The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 14

ARTS CRAFTS The North Shore is no place to be creative, says Ferris The Ferris lads put their trust in bands, not banks (A REILLY FAMILY COMPANY) SYDNEY'S LARGEST PINE FURNITURE RANGE OVER 20,000 SQ. FT. Alison Moyet, Queen and New Order. After recording a number of singles, including two or three that almost broke into the upper reaches dancing in the street in the middle of the day, simply because they loved the music, was a real eye opener. "You know, it wasn't like in some other countries where the attitude is: 'Well, I'd better have a good time because I'm supposed to." In 1983, he started Flotsam Jetsam, a disco-funk band with its roots based firmly in black American dance music Alongside him in the band was, and still is, his brother Nick.

Now, two family members in the same industry is not a bad effort, but with the Ferris clan you get the feeling that had they the desire, they could It is just more than five years since Tundot Furniture first began trading at 588 Church Street, North Parramatta, and in that short time the family company has become a well respected name in the western suburbs. The owners. Bob Reilly, his wife trene and son Sam. set out to market a specialised range of high quality pine furniture at competitive prices. -Their aim was to offer a large range at one location, rather than expanding into a series of small stores scattered over the metropolitan area with limited ranges repeated in each.

From that first location at Church Street, the Reilly family were able to acquire a second warehouse in Ferris Street, extending through to Barney Street. The now vast complex of showrooms and workshops includes ample off street parking for customers. By PETER HOLMES FOR Stephen Ferris, lead singer with Sydney band Flotsam Jetsam, the northern suburbs are not the place to encourage cultural awareness and creativity. "There are almost no outlets around here for people who have urges to do things besides working for the local bank or the council," said the singer, songwriter, disc jockey, painter and film-clip maker who has spent most of his life north of the Harbour. "The North Shore is just so suburban and so pleasantly middle-class that there's nothing for anyone else." Ferris has felt the repercussions of this void in his own career as a musician.

Now aged 30, he lives in Neutral Bay. Although the north has plenty of pubs and clubs, the live music scene has been virtually dry for years. With next to no venues to play in, bands must pack up and head to town. As Ferris said: "You either go mad, or you shift to the city." Educated at St Leo's in Wah-roonga, he spent his time at school with such luminaries as Ignatius Jones, Mel Gibson and members of the band, Machinations. He left in 1975 to work as a nursing aide in a Red Cross repatriation home and later delivered bread, worked as an usher at the State Theatre and as a landscape gardener.

A trip to America in 1979 changed both his outlook on life and his future. "At that point I was uncertain what, exactly, I wanted to do," he said. "I used to dabble in art, but I wanted to do something that was a little more sociable. "After a while overseas it just hit me that music was the one thing that I had never lost interest in. And over there, they just enjoyed themselves so much.

Seeing people Solid Pine Solid Pine Upholstered Chair Wide Colour Range 5ft.x3ft. Solid Pine Dining Table WHILE STOCKS LAST SIZES available up to 6ft. 3ft. SOLID PINE IftQl 4ft.x2ft.6in. uuiumai lauic 7 COLONIAL UPHOLSTERED SOLID PINE CHAIR of the national charts, the band released Horrorbox, its first long-play record, last year.

The EP contained six songs. On the first single, Power, they were joined by singer and actor Terry Serio, star of Shout, the mini series about Johnny O' Keefe, and Rasputin. "We met Terry through a group called The Big Choir," Ferris said. "It was group of people from various bands who would get together occasionally and sing gospel songs. Terry also used to jump up on stage when Flotsam was playing, so we decided on doing a duet "It's funny actually, because we did a show recently and Terry came straight from Rasputin to sing with-us, and he fell off the stage.

Apparently he had hurt his leg, and I kept telling him to stay on stage. After about five songs his boot was full of blood, and he had to go straight to hospital to get stitches." For the next few months, Stephen and his brother Nick will be writing and recording songs together, including a few for Marcia Hines's next LP. Flotsam Jetsam will take a break from the live scene, doing only the occasional show. "Flotsam has become a bit of a burden," Ferris said. "We do all the management work creditors, cars, accommodation, road crew just about everything.

It gets to be really tedious. You forget the music, the fun. "I'm getting to the point where I'm sick and tired of running this little circus. I'd rather enjoy myself and write songs, and then retackle Flotsam Jetsam later. "At some stage along the line you've just got to stop and rejuvenate yourself." Afidnite's cast of 12 performers combine song, dance, puppetry, high jinks and comedy in the story of a wild colonial boy.

Mr Goodlass said it seemed appropriate to bring Midnite to Sydney for the Bicentennial Festival because "it very gently parodies some of our national FINE PORCELAIN CHINA. ii Musical parodies some national myths 6 Flotsam has become a bit of a burden you forget the music the fun.9 have taken on the Partridge Family or the Osmonds with blindfolds and still come out on top. Asked to expand a little on the family tree, Ferris sits back and begins with: "Yeah, well let me give you the story. "There's myself. Then there's my brother John, who's been working in dance clubs for years as a DJ.

Then there's Nick, who plays in the band and also does a lot of bass and drum programming on computers for other bands. Then there's Mash (Matthew), who's been working with bands like Do-Re-Mi and Boom Crash Opera. And, finally, there's Pee Wee (Peter), who does DJ work and edits 12-inch singles. And my ather's a businessman." Over the past few years Flotsam Jetsam has performed with some heavyweight international touring acts such as A-Ha, Simply Red, the Zenith Theatre until January 30. It is directed by Ray Goodlass for the Bicentennial Festival.

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