Outside the clinic
Three chords, one distortion pedal, zero regrets.
Ben plays rhythm guitar in a Brisbane rock band. It's loud, it's occasional, and it's got nothing to do with therapy — which is largely the point.
The band
The Flat Fours started as a group of mates who wanted an excuse to rehearse. They've been rehearsing ever since — with the occasional pub gig to justify the equipment.
Ben picked up a guitar at fourteen, put it down at twenty-two when life got in the way, and picked it back up a decade later when a colleague mentioned he was looking for a rhythm guitarist. The Flat Fours play classic rock covers with a handful of original songs that are, by general agreement, better than they have any right to be.
The band is four people: Ben on rhythm guitar, a mate from his community mental health days on lead, a structural engineer on bass, and a primary school teacher on drums. They rehearse in the structural engineer's garage every few weeks and play live maybe five or six times a year — mostly local venues, the occasional private function, once a wedding that still gets brought up.
\"It's the only hour of the week where I'm not the one asking the questions,\" Ben says. \"The music does the talking. I just try not to play too loud.\"
The Flat Fours are not taking on any new members. The drummer's wife already has opinions about the rehearsal schedule.
What they play
The reliable part of the set.
Classic rock, a few Australian staples, and the originals they're quietly most proud of. Crowd response is, charitably, mixed on the originals.
Covers — the warhorses
Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel, AC/DC, The Angels, and enough Led Zeppelin to keep the lead guitarist happy. The kind of songs that mean everyone in the room over forty knows every word.
Covers — the curveballs
A handful of songs that have no business being in a pub rock set but somehow work. The Radiohead cover divides opinion. The Tom Waits cover mostly confuses people. They keep both in.
Originals
Four songs written collectively over eight years. One is genuinely good. One is good if you've had a drink. One is a work in progress that has been a work in progress since 2019. One they only play if specifically asked.
Playing in a band is one of the few things in life where being wrong about the timing is everyone's problem at once. There's something clarifying about that.
Here for the therapy, not the band.
The band is not bookable. The psychology practice very much is.