So how is it that bands come and go? Why do certain groups of musos get together and feel the need to inflict their efforts upon the unsuspecting populace? Inevitably they form from the breakup of previous bands. Guilding the Lily was no different.

It had taken a bit of effort for Martin Carr and Geoff Marks to drag Grant Byrnes down from Tweed Heads and we didn’t want to let him go after Magnus finished. So after Christ Art Museum entered a temporary hiatus which left a talented duo in Scott James Smith and Syd Green without much to do, and a friendly rapport having developed over the years between the two groups, the obvious thing to do is to get together, write some tunes and be as stupid as possible without getting arrested. The last part was definitely achieved with distinction.

But, what sort of music were we to play. More Hard Rock? That would have been great but we had done it to death at that stage.

Fortunately Grant Byrnes had a different vision. Get out the acoustic guitars, turn it down a bit and let the songs and melody speak for itself and for the most part we followed those ideas.

So after a few years the CD is released and many nights at the Excelsior and Bizzo’s, a great night at the Basement and a live tv appearance on Foxtel it’s hard for a band to take the next step and people start to think about moving on and the band is no more.

Move on we have, Grant’s back in Tweed with Odessa, Syd’s played with Abi Tucker and Dirty Lucy amongst others, Scott has been a force in front of Bob Sledge whilst the enduring musical partnership of Geoff and Martin continues in Lovebucket.

Lily was but another passing moment in our lives of which we are all proud. It’s also part of the wider legacy that encompasses certain individuals desires to pick up an instrument or use their voice to extract some creative passion that we believe makes the world a more entertaining and interesting place.