Nick Barker is a familiar painting hanging on the walls of the Australian music scene. The one you recognise but really don’t know much about. He started off in the early 80s as a 17-year old bass player in Melbourne’s eclectic post-punk scene, most notably with The Wreckery. Then, after making it through four psychotic years of booze-soaked pub rock in Nick Barker and the Reptiles, Nick moved on to a solo career in 1994.

From a crowd of 30,000 at 4 am in the pouring rain at a music festival in Rio, to only the bar staff in an empty room that should hold hundreds and everything in between. He’s watched the Australian music industry spin, chase its tail, die, resurrect and do it all over again. Nearly 40 years on, Nick is still here and no one is more surprised than him.