Malcolm Smith – aka ‘Jeffrey’s Head’ was born in Somerset, UK, emigrating to Sydney, Australia at age 18yrs.
From an early age he showed aptitude in and a fascination for music, and was vocally trained as a choirboy in ‘The Church of the Good Shepherd’, and the strength and appeal of his voice later led to him joining the male section of the choir.
Arriving in Sydney as a fresh faced teenager, free of the constraints of his strict paternal household – guitar, folk and rock music soon became the focus of his youthful attention, and by his early twenties Malcolm was playing the local Sydney acoustic venues, such as the pioneering ‘Pact Folk Club’. Soon he had joined a working cover band as vocalist /rhythm guitar. This first band, ‘Blackmoon’, played RSL and bowling clubs across Sydney, plus the usual parties and other opportunity that presented , and Malcom gained valuable professional experience.
An exciting event for Malcolm at this formative period in his career was winning a lead role in a rock opera staged in Hyde Park by the Central Methodist Mission, where he met and was influenced by some of the exciting up-and-coming musicians of the day. Through these new contacts Malcolm was exposed to some of the best local original music on the underground Sydney scene, which inspired him to begin experimenting in original song writing.
These early associations led to him meeting up with internationally recognised vocalist Phil Jones (famous as front man for the pioneering Australian rock act ‘the Unkinown Blues’), who had recently returned to Australia from a stint with the headlining European raga rock band “Quintessence”. They formed the band ‘Shiva’s Fire’ which gave Malcolm valuable experience performing original music in the iconic Bondi Lifesaver, and equally famous French’s Wine Bar in Oxford Street, culminating in a (pre ‘Triple’) Double J live-to-air concert, which energised and motivated Malcolm to make music his life.
A decision to make a big move to sunny Queensland opened further new opportunities in professional music for Malcolm. Initially joining Brisbane band ‘Destiny’, during the era when most major hotels and venues supported Australian Musicians, he soon found himself as frontman for regular rock shows in venues ranging from ‘The Jet Club’ Coolangatta, to the Surfers Paradise Hotel, ‘The Playroom’, and suburban hotels across Brisbane including ‘Bluey’s’ (The Blue Pacific Hotel) and soon began touring further afield to play Bribie Island, Maryborough, Gympie and Bundaberg.
Over time ‘Destiny’ morphed into ‘Street Walker’, a hard-hitting rock band, playing a balance of classic rock covers and strong original material, working one nighters, as well as 4 to 6 week residencies, in major hotels from Coolangatta to far North Queensland.
After this intense period as a rock vocalist Malcolm began a family and subsequently enjoyed a successful business career, but always maintained his parallel dedication to, and love of music, the arts and live performance.
His business interest led him to spend some years living in Perth where, to further explore his unique vocal talent, Malcolm spent a year studying Classical Voice, at the Western Australia Academy for the Performing Arts, which led to the exciting opportunity to perform in the Perth Concert Hall with the Perth Philharmonic Choir, singing Verdi’s ‘Requiem’.
In more recent years Malcolm has returned to his roots, returnning to Queensland to take up performing as a soloist around Brisbane, and as frontman for the exciting blues / rock band ‘Black Adder’.
And now? Love and family led Malcolm to once more cross the Nullabor, to make a home in Perth, and he has enjoyed a short period during the Covid years as a semi recluse on Molloy Island, Southwest WA, reinventing a new and varied solo repertoire, which encompasses a wide variety of contemporary musical genres, including much-loved crowd pleasing covers, and his accessible self-composed show stoppers, plus enjoying a little ‘research’ checking out the local music scene – to keep live performance as his central focus.
Malcolm Smith, (currently the sole member of ‘Jeffrey’s Head’) is now ready to step back out once again, trusty guitar in hand and sing to the world – his vibrant new solo act will entertain guests at music venues across Perth and surrounding districts.
