Reading back his Haiku I realise there is a risk that it would seem derogatory. To be clear, the references are written with both deep affection and an inside joke that will resonate with the individual.

I’ve known Bruce since he came through the Cairns Base Hospital ED where I was a very fresh registrar at the turn of the Millennium. Even then it quickly became apparent that he had his ‘game face’, or the serious, medical side to his character, and the hint of the bacchanalian, the whiff of the hedonistic musician. These were my instincts and, as the man would admit, (listen to the interview), they were accurate. This is not to say that he is in some way ‘dialling it in’ when at work with me in the emergency department. Bruce is wise, dialled in and shrewd in the extreme. Hence the ‘smoke and mirrors.

Over the decades we’ve enjoyed many a drunken night (and day) together with guitars and song, and perhaps a little blotting paper (food). My sobriety has no doubt affected this but he remains a trusted friend and counsel. And he is entirely responsible for my workplace, and by extension by blessed life by the Tasman. This interview contains real open insight from the heart of the man himself, unexpected raw honesty.

Here are my 7 albums, tellingly, only the Nick Cave greatest hits album has anything from this decade.

Music was my life for my first 5 years of med school which was a long time ago. This album endures.

Back on the Borderline was often the set opener for Arthur in The Dark, the non-seminal punk band that I played in at Uni. This track is pretty good on vinyl and a revelation live. Head Injuries is the most complete rock album that I own, edging out a cast of thousands from that era of my life including Radio Birdman, The Stooges, the Angels, Died Pretty, the Screaming Tribesmen, The Saints and the Hoodoo Gurus’ (first 2 albums only) to name just a few of the more famous ones. I’d like to make notable mention of local acts the Sunny Boys, the Huxton Creepers, the Lime Spiders, the Celibate Rifles, TISM and Painters and Dockers all of whom I saw as a punter many times and most of whom I shared a stage with. None of these bands could convert their mastery of the live performance into a recording that you would want to sit down and listen to. With Bleach, and specifically Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana changed the course of musical history in this regard and the plight of pub bands worldwide, just as my short-lived musical career drew to a close.

An alcoholic and a c**t of a bloke apparently who writes a great singalong road trip tune. This album is a nostalgic life retrospective of a bloke of the same age as me whose life could have been mine if my musical talent was 100 times greater and I had less life choices afforded to me by my academi