I still remember the first time I met Jamie, kind, softly spoken but always carrying a cheeky grin like he got the joke everyone else was missing. I was the geeky fan-boy gushing after the show at my first live experience of Newcastle’s longtime running and profoundly influential act Conation, of whom which he fronted. I’m fairly certain he found my awkwardness very amusing. Years later, relocating to Melbourne, new bands with different musical styles, it seems Jamie Hay is still the same kind-hearted man I met long ago, writing songs befitting of an upbringing in the old coal-mining town.

Jamie is also currently active in A Death In The Family, occasionally appearing with Ribbons Patterns, the solo moniker of Donnie Dureau (Blueline Medic) and fronting Fear Like Us himself when the group comes together for a rare appearance.