I was 15 when MCIS came out. I had moved from NZ to Australia a few months earlier and that album became such a “homebase” for a teenager who was feeling displaced and at times alone.

A few years later, having invited a bunch of friends aboard the Pumpkin-train, a few of us formed a garage band and played A LOT of SP material. My all time favourite song to play on the drums was Where Boys Fear To Tread (starting with that epic intro of course) We were probably terrible – but my memories of back then are of us nailing it – along with BWBW, Zero, In The Arms Of Sleep and Muzzle and a few  Siamese and Adore-era songs.

To this day, I can still feel the sadness, loneliness, joy, anger, rage, awkwardness, love, loss, and every other emotion I was going through in that chapter of my life…. and I smile at them all. MCIS is THE soundtrack to my life. It has shaped, defined and moulded me into the guy I am today.

The garage band broke up (who’d have known?!) The drums are gone. Replaced with guitars that only get played every once in a while. Friends have come and gone and made their way back again. The dreams were replaced with our own children. And we still smile at those memories we had.

…. and by the way, there is a certain amount of pride felt when your 20 year old daughter asks you to teach her Tonite Reprise on guitar.