Nearly everyone at some point in their youth has been gripped by desire for the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. This is a collection of funny, true, starting-out anecdotes from eager young bands determined to get out of the basement, and some of those who made it.

This book does for the music industry what He Died with a Falafel in His Hand did for share houses. Stuart Coupe, music journalist and author of The Promoters

This book is the perfect and very funny reminder that the only payoff, for most bands, is the experience of having got up there and rocked. Michael Smith, bass player and Associate Editor of The Drum Media

It s hard enough for an emerging rock and roll band to try and make a name for itself. But if half your band has been arrested and detained on the edge of the Nullarbor, or your ex-girlfriend has kidnapped your guitar and held it to ransom, things may get a little tough. If a meteorite has just hit your tour bus, then things might become downright impossible.

These are but a few of the true stories in Sex, Drugs and Mum in the Front Row, a side-splitting journey on that long and bumpy road to rock stardom. Here are the tales, myths and revelations from the grass roots: the suburban garages, stained and faded pubs, backyard 21sts, unfriendly towns and even the occasional biker gang headquarters. Discover the excesses and not always happy successes of eager young rock gods breaking out of the basement and onto the stage.

Evan Kanarakis has tracked down a colourful cast of real-life characters worth more attention than a quick glance at a band s poster taped hastily to the side of a telegraph pole. From established bands of past and present, including such names as the Living End, Frenzal Rhomb, the Choirboys and the Celibate Rifles, to the next breed of up-and-comers, here are their tales of the early struggles, the mishaps, misfires and maniacal quirks of life in a rock and roll band.