THE GIN CLUB
Between leading rock band the Giants of Science and performing solo, Ben Salter hosted a weekly open-mike night with his friend Ben Tuite at an Irish pub in Brisbane named Mick O'Malleys. There they met and befriended a wide variety of the city's talented musicians and eventually came to the conclusion that, rather than competing with each other over concert venues, they would do better to combine forces like a '70s supergroup, hip-hop crew, or Japanese giant robot cartoon. The resulting band was eight members strong, with every one of those eight members being a singer/songwriter and most of them multiinstrumentalists. With the addition of affiliate members to plug gaps on-stage they swelled to as many as 15 members; a difficult size to fit at the small venues they debuted at. Unable to reach a consensus about their name, they performed under a variety of monikers until the staff of one venue billed them as the Gin Club because of the amount of the spirit they consumed while playing, and the name stuck.
