obituary

SPENCER P. JONES
1956-2018

In "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance", Robert Pirsig interrogates the very nature of quality through the lens of motor mechanics. Care and Quality are internal and external aspects of the same thing. A person who sees Quality and feels it as he works is a person who cares. A person who cares about what he sees and does is a person who’s bound to have some characteristic of quality.

Spencer Jones knew a thing or two about quality - especially musical quality. Born in 1956, the Year of Elvis, Spencer wanted to be a working musician as long as he could remember. Spencer’s family moved from the regional town of Te Awamutu to Auckland in 1965, the same year the British invasion swept through New Zealand, with tours by The Rolling Stones and, infamously, The Pretty Things.

Spencer’s grandfather was a gifted musician; his mother, too, was born with a natural ear. Recognising Spencer’s musical abilities, Spencer’s elder brother Ashley recommended his parents buy Spencer a guitar.

Carbie Warbie photo

They never rose to household name status but Jeff “Mono Man” Conolly’s bands DMZ and Lyres left an indelible mark on (to use the term he hated) “garage rock”. Conolly died at his Massachusetts home last Friday after a struggle with bladder cancer, aged 69

Raised in Connecticut, Conolly moved to Boston in the mid 1970s and fronted DMZ from 1976, mixing British Invasion melody and punk rock’s urgency with obscure ‘60s garage music.

DMZ attracted the attention of Seymour Stein's legendary Sire Records, joining a roster that included the Ramones, Talking Heads and the Flamin' Groovies before releasing their sole album in 1978 and then breaking up.

With Lyres, the band he formed in 1979, Connolly built that obsession into a distinctive sound driven by Vox Continental organ, reverb-soaked guitars, pounding rhythms and impassioned vocals.

Despite being active for decades, Lyres released only four studio albums. Their reputation rests more on their electrifying live performances, influential singles and EPs, and the enduring impact of their classic debut “On Fyre”. They are all required listening, as is the box set seven-inch compilation on Munster Records, "Lucky 7", from where the obituary photo comes. 

Melbourne music writer and good friend of the I-94 Bar, Patrick Emery, has passed away suddenly, aged 52.

In a brief statement posted on Facebook earlier tonight, Spooky Records chief Loki Lockwood spoke on behalf of Patrick’s family.

On behalf of Patrick’s loving wife Bettina, and children Babette and Baptiste, I’ve been given the solemn task of sharing the untimely passing of my beautiful friend Patrick. On Christmas Eve at home, Patrick suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the Austin Hospital where he was diagnosed with a stage 4 inoperable brain tumor. He passed peacefully with his beloved family by his side. 

Patrick was a passionate and beautiful soul. There will be many from the music community around the world that will be shocked by this news. Patrick wrote for many publications across Australia over the years I knew him: Beat, The Australian, The Age and The I-94 Bar, to name a few. There’s no doubt that anyone with a passing interest in music will have read his music reviews and interviews for thousands of bands.  

For those that he wrote about, I know they will be overwhelmingly shocked by the news of his untimely passing. His greatest gift to us all was his belief in his beloved local music scene - always wanting to help elevate some little known artist through his writing because he could.