Many Noosa locals would recognise Chris Lofven as a member of Noosa’s iconic band, The Sandflys, but few would know his career exploits read like a history of Australia’s film and music industries.
Chris Lofven started making films as a 12-year-old living in Melbourne.
He’d become interested in television when it first appeared on the Australian scene though his family didn’t have one.
Having saved enough money from his paper round he bought his first film camera then a little later conned his sister, actor Kristen Williamson, into buying a 16mm camera so he could create films for television.
“When I was 14 or 15 I’d send them off to the ABC and they bought them. They’d pay decent money,” he said.
“The early short films had very simple story lines.”
He’d invest his earnings into visits to the cinema, film equipment and entering film competitions.
There were no university or TAFE courses in film at that time so it was up to Chris to teach himself.
“I’d go to book stores and read all day,” he said. “I learnt myself.”
Chris got his first film job working for Fred Schepisi in advertising for Cinesound Films which he later turned into The Film House.
“He was a great boss,” Chris said.
“They were making TV commercials. They had the gear and the equipment.
“He threw you into it. If you didn’t get it right you’d be in big trouble.”
Schepisi also leant out company equipment and Chris, whose other passion was music, used it to make video clips for popular bands.
In the early 1970s using The Film House gear he produced video clips for bands including Spectrum’s I’ll Be Gone and Daddy Cool’s Eagle Rock.
“I was always playing in a band. I was talking to agents trying to get gigs,” he said.
His contacts brought requests from a wide range of performers.
“I did promo shots for John Farnham before he was known. He came to my home in Carlton,” he said.
Like so many Australians Chris made his way to London in 1973.
He landed his first job in London with Australian filmmaker Bruce Beresford who was then making the film The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie. Being funded by the Australian Government they had to use as many Australians as possible in the film.
“I even got to appear in it,” he said.
“All of us had to play parts at different times.”
Chris heard the Australian government was investing money into the Australian film industry so he returned home, creating his critically acclaimed film Oz – A Rock ‘n’ Roll Road Movie.
“It was never a big commercial hit but it had a cult following,” he said.
He was approached by Mushroom records to produce music clips and continued to do so for a decade.
Across the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s Chris produced a long list of video clips.
Splitz Enz, Skyhooks, Dragon, Mondo Rock, Australian Crawl, Kids in the Kitchen, Glen Shorrock, John Paul Young, Jimmy Barnes, Goanna, Uncanny X-Men were among his clients.
“It was all the stuff that appeared on Countdown,” he said.
“Not all of it was good. The best people to work with were Split Enz. They had a member of the group who was a designer. He had theatrical experience and designed their costumes. I did nine or 10 with Split Enz.
“It was a pretty exciting time. I was playing in a band at the same time.”
After moving to Noosa Chris created a short film on Noosa’s Community Radio, Noosa FM 101.3 where he is a regular presenter and in 2015 made a film clip for band The Barleyshakes.
But since 2016 it is with The SandFlys that Chris spends much of his time.
The band came about after Chris Lofven shared his passion for music with Grind proprietor Adrian “Ado” Spelt on his visits to the caf¨¦ for his morning coffee.
Ado, a former olive farmer, had always wanted to play in a band having built a home recording studio where he honed his skills on vocals and guitar.
The two found some like-minded musos and formed what has become one of Noosa’s most popular bands.
They began jamming on Thursday mornings at the Sandbar Caf¨¦ on The Jetty at Gympie Terrace.
They have become an institution there playing a mix of Neil Young, The Eagles and Creedence along with surf instrumentals and originals named after iconic location like Castaways Beach, Tea Tree Bay and Hell’s Gates.
In 2018 they performed to a packed crowd on the beach at the Noosa Festival of Surfing and did it again the following year.
They’ve played regular sessions at the Land & Sea Brewery in Noosaville, at Noosa Reef Hotel and at Sunshine Beach Surf Club. Most Fridays you’ll find them playing the Harbour Wine Bar at Noosa Marina.
