a little bit of judging these days. I enjoy my sports, water sports especially, I did a lot of water skiing when I was younger, played football, competitive swimming. These days I walk every day. The other big part of my life is my family; I’ve got a very close family which is great.”
GM; “What lies ahead for you?”
SJ; “Retirement. (GM; ‘Travel?’)...Not a great deal, I’m probably the worst tourist ever. I’m trying to crank up a little bit of music again. I’m playing with K and N which is part of a renewed interest. If I had the time, I wouldn’t mind doing a music degree at the Con.”
GM; “My interest in travel is not what it was, we travelled fairly extensively during our ‘prime’ years and these days I am more than happy with our day-to-day life.”
SJ; “Same here, I been around the world a few times and visited I don’t know how many countries. I’ve been there and done that and it doesn’t really worry me anymore. We’ve got so much here in this state, we’re going down to Port Elliot next week which is fantastic.”
GM; “Thoughts and opinions on anything else? The direction of banding. How do you feel about that?”
SJ; “Look it’s interesting to see the change in the approach to banding in the years that I’ve been involved in it. Even internationally I remember going to the Albert Hall in about 1982 for the British Nationals. It was full, packed, not a spare seat. My son-in-law went there three or four years ago, he said there were about three or four hundred people there. So, the interest in brass banding is dying and it’s unfortunate to see the demise of a huge amount of brass bands in South Australia. The community spirit those bands used to create was enormous. The Tanunda Band Contest created a huge amount of community interest, the whole street was packed with people for the street march, the hall was packed, there were thousands of people.”
GM; “I try to interact with people positively, but I have a pessimistic view of the future of banding. We have an ageing and diminishing roster of players to call on.”
SJ; “Yes, lifestyles change and you can’t expect things to stay the same.”
GM; “We’ll have to see what happens when we reach our use-by date and the ‘Cotton Wool Kids’, as I call them, take over.”
SJ; “It’s interesting to look at K and N, who went through a low spot several years ago. Now when I go to rehearsal there are young people there, which is really encouraging. They’re playing well, I was very impressed. Tim Frahn is bringing in players from the Uni. Who are achievers and there is a future there.”
GM; “On that optimistic note we’ll finish this interview. Thanks for your time it’s been great to catch up.”
Stephen John is classy but not class conscious. A character trait inherited, amongst many others, from his father Galvin, who was a legendary figure in SA banding for decades. He is genetically hard wired for high achievement and hard work and is also generous and warm-hearted. I was in awe of his dad who always gave me the impression that he was delivering the adjudicators closing remarks when I conversed with him. In an interesting turn of fate, it turned out that Gal was the adjudicator at my very first solo contest!
In case you’ve missed the point I am very fond of Stephen John. As the son of a trade union leader and grandson of a Lancashire train driver I am surprised that I’m drawn to the company of a bloke from the Barossa Valley Heartland, but that’s brass banding for you! We come together and make our music, drink our wine and form bonds that last a lifetime
Stephen’s working days are now behind him and a revival in his interest in playing the trombone is gathering momentum, hardly surprising when you cast your eyes over his banding lineage. He was part of the golden era of brass banding, not that any of us who lived through those days thought that we were riding the crest of a wave. We just kept going to band practice because it was what was expected and for the most part felt good and right. Stephen’s views on contemporary banding are commensurate with mine, cautiously optimistic but with a nod to a past that is unlikely to be repeated.
I invite you to read all about Stephen John and his family’s musical history.
If you would like to read more about the John Family and their banding history please click here: John Band History
Geoff Meikle,
25/4/2023.
Stephen John, Brass Band Profile interview transcript, 2/2/23
Geoff Meikle; “I’m here with Stephen John, who has been a wonderful bandsmen and dedicated musician over the years. Where were you born Stephen?”
Stephen John; “I was born in Angaston in 1952, my parents’ names are Galvin and Christine.”
GM; “Instruments?”
SJ; “I started on tenor horn when I was about 7 or 8 then within a couple of years I was on trombone. My uncle was a famous trombone player. After he passed away in New Zealand, Dad went over there, brought his trombone back, gave it to me and said ‘You’re playing trombone now’.”
GM; “And you play eupho of course.”
SJ; “Latter days I played eupho for about 5 years.”
GM; “Same as your brother Phillip. You’ve provided me with a very comprehensive list of your lineage and family history, which contains an impressive list of achievements. Who were your first influences and who gave you your first lessons?”
SJ; “Dad gave me my first lesson and my last one, which was about 2 weeks later! I remember when he gave me the trombone, he said ‘Well I’ve never played the trombone but these are the slide positions away you go’…..and that was it, so I was basically self-taught.”
GM; “When you look at your family history and the number of people who were playing, you must have been surrounded by good sounds all the time and that counts for a lot.”
SJ; “Absolutely. Our house was always open to any brass musicians. Dad was always in constant contact with the brass section of the orchestra and he also used to go to the Police Band every week and listen to them. That was reciprocated when those people used to come around home and have meals and socialise. So, I was always influenced by some very high-class players.”
GM; “Has there been a particular time in your life that has been important in shaping you as a musician?”
SJ; “I guess when I was in my teens, I was principal trombone at Tanunda...because there was no-one else, so I had to achieve–and the band was achieving. During that period the band won eleven consecutive test pieces and that was very influential. The band was very highly regarded around Australia, although we didn’t tour much…. we didn’t have any money. The amount of players that used to come up and play with Tanunda ….. we basically had half the players in the orchestra play with us regularly as well as guys from the Police Band. Dad used get players from all over the place which was fantastic.”
GM; “And a great hymn playing band I seem to remember.”
SJ; “Absolutely.”
GM; “I seem to remember that Gal was particularly fussy about playing hymns if I’m not mistaken.”
SJ; “Yeah, he always claimed if you could play a good hymn, you could play anything. That was all to do with tuning and playing together and so on. The band struck a record of hymns called ‘Barossa Brass’.”
GM; “I’ve got a copy of that from the second-hand record shop at Port Adelaide Markets.”
SJ; “That was actually funded by the Lutheran Church. It was made so that small churches in the country that didn’t have an organ could use the record to sing their hymns. It was interesting also that I ran into Professor David King when he came out to Australia several years ago, I was with Tanunda Band and struck up a conversation with him. He said to me ‘John, John….. is your father’s name Galvin?’ I said yes, he then told me that he had a recording at home of hymns which is the best recording of hymns that he’s ever heard, which was just a ‘WOW’ moment for me.”
GM; “I remember being in a rehearsal with Gal and he used the expression ‘Let’s warm the sound’. You’d get other conductors who would say the same thing but use different words. Jimbo (Jim Dempsey) would talk about getting a ‘dark sound’, but Gal’s way was to ask for a warm sound.”
SJ; “He actually hated the sound of a raucous brass band.”
GM; “He was a eupho player so I guess his ears were attuned to a warm tone. So, contesting. Is it worth the effort?”
SJ; “Haha!….That’s a really interesting question. I think as far as maintaining a high standard in the band the preparation in leading up to a contest was extremely important. Who wins and who loses is not necessarily so important. In the early days it was all about contesting because there was nothing else and that’s what you really concentrated on. These days my mind has changed. I firmly believe that you should always be striving for some sort of perfection. When we were handed these test pieces, which were extremely difficult at the time, we would try to achieve our best.”
GM; “I have given a lot of thought to this subject. I’ve actually said to a few of the participants in ‘Bonded by Brass’ that if I never entered a music contest of any description ever again …that would be soon enough for me. Jim Dempsey’s response to this question was interesting. He said that growing up in Scotland it was just a natural part of what you did – you’d be the same, I was the same.”
SJ; “On that same theme Dad left Tanunda Band in 1976. He was forced to resign after an incredibly successful career ... but ... he actually brought that on himself because he was striving for excellence all the time and pushing the band harder and harder and harder to achieve. There was a section of the band who were right behind him .... loved it, but there was a minority who didn’t want that any more. They wanted the social side of it but not the competition side so that went out the door. It was interesting ….. but he used to push so hard.”
GM; “I remember you saying to me years ago that if someone didn’t turn up to band practice Gal would go around to his house and say ‘Why weren’t you there?’ (SJ; ‘Absolutely’), try that now haha!”
SJ; “You know you talk about Gal being tough and demanding, I didn’t ever know my grandfather old A.P. He died just before I was born. However, I was speaking to one of Tanunda’s old principal cornets, Aubrey Kernich, one night. I said ‘Aub, what was he like as a conductor’ and he said ‘He was a lot tougher than your father!’.”
GM; “What are your preferred styles of music?”
SJ; “Oh that’s an interesting one. I guess I like all styles, contemporary not so much, I certainly love the Baroque style in smaller groups. Really enjoyed playing with Barossa Brass for quite a few years. That was a lot of fun. I love the traditional classical works, especially the big works by Berlioz, but I also love trad jazz and unfortunately, I’ve never been able to play – just one of those things……. didn’t ever have the right genes to play that.”
GM; “Who are your favourite musicians, bands and musical associates?”
SJ; “That really is a hard one…”
GM; “You don’t have to name them all ….. your brother must have been amongst them?”
SJ; “He was an extremely good player. Interestingly, Phillip had to work for his achievements. He used to rehearse every day, I used to rehearse once a fortnight. I just had this natural thing that I could just pick up a trombone and play but he couldn’t ….. if he put the eupho down for two weeks it’d take him two weeks to be able to play again. The guys who inspired me were people like Jack Traeger, better known as J C Traeger, who I played alongside. He was Australian Champion several times over….. beautiful player. The next one was Ernie Alderslade (GM; ‘Beautiful sound!’) Then there were guys like Billy Bird, not many people know Bill ... not the greatest player in the world but he gave me so much help along with Bill Polain, Warwick Tyrell and many others.”
GM; “What would you do differently?”
SJ; “Rehearse a little bit more, I was a bit slack on practising. I always was able to achieve what needed to be achieved but I would never push myself to go further, unless I really had to when solos came up and so on. If I had troubles, I would work on it but I’ve been very lucky with what I did.”
GM; “Apart from anything else, I’ve known you now for forty years, maybe a touch more, and I feel that one of your great characteristics is your work ethic. You’ve only recently retired and I can remember when you were wine making you’d be travelling long distances to buy fruit, you ran your own show for a while and that must have had its moments. Music would have had to fit in between all of that as well.”
SJ; “Well music has always been a big part of my life. I was only talking to my wife last night about my current playing situation, band rehearsal with Kensington and Norwood is only a fifteen-minute drive for me, whereas for the last forty years it’s been an hour’s drive.”
GM; “What effect has banding had on your family life? My impression of you has always been that you are very much focussed on high achievement both in music and your work, which would have to do lot with your family background. I know already that you are an excellent family man. What can you tell me about your family life?
SJ; “As a kid my earliest memories were of being surrounded by brass bands, it was inevitable, it was part of our lifestyle so we just went along with it ….. both sides of the family, my mother’s father was a brass player. So, I was influenced greatly to be part of banding, which was fantastic. I got a photograph of my first time in a band uniform; I was five in 1957 I was the mascot of the Tanunda Band for the Australian Championships …. I guess that was the start of it. My brother was in it, the whole family were involved in brass. I didn’t push that with my kids, I’ve got four daughters and they knew my interest in music. My eldest daughter Nicole is an extremely talented musician on French horn. She won junior and senior championships when she was seventeen. (GM; ‘Kerry Hewett speaks very highly of her’) ... she’s very dedicated and still plays with the ASO on occasion. My second daughter played saxophone in high school and showed great promise playing jazz, she was a natural but gave it up because it was too easy!! My third daughter took up cello but she’s now in the medical profession, she was a beautiful cellist and, in fact, played in the Australian Medical Orchestra. My fourth daughter…. no interest in music at all ... zippo! They’ve always supported me, coming along to rehearsals etc. I can remember a Sunday years ago when I went to Bill Polain’s house for a solo piano rehearsal. I had two of the kids with me, they sat behind the door while I practised my solo with Charmaine Polain. They’ve never forgotten that time, they said it was fantastic. I never pushed them but if they wanted to, they could give it a go.”
GM; “One of my enduring images of you comes from the late 80’s. I remember after an Elizabeth Band rehearsal at Wolf Blass Wines in Nuriootpa there was a barbeque where Gal cooked some lovely steaks, we were drinking beautiful wine and your three girls were stuck like glue to your legs, they couldn’t get enough of their Dad. I thought at the time ‘Well that bloke is doing something right’…...absolutely beautiful, a pleasure to behold. We talked about Gal before. Was he an engineer or a shepherd?”
SJ; “Definitely an engineer. He worked very hard at his craft; he was totally untrained. Interestingly he came from a family of ten kids. His eldest brother Frank went to the Conservatorium and his youngest sister Maureen went to the Conservatorium but with eight kids in between he didn’t, so he was trained by his elder brothers and his father to play an instrument. With conducting he took that over because his father passed away and there was no-one else to do it. He took the band to an Australian Championship; he was the youngest conductor to do that at the age of 32 or something. He used to work like hell on all that. As soon as a test piece came out, he would go and buy the LP and listen to it every night and rehearse his conducting to that LP. He would take the music to the Police Band and get them to play it, while he watched Alec Radcliffe conduct ….. they were his mentors if you like. He would then take that back to the band and ‘engineer’ the band to achieve that style.”
GM; “I’m interested to know what Gal was like at home. Did he say ‘You find what you want to do and I’ll support you’…. I know you played a bit of footy etc.”
SJ; “Yeah, I’d say my brother and I were pushed into it, most definitely. I played football and so did my brother at a fairly high level and interestingly in all the years I played football he only ever saw me play once, but he was there with music all the time. If we had a gig or rehearsal on a weekend, I had to be there. I was very keen on car racing and always wanted to go to Bathurst but I never, ever went to Bathurst because we always had rehearsal prior to the contest on the Sunday so I couldn’t go. My father refused to let me go, banding always came first. He was a perfectionist and a high achiever, which I think came about because his father was such a high achiever and respected musician. Also, his eldest brother Frank was renowned across Australia as a trombone player, so Gal was always under pressure to achieve the same level.”
GM; “It takes a bit to do that, a lot of sacrifice. I remember Gal as always having a classy look about him and always sounded classy, but I wouldn’t really say that he was class conscious.”
SJ; “He had an image and an aura about him. He was hugely respected by his peers in the music industry. He did a lot of adjudicating and went to the UK; he had a great rapport with Geoffrey Brand.”
GM; “Has banding influenced your social life?”
SJ; “Of course, a big part of my life, that’s a foregone conclusion.”
GM; “What are your other interests?”
SJ; “Wine making, wine drinking a little bit of judging these days. I enjoy my sports, water sports especially, I did a lot of water skiing when I was younger, played football, competitive swimming. These days I walk every day. The other big part of my life is my family; I’ve got a very close family which is great.”
GM; “What lies ahead for you?”
SJ; “Retirement. (GM; ‘Travel?’)...Not a great deal, I’m probably the worst tourist ever. I’m trying to crank up a little bit of music again. I’m playing with K and N which is part of a renewed interest. If I had the time, I wouldn’t mind doing a music degree at the Con.”
GM; “My interest in travel is not what it was, we travelled fairly extensively during our ‘prime’ years and these days I am more than happy with our day-to-day life.”
SJ; “Same here, I been around the world a few times and visited I don’t know how many countries. I’ve been there and done that and it doesn’t really worry me anymore. We’ve got so much here in this state, we’re going down to Port Elliot next week which is fantastic.”
GM; “Thoughts and opinions on anything else? The direction of banding. How do you feel about that?”
SJ; “Look it’s interesting to see the change in the approach to banding in the years that I’ve been involved in it. Even internationally I remember going to the Albert Hall in about 1982 for the British Nationals. It was full, packed, not a spare seat. My son-in-law went there three or four years ago, he said there were about three or four hundred people there. So, the interest in brass banding is dying and it’s unfortunate to see the demise of a huge amount of brass bands in South Australia. The community spirit those bands used to create was enormous. The Tanunda Band Contest created a huge amount of community interest, the whole street was packed with people for the street march, the hall was packed, there were thousands of people.”
GM; “I try to interact with people positively, but I have a pessimistic view of the future of banding. We have an ageing and diminishing roster of players to call on.”
SJ; “Yes, lifestyles change and you can’t expect things to stay the same.”
GM; “We’ll have to see what happens when we reach our use-by date and the ‘Cotton Wool Kids’, as I call them, take over.”
SJ; “It’s interesting to look at K and N, who went through a low spot several years ago. Now when I go to rehearsal there are young people there, which is really encouraging. They’re playing well, I was very impressed. Tim Frahn is bringing in players from the Uni. Who are achievers and there is a future there.”
GM; “On that optimistic note we’ll finish this interview. Thanks for your time it’s been great to catch up.”
 A cheery wave from a champion bloke and muso! |
 Excerpt from the British Bandsmen Magazine 1937, written by Frank Wright following a visit to Australia |
 Stephen John in his natural habitat, sitting alongside John Bartsch in the Tanunda trombone section. This pic is from 2003 at Manna Hill. |
