Birthday - Apr 7
Russell began his music career while still at school, forming a band called The Interrogatives. Russell was always a fan of music but never followed the fashions of the day. While everyone else was listening to Flock of Seagulls, Russell was listening to Frank Sinatra and Elvis. Russell had already released singles before turning 18 and at that age opened an underage nightclub called 'The Venue' where kids could go and watch all the happening live bands of the time. Russell also performed in stage musicals such as 'Grease'. 'The Venue' is where Dean & Russell first met while dean was auditioning for a local band called 'The Mockers'. Together they formed Roman Antix, which had a succession of drummers and bass players but kept the core of Russell & Dean.

Roman Antix released one single - 'What's The Difference' and played all over New Zealand. Also during this time, Russell started performing as 'Eddie' and 'Dr Scott' in The Rocky Horror Show, while Dean joined the show as guitarist.

On arrival in Australia in 1987, Russell & Dean started busking on the streets of Sydney to earn a living. Russell split his time between writing and recording with Dean and auditioning for acting rolls. They amassed a large catalogue of songs and decided to form a full band that would go out and play them.TOFOG is the result.