Absent Friends (band)

Absent Friends
Also known as	Sean Kelly and His Absent Friends
Origin	Sydney, Australia
Years active	1989–1990
Labels	rooArt
Associated acts	Models Rockmelons INXS Machinations GANGgajang Eurogliders The Dukes Peter Blakeley
Past members	Sean Kelly James Valentine Garry Gary Beers Geoffrey Stapleton Wendy Matthews Michael King John Mackay Ron Francois

Absent Friends were an ARIA Award winning band from Sydney. The band was relatively short lived, forming in 1989 and disbanding in 1990. It featured a number of notable Australian musicians including Sean Kelly (Models, The Dukes), Andrew Duffield, James Valentine (both also ex-Models), Garry Gary Beers (INXS), Geoffrey Stapleton (GANGgajang) and Wendy Matthews.

Following the break-up of Models in 1988,Sean Kelly attempted to launch a solo career with the single "Thank You, Goodnight" (March 1988) (which happened to be the name of Models' last tour), but the single was not a commercial success and in early 1989 Kelly found himself at a loose end. Kelly contacted a number of friends, with a view of putting together an informal band to play a few gigs. The impromptu cooperative was initially dubbed Sean Kelly and His Absent Friends. The initial line-up varied, usually dependent upon the availability of individual members at any given time. Sean Kelly and His Absent Friends kicked off life as a touring act in May 1989, with Kelly (vocals/guitar) joined on occasion by his partner Wendy Matthews (vocals)(who performed backing vocals for Models and was a guest vocalist on the Rockmelons debut and ARIA award winning album, Tales of the City), Garry Gary Beers (the bassist for INXS), Nicole Ainslie (keyboards/vocals), Andrew Duffield (keyboards) ex-Models, James Valentine (saxophone) ex-Models, guitarist Michael King ex-Jimmy Barnes, and drummer John MacKay ex-Machinations. Within a couple of months the high-profile group were supporting Crowded House at their July 1989 'Rock For Land Rights' concert.

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