Neil replies:

Thanks for the Email Janice.
We’ve had so many people write and ask how Itchy Feat got started!
From memory it went something like this:

Loui and I packed in our day jobs back in 1987 and we had a plan. The plan was to be working musicians - as opposed to non-working/almost working/sometimes working or wish-we-were-working musicians.

To become working musicians we knew we had to establish ourselves somewhere central - a place that reflected the vibrancy and vitality of the music industry. And so we went to stay with our good friends, Bob and Lex, in Narooma on the South Coast of New South Wales. Here, surely, we surmised, we would be swamped with offers of work. And so, with looks of grim determination, we waited for the phone to ring.

A week passed without a call.

Then another week.

Then three months.

It was Loui who realised it first. "Neil," he said, "perhaps the phone is not ringing because no-one knows that we are here in Narooma at our good friends Bob and Lex's."

It hit me like a brick. We needed a new plan. We needed to let people know how to contact us so that we could become working musicians.

I suggested a mobile phone but, unfortunately, they hadn't been invented yet. Loui thought that one of us should die of a drug overdose because that's what many working musicians had done and it had made them very popular. Loui ate half a packet of No-Doze and came damn close -  but couldn't (I suspect wouldn't) die.

In his caffeine stupor however, Loui had an idea. We could print the name ITCHY FEAT along with our phone number on little cardboard cards and give them to people. Inspired! This we did and soon the phone was ringing regularly.

And, lo, we were working!

Since those early days we have come up with many innovative promotional ideas. I thought of putting the name ITCHY FEAT on large sheets of paper which could be attached to posts. These post-ers could advertise where and when we were playing - a simple idea but surprisingly effective.

Another great idea was to get a drummer called Pat and a Keyboard player called Wally. That way we sounded better and made less money which increased our incentive to find more work.

And so on.

Loui came up with our most recent innovation.
Using a device that he constructed from old computer parts we can now project a recorded three-dimensional hologram of ITCHY FEAT to any venue at any time. The effect is incredibly life-like and most spectators still think that we are actually performing live on stage when in fact we are hanging around in Narooma with our good friends Bob and Lex.

If you would like to see a hologram of ITCHY FEAT we are beaming to the following venues:

ITCHY FEAT have holograms to suit any venue or occasion. Always great music - and you'll think we are really there. These days we even have a mobile phone! So if you would like to book ITCHY FEAT please EMail or give me a call on 0412 008691.

Hope this answers your question Janice. See you soon!

Neil