Class Of - 1968

David Johnston (as at 2003)
A keen interest in contemporary music that commenced at school in the early 60s - remember the Beatles?! - has continued throughout my life.

From the earliest jam sessions with improvised instruments - 'Roll over Beethoven' strummed in very high pitch on a violin - I'm sure Beethoven did just that on hearing it! - through playing with that much loved Scotch originating band Orpheus (David Ball, Frank Edwards, Roger Morton and the late Richard Hogg - all '67 - to name some of its members), and beyond - I've kept beating those skins and, proving I'm more than just a lowly drummer, singing.

I've played in pub bands, theatre bands, reception bands, good bands and bad bands and sung in a duo with my wife, Catherine (I also occasionally venture from behind those drums and am an experienced MC).

And now, possibly the most exciting musical venture of all, embarking, at the age of 53, on a musical adventure playing and recording totally original music in a four piece 'folk rock' band with a brilliant writer, also of my approximate generation. Yes, Jeff Jenkins' Late Starters is the name of the band, and while we're perhaps not exactly 'late starters' I certainly feel like a teenager bashing a desktop in a dusty Scotch College classroom all over again!

Our music addresses issues familiar to all of us 'baby boomers' - ageing, relationship problems and all those many other events experienced during half a century of life.

What else do I do?
After 30 years of teaching in state primary schools I returned, 10 years ago, to a lifelong love, graphic art and I work from a home office as part of the vibrant Yarra Valley tourism industry. Healesville's been home for 25 years or so and I married a local girl. We built a mudbrick house in the house in the bush nearby but we have recently moved, with our two young daughters, down into the comforts of the township (no more electricity generator breakdown problems!)

Life's relaxing up here far, but not too far from the suburbia of Hawthorn, and, most importantly, life continues to be an exciting thing to be part of.