The Kirbys

 

ORIGINS: Carlingford, NSW

GENRE: Ska-Punk

YEARS ACTIVE: 1999-2001.

 

MEMBERS:

• Tom 'Tommy D' Fisher - Vocals, Guitar
  
• Georgie Fisher - Vocals
  
• Chris Petrovic - Bass
• Antony - Trumpet
• Luke - Drummer (2000)
  
• Brendan - Drummer (2001)
• Dave Johnson - Drummer (2001)
  
• Nikos Agnew - Trombone (2001)
  

RELEASES: 

• The Seat Stays Up (2000) - Download Here.
  
• 1. Mad Dash of the Fat Man
• 2. The Mormons
• 3. Paparazzi Fatso
• 4. Mr Nice Arse
• 5. You Stink
• 6. How We Go

• Demos (2000) - Download Here [as Penkappchu]
• 1. Tartan Heart Ska Nite Klub
• 2. Laborious Task
• 3. Sleeperhold
  

SUMMARY/ORAL HISTORY: Recounted by Tom Fisher, 2024.

I started learning guitar at age 11 or so, from my older sister Georgie who had a few riffs from the grunge scene at the time... I was developing a taste based off of her run-off. Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, etc. The first album I bought for myself was 1977 by Ash. Then I got three CDs that changed the game: White Trash, 2 Heebs and a Bean (NOFX), Not So Tough Now (Frenzal Rhomb), and Losing Streak (Less Than Jake). Around this time I'd also heard Reel Big Fish's 'Sellout' and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones 'Impression That I Get' on the radio, and I was convinced that punk and ska were the meaning of life.

By now I'm 12, still banging away at the guitar daily and writing my own songs with power chords - but I had no idea how to do a 'ska chord'. Georgie had this short-lived boyfriend who was in a ska-punk band called Stucko Knup. One day, those guys came to our house and they showed me how it was done. 

 

So I was now in Year 7, punching out song after song of tacky ska-punk and drawing up fake albums for myself in notebooks. Like, I would start with a cover art concept, a list of song titles, then write songs to match the vision. I convinced my mum to buy me a 4-track cassette recorder thing, I think it was a Casio. Anyway, at school there was one other kid with any interest in playing music or being in a band - Chris Petrovic. He was a year below me with wildly eccentric music tastes and really didn't dig the ska thing, but he wanted to work on music so badly that he helped me out with some other instruments: bass and a shitty drum kit. Some friends of ours, Sebastian and Danny (real fucking rascals) knew we were recording so he stole some microphones from the school and gave them to us. Chris didn't like the ska stuff but we made a lot of weird little songs.

 

By this time I was 14 and had refined those sessions of 100s of songs into a list of 5 that I wanted to actually get a band together and make. I convinced Chris to be the bass player. A new kid Antony showed up at school and he'd played trumpet in a ska band called Openf or Inspection where he grew up (Sunshine Coast), and then we wrangled a drummer from an ad in the Drum Media. We also saw an ad in the Drum Media for the studio Smokin' and Jokin', which boasted the recording of an EP in 3 days for $500. I begged my mum for the money, and got the guys into the granny flat out back for 3 days of rehearsal leading up to the Smokin' and Jokin' session.

During these three days, my sister Georgie was hearing it all and was a bit like 'um, this is cool, can I please be involved?'. So I re-jiggered the vocals to give her some dedicated parts and we employed some of the harmonies we'd been mimicking from Reel Big Fish and Blink 182 and stuff. When we went into Smokin' and Jokin' I was mortified by the size of the producer's bong, and Chris got in trouble for rolling all his gaffer tape into a ball for no reason 'cause that's just the kind of guy he is. In the week leading up to the recording, we still hadn't found a second horn player so I picked up my little sister Steph's old trombone and started bashing into it. Antony told me a thing or two to get going so that when we'd gotten into the studio I was capable enough on it for the songs. 

 

With the EP done, I started going to Bombshellzine (music scene website and forum, 1999-2010) and making noise about being a band and wanting gigs, asking what would have been absolutely adorable questions on those forums. Like, 'Hi, I'm 15, how do you play a show?'

I started learning about bands like The Last Hemeroids and Unpaid Debt and whatever was around then, being gobsmacked that there were 'local' bands. I thought there was only big bands and that's it. 

During all this internet posting, there was this lady Deanna who was probably 20 at the time. She was like, 'Damn, kid, that's so cute - do you wanna play at my ska nite club?' So my mum drove us to the thing and we played our first show at the Green Square Hotel as 14 and 15 year olds. Just before this, our drummer had bailed as he thought ska was lame, so I convinced Brendan, the older brother of a friend, to play drums for us. He also thought ska was super lame and didn't want to put serious time into it, but he gave it a red hot go and helped me get the thing off the ground.

 

Anyway, word got around at school that we'd started a band, which led to someone or other putting us on a council festival in Baulkham Hills, a band comp thing, which The Skam also played at. That was an amazing day. To have school friends see us was a validating experience after I'd spent years in my bedroom songwriting... It was my first taste of a big gig and what it was like to be a band guy. We won the band comp on audience engagement to the chagrin of the well-rehearsed nu-metal band of dudes much older than us. 

Antony had his Sunshine Coast connection so we went up there for a weekend and did a gig with Breakeven (the band that came out of Open for Inspection) at a scout hall type thing. 

After about 4 shows I was getting bored of playing with only one horn so I reached out again on Drum Media ads and found this dude, Nikos Agnew. We also convinced another school friend of ours, Dave Johnson, to play drums. Once again it was a struggle convincing this grunge-loving dude to play ska, but he came through and hit hard. Dave and Nikos played with us for our final show at the Vic on the Park, where we opened for Muta. Adrian from Muta, and the guys from the Last Hemeroids, were just so kind and encouraging, like really just a great encouraging force.

By the last Kirbys show I'd met the Bagster guys. They needed a trombone player and I just wanted to be part of something with keen and active people. The Kirbys lineup issues were an uphill battle. It was so difficult. I had first rehearsal with Bagster, they'd said yes, I could join, and I was so fucking keen. So that's where The Kirbys ended - when I found a more practical vehicle to fulfil my goal: a working, gigging ska-punk band with people who actually wanted to do it.

SHOWS: 

• Green Square Hotel, Zetland - Saturday, 3rd March, 2001
  
• Band Comp, Baulkham Hills - unknown date, 2001
• Scout Hall, Sunshine Coast - unknown date, 2001
• Vic on the Park, Enmore - unknown date, 2001

RELATED BANDS: Open for Inspection, Georgie Fisher (solo act), Pezcobar, Bagster, Silencer Seven, Unpaid Debt, The Optionals, The Versionaries, Extramentalist, Modus Fire, Sub-Tribe