In 1992 I was at Monash University doing my course in Computing, and rapidly becoming a fan of The Church. I managed to wangle an interview with the band (though I had absolutely no right to do so) and was told be be at The Palace during their soundcheck. I was one of four or five people who were going to interview them at the same time and the rest of the people were regular reporters for their particular student newspapers.
So we watched the soundcheck, I talked to Marty and got lots of autographs, which I'm told is a very un-journalistic thing to do. He was really friendly and patient and a pleasure to talk to. After the soundcheck we went backstage ("backstage at The Palace" - ring a bell ?!) to talk with Steve and Peter. Naturally I was as nervous as a Kennedy at a Gun Exhibition.
About halfway through Steve asks me a question. "Are you Brian Smith ?"
I suavely replied "(ten second pause while reality adjusts itself and I recover from the shock of Steve knowing my name) yes."
"Is your Dad's name Vic Smith ?" he asked. At this point my brain is leaping out of my ears as I try to figure out a way that my Dad, of all people, could possibly know "The Man Himself". Up to this point they'd been at diametric opposites !
Another cool reply: "Erm....er...I think so...yes, he is".
"Well - he taught me everything I know." says Steve.
"Goodnight." says my brain and checks out completely. What alternate universe have I entered here ?! I give up trying to figure it out and just give Steve my stunned mullet impression. I think I remember Steve grinning and the interview moved on to other topics. And I remember asking some extremely stupid questions, and my occassional stammer forcing me to phrase my questions completely wrong and generally making a goose of myself.
Afterwards I got Steve to sign a bunch of singles and albums, completing the picture of a fan who was making an idiot of himself but didn't much care ! My first encounter with The Church had definitely been a surprise package. I've met them since and behaved much more reasonably :-)
But back to the story. "Dad ! What the hell is going on !?" I said between taking shots at him. Dad explained that he'd met the band in the carpark outside before they'd gone into the hall. He introduced himself and told Steve that his son Brian was going to be interviewing him later on. He said I was a huge fan of the band and it would probably catch me completely off guard if Steve said he'd learned everything off my Dad ! He was right too !
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