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

I happened to walk into a music store in Sydney to find John behind the counter, much to my surprise. As our then drummer Maurice had vanished, and we had time booked at Trackdown Studios I asked John if he would be interested in playing for us. His reply was gold: “Only if the songs are good, send me a tape”, which I did. Shortly thereafter he said yes and rehearsals started.

I never told him, but John Prior was and still is my favourite Australian drummer, his drumming style infused Matt Finish with a sound that no other Australian band had. But in rehearsals John proved to be more than just a drummer, he was fantastic at song arrangement, and his ideas for Little Nina changed the song forever.