I Was in a Shitty High School Rock Band with Russell Crowe

This post originally appeared on Noisey UK.

We've all got a high school anecdote that relates to someone famous. Like how one kid you used to be in class with now has a YouTube channel with 2 million subscribers, where he uploads videos of himself falling down the stairs in various different mascot costumes. Or how a girl from your sixth form got onto Masterchef but choked in the semi finals when her souffle collapsed. But these dead air pub stories are usually frail, paper thin tales that barely cling onto their z-list references.

The last few weeks, we've unearthed some killer claims to fame, like the guy who toured with Keannu Reeves, or the drummer who played punk with Ben Stiller. And now, we've found Mark Stauffer. Mark attended Mount Roskill Grammar School in Auckland, New Zealand, in the 80s, and his little anecdote involves being in a shitty teen rock band with an Academy Award winning actor who's played everyone from Noah to Robin Hood: the one and only Russell Crowe. The Crowe we know these days might get a lot of shit for loudly brushing over film industry sexism, but honestly, there was this one time back in the day when he played this gladiator what slayed that bastard Joaquin Phoenix with a massive sword and we all bloody loved him for it.

So, it transpires in our chat with Mark, the 16 year old Russell wasn't just the most popular kid in school and the editor of the student newspaper, he was also the lead singer of a melodic yet confused young band, alongside Mark and ever-changing drummers. Together they played covers of "Teenage Kicks" to unimpressed judges at local Battle of the Bands shows under the guise of Dave Deceit & the Interrogatives.

So, we got in touch with Mark to talk about what it was like to hit practice with a young lad who would go on to work with Ridley Scott, date Meg Ryan, and be pulled away from a fight in a Japanese restaurant by Ross Kemp. Over to Mark.

Continues below

Noisey: Hey Mark! So, how the hell did you end up in a high school band with Russell Crowe?
Mark: Well, when I was 16 I was expelled from school and sent to a new one halfway through the year: Mt. Roskill Grammar. It was a pretty daunting situation especially since I was going through a punk phase and had bright green hair, but luckily the most popular kid in school befriended me. He was editor of the school newspaper, ran all the social events, and had a band. That kid was Russell Crowe. I joined and we formed Dave Deceit & the Interrogatives, which was shortened to the Interrogatives. Because, you know, the longer name was hard to fit on our posters.

Whose parents had to put up with your practice sessions?
Practice was always a bit of a nightmare because our parents weren't super-keen on us blasting-out our quiet suburban neighborhoods. We'd take over Russell's garage, or my living room to screams of "TURN THAT BLOODY MUSIC DOWN!!"

What was the sound of The Interrogatives?
Russell came from a more rock n' roll place, and I had a love for Television and Patti Smith, so our originals were an interesting collision of Elvis and New Wave, but not interesting enough to be any good. Our covers ran the gamut - we'd go from "Love Letter No. 9" to "Teenage Kicks". Sounds pretty awful when you spell it out, but we were fairly sure we were setting the entire world on fire.

Did you ever release any music?
We started getting a bit serious at one stage and begged enough money to record a couple of songs with a proper producer. He put synths all over our demo, which we thought sounded cool in a Gary Numan way, but it actually wasn't. Russell was always an expert marketer (for a 16 year old) and we tried to get radio stations interested.

What was your first gig like?
We played Mt. Roskill Grammar School one lunch time, and it was like the damn Beatles had arrived. The hall was packed and everyone seemed to love our weird hybrid songs. The school newspaper gave us a glowing review, which would mean more except for the fact that I wrote it.

Wow, you played the school rock business. Did you play any shows after that?
There's an island in Auckland Harbor called Waiheke, which we took the 30-minute ferry to and played two gigs over a weekend. We called it our "Overseas Tour" which we thought was very clever. The promoter was a junky who hadn't promoted it at all, and on the first night we got 10 people. Halfway through the gig the power went out and we had no idea it was run on a meter. It took us an hour to find where to put the coins in. On the second night we got a crowd of 3, and one of those was RC's brother, Terry, who was our manager.

Did having someone like Russell Crowe in the band make for any weird moments?
Oh yeah, even back then I knew he was gonna make it big. He was much more driven towards fame and success than I was. And the girls, well let's just say they weren't coming to the gigs for my shitty bass playing. Russell was a man on a mission very early on, and he was determined to take me with him. He was always incredibly generous and caring and it was really cool being on the great adventure of teenagerhood with him.

Why did The Interrogatives end?
Our final hurrah was at the New Zealand Battle of the Bands. Here we were playing our melodic, commercial brand of music while everyone else was very much competing to be the most like The Fall. The judges thought we sucked, and I'd just been accepted into journalism school so my priorities and destiny were shifting.

Do you keep in contact with your former band mates?
Russell and I are still mates. Nothing's ever changed in that respect, and you never make friends again like the ones you do when you're in your teens. We're still collaborating creatively on films, although I'm a better writer than bass player. I leave the music to him these days. As far as our drummers go, just like when we were in the band together, I have no idea of their whereabouts.

What is your fondest moment from being in The Interrogatives?
For a while I loved the whole experience. I was experimenting — finding my creative spine — and music was part of that. I began discovering that writing was my calling and that's what I've been doing ever since. I'm a firm believer in that Thomas Beecham axiom; "One should try everything at least once, except incest and square-dancing."

It must be funny to reflect on it all.
We're both fathers now. Sometimes we look at each other when our kids are playing and it takes us right back to those years when we met. Our critters are still young, but I reckon one day soon I'm gonna be yelling "TURN THE BLOODY MUSIC DOWN!" as they practice in the garage.

Cheers for your time, Mark!

Follow Lucas on Twitter.

Mark now works in TV, film, radio, and writing. Find more about him here.