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Inpress Magazine 2007 - Chris Doheny Interview - Jeff Jenkins

Chris talks to Jeff Jenkins about the release of his 2006 album "Acoustic Memoirs of Geisha".

Are there any songs on this album that you haven't played since the Geisha days?

I actually play them all from time to time at various gigs or party’s around the country. Although “Part Time Love Affair” is the only one that doesn’t translate easily to the acoustic format as it was created totally on Fairlight (early form of digital recording). We had been trying to produce it ourselves for months with terrible results.

The record company was threatening to pull the funding. Luckily for us a well-known Australian producer named Spencer Lee came to the rescue. He produced the whole thing for us. We didn’t have much to do with the production at all. In fact Ken and I came in at the very end I did all the vocals including the harmonies and Ken just did a few little guitar licks and that was it, a hit single!

What's the most requested Geisha song when you play solo shows?

There is a group of guy’s and girls that come down to see me religiously on a Tuesday night at a gig in Melbourne’s South East. They are all roughly 20 to 22 years old. That means that they were just born when Geisha was around and they keep me on my toes all the time by requesting Geisha album tracks at the gigs to see if they can stump me!

However if there is one song that does get more requests’ it would probably be “Beauty In Emotion”

What are your memories of Geisha in the 80s? Highlight? Lowlight?

One highlight would have to be turning up to an album signing in Collins Street Melbourne and being mobbed by 2000 screaming fans. We so totally were unprepared for that, and so were the organizers. There wasn’t enough security and we literally were nearly killed in the rush.

Or possibly when I met Prince Charles….

A lowlight would be our guitarist Rob Dean having to leave the country because of visa problems. That happened just when we were putting the third Geisha album “No Second Prize” together.

If you had your time again with Geisha, what would you do differently?

Probably the only thing that I would do differently would be to concentrate and focus more on the job at hand. I was easily distracted by the sex and drugs that were constantly being thrust in my face in those days and should have kept all that very separate to the music, at least the gigging side of the music anyway… It was all tremendous fun but there is a time to work and a time to play!

Who was the best band that you played with in the 80s?

Rose Tattoo was the best. Early in my career I used to do supports for them at a gig called “Bananas” It was in St Kilda above the old St Moritz skating rink on the Upper Esplanade. It was a tiny room where Rose Tattoo used to blast the absolute shit out of the place with their sheer volume and energy…. Brilliant!

Geisha was a band that should have been huge in the 80s ... what's another 80s band who didn't get the success they deserved?

Probably “Red House” featuring John Dallimore on guitar. I thought they were a great band that never seemed to get anywhere.

Which 80s band would you love to see re-form?

I would to love to see the Thompson Twins reform. We did a tour with them in 1985 and they were one of the best international acts I’ve seen to date.

Have there been any covers of Geisha songs over the years?

Yes. Darryl Braithwaite did a cover of a song I wrote for Geisha’s third unreleased album, titled “In My Life” It was on his comeback album “Edge”

Tell us about the "Demo Sessions" album.

I was sifting through my extensive archives of early Geisha demos when I rediscovered quite a few that could be used for a retrospective release. I found that at least five songs I used to really be fond of were overlooked when we were selecting album tracks and were unreleased. So as it turns out now more than half of the “Demo Sessions 84-85” album has previously unreleased material on it.

I’ve already received emails from old fans saying how happy they are that they finally have a CD with tracks that they used to love hearing live, but never had on album.

What's next? Will there be more Geisha releases?

Yes I’m currently preparing the never released third album by Geisha from 1988. It is a little complicated piecing it together from ¼ inch tape safety copies, but the results are really good and the album is sounding solid and co-hesive. It is the album that we were going to release before Rob Dean had to leave the country and the band fell apart and it is going to be a great album!

Thanks Michael and Chris.

Fan Letter - Acoustic Memoirs CD Launch

The following letter was received in response to the 'Acoustic Memoirs of Geisha' CD launch which was held at Hardiman's Hotel in Kensington, Melbourne on 27 October 2006.

Hi Chris

I just wanted to drop a line about the show and the cd.

I've never been to a launch before so yours proved very interesting for providing the background story to each song on the cd. If anything it showed that although the material eventuated from the short life that was Geisha (5yrs), your creative output from that specific time and era actually produced some very endearing songs.

And as you've matured from the fashion and looks of yesteryear, so too have the songs. And this is where it gets fascinating.

Where the gig was billed as Chris Doheny and friends, it could easily have been Chris plays to friends.

A big heartfelt thanks to you Chris for putting out the Geisha back catalog in an acoustic format with revised arrangements. Very enjoyable and satisfying (even down to the hidden track).

We've had the AMoG cd on high rotation since Friday and what strikes me is how the Geisha material has been able to mature over time thanks to your re-interpretations.

You've managed to allow good songs to breathe by stripping them back to basics and letting your voice sell compelling versions of them. It's good to see you haven't walked away from that part of your life and instead have gone to the trouble, time and expense to 'add value' to the catalogue.

I never would have said Never Tell You Why was a favourite but the acoustic version sure is now. It runs a close 2nd to (A) Girl Like You.

My missus (Joelle) would agree with me when I say that anyone who liked Geisha back then will be some 20 years older now and will really enjoy hearing these fresh versions of familiar material. I've always like them. In anticipating how some songs might work acoustically, one of my favourites (Don't Waste Your Love) would prove a challenge as the track is sparse and brooding to begin with. Much like your rendition of Come Together.

Thanks too for playing Can You Hear the Rain off your 4 track ep as much as More Than A Game on the night.

I couldn't afford to buy the debut LP with 4 extra tracks and instead went for the Demo CD.

Very much an expose of ideas and sounds of the time. Interesting too to hear Midge Ure's Ultravox influence on the guitar parts (was it all Ken on guitar?). It's great to see that your talent rose above the dross of the day and has proved enduring (if under recognised since).

Certainly what comes across is how polished these songs were when suggesting the talent and potential that was to come. I never saw the debut lp line-up live. I came on board when you were a 3 piece (and then the more fleshed out version with Tom Hosie on drums and Rob Dean on guitar).

That leaves an eager wait for the 3rd Geisha instalment: to see the credits as to who played what, and where your songwriting was at then (will Girl Like You finally make it onto an album in either original or alternative form?).

Time for me to go. I'll keep in touch and spread the word around in the meantime (and continue to wonder where to from here for your non-Geisha projects).

Bye for now..........

Ian Sands