John Prior is a composer, producer and musician best known for his work with the Australian band Matt Finish. Their albums Short Note, Fade Away and Word Of Mouth sold strongly, and the band performed more than 3,000 live shows to audiences totalling over a million people. More often than not I was one of those people in the crowd, as I was a huge Matt Finish fan.

One day I walked into a music store in Sydney and, to my surprise, found John behind the counter. At the time our drummer Maurice had disappeared, yet we already had studio time booked at Trackdown Studios. I asked John if he would be interested in playing with us. His response was classic: “Only if the songs are good, send me a tape.” I did, and not long afterwards he agreed to join us and rehearsals began.

I never actually told him this, but John Prior was and still is my favourite Australian drummer. His playing gave Matt Finish a distinctive sound that no other Australian band quite had. During rehearsals he proved to be far more than just a drummer. He had a great instinct for song arrangement, and his ideas for Little Nina, particularly the key changes, transformed the song completely.