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Alfi & The Journey . When I was 14 yrs living in Durban, South Africa I overheard a band playing Venus by the Shocking Blue . I was amazed and simply loved that song. We were living in the suburbs on one side of the valley and the music was coming from the other side. So my brother and I went off in investigate where it was coming from. It ended being a band playing for an Indian wedding. The band didn’t know many songs and were quite happy to play Venus several times through the afternoon. Why am I telling you this? This was the defining moment in my life where it took a drastic turn. It was my introduction to rock/pop music and I was absolutely hooked on music. I didn’t play an instrument just sang Beatles songs out of the school bus coming home in the afternoons. So, we had very little money and my parents could not afford to buy me a guitar so I sold my bicycle, which was my only other form of transport to buy my first Bellini guitar. I was in seventh heaven, I just kept playing it till it was worn out. Needless to say, the first song I learnt was Venus, second song was Superstition by Stevie Wonder, 3rd was Have You Ever Seen The Rain by Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR). This was 52 years ago. I can`t say that I made a career out of music solely but it was my greatest passion and still is . My life of music lead me to Australia and Sydney is where I now Live. I ended up playing for many bands & venues in Durban, SA. We also did recordings of our originals and covers. I started writing about environmental songs even back then I wrote a song called Plant A Tree. I Left Durban at 23 yrs. My early influences in music were, Motown like Marwin Gaye, Commodores, Steely Dan, Santana, The Police, Bob Marley & The Wailers. I. later listened to Grace Jones, Earth Wind & Fire, Brand New Heavies , Hot Chilly Peppers , Jamiroquai & Fat Freddys Drop. I Played in a band called The Porters and one day our bass player who was also the leader, that’s the man who got all the gigs and you definitely need one of these in every band. Because your band won`t last long without one of these VIP`s. Anyways Mike Hammond called me and said we have got a support gig with Billy Connolly. So there was silence on my end and he said did you hear me so I said yes but who the fuck is Billy Connolly. So, which fucking rock have you been living under mate, he about the most famous comedian on the planet then he shouted IF YOU DON`T YOUR MEAT YOU WON`T HAVE ANY PUDDING twice and he said that`s him on Pink Floyd `s Dark Side of The Moon. Anyways we played on he`s Australian Tour. I remember when we met him the band was too much in awe of him to say anything so I asked him this. I said I heard that your show goes for over two hours do you ever feel like a shit or a piss during your show. So he said never when he`s up there but quiet often just before he`s about to go on he feels like a piss. He also asked us to rev it up because we were told to play soft quiet stuff before he went on. He didn’t like it so we rocked it after he told us. My Hobbies are cycling, Kite Boarding and I mostly did building new houses for a living. I always try to deliver a dynamic performance. I concentrate on my banter with the audience, no matter how small or how large an audience we have. Telling jokes and getting them to participate if it calls for it. I have seen many acts that just do the music and they do a great job but this is not enough if they don`t connect with the audience.