Some Other Guys 2 – British Beat Groups in the shadow of The Beatles

As the 1960s dawned winds of change were blowing not just across the colonies of the British Empire but also whistling through the great provincial cities of England.

A generation of young working class men, now that military conscription had been banished to history, no longer had to shudderingly look forward to years of endless spud peeling, square bashing and boot polishing.

Now, if they had the imagination, the will and the courage they could march to the beat of their own drum. And, if along with the drum they added two guitars and a bass they had a beat group!

If you’re looking for the great provincial city where the new call to arms was most resoundingly answered you have to sail down the River Mersey to Liverpool.

Liverpool was a great port city. And…

Meal Tickets

Directed by Matt de Koning
Written by Brooke Tia Silcox and Matt de Koning
Produced by Dave Kavanagh and Brooke Tia Silcox
Cast Mat de Koning, Dave Kavanagh, Will Stoker, Lord Charles, Leroy Slick, Nici Ward, Matt Doust, Pip McMullen, Benny Barbarino and Mitch Mayhem

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Meal Tickets is a coming of age roc-doc filmed over ten years about the lives of high school band mates and their roadie who dedicate their twenties to seeking success in the music industry. Australian filmmaker, Mat de Koning, filmed 700 hours of footage of his best friends to give this no holds barred look at being a rock’n’roller in an age where the Internet and social media changed the game. From Perth to New York, Melbourne to Los Angeles we are given a back stage pass to the gigs, the tour, the conflicts and indulgences. There is…

‘One fairer than my love! The all-seeing sun Nee’r saw her
match since first the world begun.’ (Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet)

‘Your name and mine inside a heart upon a wall
Still finds a way to haunt me though they’re so small’ (Michael Brown)

Some guys have all the luck. You know the type. They don’t shuffle and stumble. They stride, stroll and swagger through life. Golden apples and golden girls fall unbidden at their feet.

Most of us alternate between times when the tides of life seems to sweep us happily along and times when they treacherously turns against us. We carry on looking on in wonder at the guys who seem oblivious to those tides. Serenely they surf away from us into a golden sun.

And, some other guys just don’t seem made for these times. Fragile souls who retreat from the clashing, clangourous cacophony all around to…