EP42 - So What’s Been Happening? - Nick Barker

 

Nick Barker has been a familiar painting hanging on the walls of the Australian music scene since the late 1980s. He left his suburban home at 17 and began his career as a bass player in Melbourne’s eclectic inner city post-punk scene, cutting his teeth in iconic venues like the Ballroom and the Prince of Wales with bands such as The Curse, Beach House and A Singing Dog, precursor to the now infamous Lubricated Goat. The most notable of these was The Wreckery, with whom he played on five albums. In 1988, Nick’s new band, Nick Barker and the Reptiles, began playing bars around town, sparking interest from The White Label. They had their first break through with the Chris Bailey-produced single, ‘Another Me’, followed by four crazy years of booze-soaked pub rock. The Reptiles released two albums: ‘Goin’ to Pieces’ in 1989, which included the hit cover version of Steve Harley’s ‘Make Me Smile’ and ‘After the Show’ in 1991, recorded in Melbourne and Memphis, and produced by Joe Hardy (ZZ Top, Georgia Satellites, Steve Earle). Sadly, The Reptiles fell apart in 1993 after the release of ‘Loose’, an EP that gave an insight into the band’s true potential. A tireless songwriter and performer, Nick has toured the UK, Europe, North and South America and Asia. He’s written songs with the likes of Tim Rogers, Paul Kelly, Jimmy Barnes, Earl Slick, Mick Thomas and Felicity Urquhart - just to name a few. Nick has seen the Australian music industry spin, chase its tail, die, resurrect and do it all over again. Thirty-five years later, he’s still here and no one is more surprised than him.