How and where did Beyond the Darkside begin?

It began when front man Kevin Hunt was young … about 13 years old. Says Kevin – ‘I frequently used to go to a friend’s house to play as you do at that age, and it was there through the constant repetition of his friend playing his favourite albums that I was first introduced to the album Wish You Were Here.

Wish You Were Here grew on me really quickly as I have always been more into the musical side of things rather than just lyrics, and Pink Floyd really do place a lot of emphasis on the music between its verses and choruses. It wasn't long before I purchased the album myself.
I played the album constantly at home and found my father too really enjoyed the music, it was something he related to himself as he had heard the music many times in programs he watched from the news to documentaries but never knew who actually played the music. Before long I started to buy all the other albums such as Dark Side of the Moon, Meddle and later as they were released - Animals, The Wall up to the Division Bell - I bought them all. I actually remember wearing out Dark Side of the Moon and had to replace it a few times as it was constantly played over and over again. Even when I went to sleep I would place the album on my record player and lift the record select arm so it would play all night.

I went to see the band play whenever I had the chance, and when they played at Earl's Court and did the original The Wall concert I was totally sold - and I realized that was the way I wanted to play shows as a musician. Their show was not like any other concert I had ever experienced as it was so theatrical, and the quadraphonic sound and the visual production was mind-blowing for its time. Since that concert I have always strived to create some sort of show around whatever act I was in, buying production and building props and putting on the best production I possibly could. I never actually dreamed back then that I would be doing an actual Pink Floyd show myself later in life, particularly with the size production we now have, but I guess that is what becomes of having such a passion for Pink Floyd music, and looking at the creative geniuses they were with their foresight in using the most innovative technology available, and for staging such phenomenal stage shows like they always have.

After many years myself playing around Europe in original acts, supporting many big acts and even gaining experience playing bass guitar for such people as Robert Plant (formerly of Led Zeppelin) I finally ended up marrying an Australian girl and moved to this wonderful country. We even used Pink Floyd music at our wedding - playing the album Wish You Were Here while we said our vows.

When I came here I found myself at a bit of a loss at first as the music culture here in Brisbane was so different to what I was used to - there was not much choice back in the early eighties in Brisbane for original acts and I found myself playing covers. It was not really what I liked doing at all, playing such a diverse range of music - it was not really working for me so I started to think about other musical options that would enable me to make some kind of living.

After playing covers for 4 years - it was around the time (1989) that acts started to spring up such as Bjorn Again, The Australian Doors show etc and from that point in time I started to wonder what I could do along those lines. It took a lot of thought over at least 6 months before I finally decided I would do a Pink Floyd show and shortly after that decision MTV announced that they (Pink Floyd) were about to tour and MTV was to show their new production "A Delicate Sound of Thunder" on TV. Again they totally blew me away. I just sat there watching it in awe and started to wonder how the hell I was going to copy this act.

It seemed at the time it was going to be an impossible act to reproduce as it was not just a case of just putting on costumes and dressing up like them, as that is not their style - the band themselves have always been very low-key, not the rock star types - instead, they always performed mind blowing theatrical productions to let their music speak for them. It was after many months of looking around at production companies I finally came across a local company in Brisbane called Acoustic Technologies and formed a relationship with the owner Harry Lloyd-Williams. From the very beginning he listened to my ideas and decided he would help me set up my first show called Floyd the Concept back in 1989. Acoustic Technologies supplied me with a brand new 20'000 watt quadraphonic sound system, and a light show that at that time consisted of 18 digital fixtures, a circular screen and the equipment to produce the videos that were needed for the visual backdrop. It was, for its time, the largest show of its kind to be presented in the RSL and clubs, and soon gained momentum through word of mouth. I decided back in 1992 I had to buy our own system and since then it is has become something of an obsession with me. It has now grown to such a size it can now only be presented in its entirety in major City theatres’.