No Class

 

ORIGINS: Inner West, NSW

GENRE: Punk

YEARS ACTIVE: 1985-1987

 

MEMBERS:

• Martin Doy - Vocals
• Peter Pecotic - Guitar
• Chris Sutton - Guitar
• Rob - Bass (1985-1987)
• Mitchell 'Alf' Foley - Drums
• Johnno - Bass (1985)
• Michael 'Flipper' Brown (1987) - Bass [Live Fill-In]

RELEASES:

• 'Prepared to Die' - single recording from studio session (1986) - Download Here.

SUMMARY: No Class was a short-lived punk band from South Sydney who played a handful of shows in the thriving Sydney punk scene at that time with bands such The Hard-Ons and Massappeal. No Class disbanded after about a year of activity due to a range of reasons. 

 

SHOWS: 

• Lismore Hotel, Sydney - Unknown date, 1986
• French's, Sydney - Unknown date, 1986
• Yugal Club, Sydney - Unknown date, 1986
• Party, Baulkham Hills - Unknown date, 1986
• Unknown Venue, Canberra - Unknown date, 1986
• Racecourse Hotel, Randwick - 13th February, 1987 

ORAL HISTORY:

MITCHELL: No Class started when some young punk rockers were just sitting around, getting high, and listening to music... we thought: Yes. It was jam time. Me and Peter started playing covers in my girlfriend's shed. We recorded it and listened back, "Yep", it had something going for it. So we asked a friend to sing and then we got a bassplayer.

Mitchell 'Alf' Foley (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

PETER: I lived in Brighton and there was a place - Louise Lister had a place with a few other people living there. Greg Shepherd from Aberration and Nick with his flying V guitar were both there, and Alf lived up the road. Alf bought a drumkit from an old school mate of mine called Gary, who lived up in Brighton Le Sands as well, and we put that drumkit inside the garage at Louise's place and I just bought a guitar and amplifier and we started jamming. Alf and I soundproofed that garage with mattresses and stuff like that. Alf was just natural on the drums. 

Peter Pecotic (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026 

MARTIN: The band had been playing some songs and someone suggested me as singer so I went to their garage, screamed a bit, and they said okay. We did covers and originals - songs by GBH, Skeptix, Metallica (minus the solos). It was the era of the barmy army - mohawks, studded jackets, The Exploited, etc. - but we didn't dress the part. We started in Brighton, rehearsed mostly at Ultimo. There was a house in Brighton where some punks lived and we would all gravitate there to hang out. Peter met Rob through hanging out at Paddington Markets.

Martin Doy (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

PETER: There was a guy, Johnno, who came into the picture to play bass. He had a cable and I stepped on it. He said, "Pete, that's a cable, you don't step on a cable - outside's rubber, inside's metal. Metal doesn't stretch. Don't step on a cable", haha. He was educating me on how to look after your equipment. You don't step on a guitar cable. Anyway, Jonno introduced Chris to the band, and then someone else introduced Martin. Then there was Rob, who I knew through others. And so we came together in this garage in Brighton Le Sands. 

Peter Pecotic (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026 

MITCHELL: Being in a punk band in the '80s was exciting, new, out of control... we had no fear and were just doing what we wanted to make music and have fun. The whole scene was close - we all knew each other - the skins, the mods, the punks. 

Mitchell Foley (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

MARTIN: We were listening to early, thrashy Metallica and Peter and the Test Tube Babies. On a more personal level, I was listening to D.O.A., The Ruts, Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, and lots of local bands at gigs - we'd go to see bands like The Hard-Ons, Box of Fish, Feedtime, Chaos, X, and Vicious Circle. 

Martin Doy (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

PETER: We eventually went into some rehearsal rooms at Sound Level. And later we rehearsed at a studio in Petersham. There was a whole dynamic around the logistics of the rehearsal studio... Alf never had any money for rehearsal. He was the quintessential drummer. But organising rehearsal was my introduction to my career in production. 

Peter Pecotic (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026 

MARTIN: At the studio in Petersham you could have 8 hours on a Saturday afternoon for $40. We thought that was a good deal. But then we'd be rehearsing there and about a dozen of Rob's friends turned up and it turned into a sit-around-drink-and-watch. Later we rehearsed in Kogarah - because Peter had the only car, he said "I'm not driving into the city and then driving back home with all the gear and stuff". 

Martin Doy (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

MITCHELL: Our first show was at the Lismore Hotel - I think we supported Rocks. They rehearsed at Sound Level like us. 

Mitchell Foley (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

MARTIN: Gigs just sort of happened, we didn't have a manager or phone numbers. Bill from Rocks heard us through the wall at Sound Level and said, "You sound alright, why don't you come have a gig with us at the Lismore?" We then played support slots for Joyful Killing, Examplehead, and Massappeal, and had a venue called the Rehearsal Room where we'd play. It was above a garage in Redfern - a steep flight of stairs, cunt to lug gear in and out of. Some good gigs there though. 

Martin Doy (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

PETER: French's (venue) was like our launch. We were on sacred ground, French's was like a punk rock venue. You sort of went from the Trade Union Club to French's and there was Ray, the big bouncer out the front. And downstairs was where the Boys Next Doors used to resident. There was one red light above the stage and that was our lighting rig. And just before we played I was standing there, frozen, with my hand in a bar chord formation, and a friend shouted out, "Look at Pete, he's shitting himself!" I'd forgotten how to play for a minute, it was like some sort of nightmare, but then I remembered again and we went back into the song.

Peter Pecotic (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026 

MARTIN: We snuck a case of beer into French's in Alf's kick drum. We went alright for our first proper gig out. We played a gig at the Racecourse Hotel where a friend of mine, Neil, was gonna get bashed by the skinheads. And I jumped in and said, "He's my mate!" and they went, "Okay, he must be okay, you played in the band". They didn't bash both of us and they just walked off. We also played the Yugal with a band called Boner. I found a gram of speed on the steps and... we played really fast. It sounded really good. 

Martin Doy (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

PETER: For me the Yugal Club was really special because I've got a Croatian background. I went to that club when I was a kid so to then play a punk gig at that venue... it was good. Another gig that stands out to me was a party we played at Baulkham Hills supporting The Hard-Ons. Blackie (The Hard-Ons) stood right in front of me, arms folded, and was like, I'm gonna watch you play guitar... I was like, fuck, man. No pressure!

Peter Pecotic (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026 

MARTIN: All the locals came to that party in Baulkham Hills. We had to get the hell out of there because it got a bit rambunctious. At that party they ended up pulling the fence down and setting it on fire. Every bit of wood that was laying around got put on the fire. 

Martin Doy (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

MITCHELL: My strongest memory of No Class was going to Canberra to support Massappeal. We got down there in an old EH Holden. Our bass player Rob didn't come so Martin asked Flipper (Michael Brown) to come and play bass. He had no rehearsal with us - he just knew the songs. It was our first show away from Sydney and was to a packed-out venue. Fun times - was one of our best shows.

Mitchell Foley (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

MARTIN: Rob's girlfriend at the time didn't want him to go to Canberra without her, so he goes, "Boys, I can't go". Mick Flipper jumped in on bass. At the time I thought one of the others could play bass as we hadn't even rehearsed with Mick. I didn't know how he would do the songs. I think Mick Flipper also played with us in Baulkham Hills as well, towards the end of the band. 

Martin Doy (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

MICHAEL: I'd been in bands with Martin and I was good friends and had been housemates with Chris the guitarist. I wasn't in a band but I was practicing a lot on my own and I knew some of No Class's songs already, like 'Broken Bones', 'Decapitated', etc. 

Michael 'Flipper' Brown (Bass - Fill-In), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

PETER: The song we recorded, 'Prepared to Die' - that riff was by Jamie Fonti. I was jamming quite a bit at that time, just mucking around and riffing and stuff with Jamie. He was a really creative guy, his dad was a jazz musician, and Jamie and his brother went on to do the band Caligula. 

Peter Pecotic (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026 

MARTIN: There was only one recording released by the band, a song called 'Prepared to Die'. A guy was doing a sound engineering course and he wanted a variety of bands to record for his assessment - so he picked us. He was a friend of Peters. We never really recorded anything else as we were poor with beer habits. There was that one other recording made at the Yugal Club - someone could have a copy somewhere or it could be gone, gone, gone.

Martin Doy (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

MITCHELL: A guy named Yoshi put our recorded song on a compilation. He lived here in Sydney for a time and went back and forth to Japan throughout the '80s and '90s. He wanted bands of different genres to do his engineering course with.

Mitchell Foley (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

PETER: Liverpool, the drummer of Aberration, was a very interesting fellow and I hope he's doing fine. But he just had these fiery eyes and this volatility. I was playing pinball with him at some early opening pub in Camperdown where all these dock workers had just knocked off and were having their drinks. One of these big tough dock worker guys kept going, "Pinball wizard, ay. Pinball wizard", just sort of having a go at us. And Liverpool turned around and said - and he was a full-on martial artist as well, whatever that guy did he did it to the extreme - he said, "What was that?" In an instant there was kicks and fists everywhere and the whole thing turned into this pub brawl. Just crazy. Liverpool later said to me, "Whatever you do, don't do a gig with Joyful Killing", and it was like a premonition. So we then did this gig with Joyful Killing at the Randwick Racecourse and Rob's bass got snapped. He was devastated. I think that was the moment where we just didn't continue as a band.

Peter Pecotic (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026 

MITCHELL: I'm not sure why the band stopped. For me, I just needed to move forward. I became friends with Jamie Fonti and started playing with him and his brother Sean in My Heart Bleeds For You. 

Mitchell Foley (Drums), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

MARTIN: We just sort of fell apart for a few reasons. We just sort of fizzled out. There was heroin around and I'd had enough of that shit at home rather than having to deal with it all the time in everything I did. It sort of was a bit all-consuming, the heroin business. People would change, they became secretive, they became criminal, they put you in situations where they would overdose and you'd have to be the one to bring them back and walk them around and make sure they didn't cark it. 

Martin Doy (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

PETER: Heroin was fucking deadly stuff man. We all know people who died from that. That was what people would die from.

Peter Pecotic (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

PETER: There were heaps of bands in the landscape of Sydney back in those days in the '80s. Just so much creativity. There was so much choice. That music was effectively like folk music - the music of the people, music that everybody contributes to, everybody participates in. And I think what was important about punk rock music back in that time is that we're just getting instruments together, we're not conservatorium trained but we're getting out there and we're playing to our people within our little subculture that we'd created. And yeah, it was freaking real. It was working class. But it doesn't matter if you're from a working class background or not, it doesn't matter. It was accessible, and I just thought it was a thrill to be in Sydney at that time. It was really exciting, it was vibrant. It was like a period of becoming... being a teenager and just getting out there and creating your own thing and performing. It was amazing. For me, getting into punk was renouncing the world. But I also later renounced the punk rock movement as well because I found that to be yet another form or kind of conformity. But I loved to be a part of it, and I thought it was a great scene in Sydney at the time. 

Peter Pecotic (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026 

MARTIN: Being in a punk band in the '80s was fun. If you could avoid the violence that was around, it was fun. There was a lot of violence around - just lots of skinhead violence. Plenty of bands playing too. The whole thing about punk was that anyone could do it, grab a guitar and learn four chords and then go and play. It was a chance to express yourself with high energy. That's the kind of vibe it gives off. And the crowd is the same thing. There's an energy there. It was really good to be able to tap into that and express that.

Martin Doy (Vocals), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026

PETER: We played just a handful of shows at venues. About five. We played quite a few parties as well. It's crazy the transition of time when you're young like that, it might have been just over six months. It was such an impressionable part of my life. I'm really grateful for it, and grateful for Martin - he had a really awesome energy to collaborate with. It's something I reflect on, it was a really important period, and formative. Martin's a really decent human being and conscientious, a great comrade in that collaboration.

Peter Pecotic (Guitar), Noise Levels correspondence, 2026 

RELATED BANDS: Closet Punks, My Heart Bleeds For You, Caligula, The Unknown [Parramatta], The Undertakers, Minute Minder, Jesus Wept