It is a long way from fronting a rock band touring Germany to the front bar of a small town in Western Australia's wheatbelt.
But Kirk Pohl would not want to be anywhere else.
For the past 16 years, Pohl has been pouring beers in Perenjori, about 350 kilometres north of Perth and home to fewer than 300 people.
But back in the '90s, Pohl was the frontman of up-and-coming garage band, The Early Hours.
Pohl and his brother, Chet, were working in Kalgoorlie when they teamed up with school friends Matt Davis and Sean Carthew, with the sole purpose of recording their favourite style of music — 60s-influenced rock.
Before the end of the millennium, the four-piece band had performed more than 60 shows across Europe, and supported the likes of The Hoodoo Gurus, Powderfinger and You Am I.
"It was unreal," Pohl said.
"We never really set out to do a whole lot, but a few chips fell our way."
Lucky break
As an unknown band playing between Kalgoorlie and Perth, The Early Hours struggled to break into the Australian music scene.
After a constant stream of rejection, the band decided to cast their net wider and started sending their demo tape to recording labels in Europe and America.
As their dreams started to fade, a small independent label in Berlin said they would release The Early Hours' debut album on vinyl — if the band agreed to play 12 gigs across Germany.
The 12 shows in 1996 quickly grew to 31, with the label securing gigs in France, Spain and Belgium.
Pohl said it was the first time any of them had been to Europe.
"It was quite bizarre — four of us in a little van driving around Europe," he said.
"Being able to travel with your close friends, all young, and being able to do it under the umbrella of playing in a band was really amazing."
Despite no mobile phones and no GPS, the band managed to navigate its way around Europe without getting lost.
"When we'd get to the edge of a city, we'd find a public phone booth and ring some guy — usually the club owner," Pohl said.
"He'd say 'Go down this road, down that road, look for the guy in the red tracksuit standing on the corner'.
"I don't know how we did it."
As they were gearing up to head overseas, The Early Hours were named the winners of Triple J's first Unearthed competition in Western Australia.
Upon returning to Australia, the band released their second album through Sydney-based label Phantom Records and relocated to the east coast for a summer of shows.
In 1998, the band headed back to Europe for another mammoth tour.
Rock'n'roll days are over
After a whirlwind few years, The Early Hours decided to call it quits.
Three of the four members finished their university degrees, while Pohl lived in France for a few years before taking over the Perenjori Hotel from his dad, who had run the pub for two decades.
"We got to a point where we'd done more than we'd ever set out to do," Pohl said.
"We were only ever a garage band that wanted to make a record, and that was it."
Pohl's brother, Chet, is now a finance lawyer, Davis is an architect, and Carthew works in hospitality.
While Pohl still enjoyed playing music, he said he was happy living a more relaxed lifestyle in a regional town.
"There's a few guys around town, we'll get the guitars out and a have a bit of a muck around," he said.
"I'm married now and I've got a young boy, I'm at a different stage of my life.
"The rock'n'roll days are definitely over."
