▁grant ing ▁Festival ▁the ▁Australian ▁distribution ▁rights ▁to ▁the ▁group ' s ▁record ings . ▁Through ▁K ip ner ▁the ▁Be e ▁Ge es ▁met ▁engineer - produ cer , ▁O ss ie ▁By r ne , ▁who ▁produced ▁( or ▁co - produ ced ▁with ▁K ip ner ) ▁many ▁of ▁the ▁earlier ▁Sp in ▁record ings , ▁most ▁of ▁which ▁were ▁cut ▁at ▁his ▁own ▁small , ▁self - built ▁St ▁Cla ir ▁Studio ▁in ▁the ▁Sydney ▁sub urb ▁of ▁Hur st ville . ▁By r ne ▁gave ▁the ▁Gib b ▁brothers ▁virt ually ▁un limited ▁access ▁to ▁St ▁Cla ir ▁Studio ▁over ▁a ▁period ▁of ▁several ▁months ▁in ▁mid - 1 9 6 6 . ▁The ▁group ▁later ▁acknowled ged ▁that ▁this ▁enabled ▁them ▁to ▁greatly ▁improve ▁their ▁skills ▁as ▁recording ▁artists . ▁During ▁this ▁product ive ▁time ▁they ▁recorded ▁a ▁large ▁batch ▁of ▁original ▁material — including ▁the ▁song ▁that ▁would ▁become ▁their ▁first ▁major ▁hit , ▁" Sp icks ▁and ▁Spe cks " ▁( on ▁which ▁By r ne ▁played ▁the ▁tr ump et ▁c oda ) — as ▁well ▁as ▁cover ▁versions ▁of ▁current ▁hits ▁by ▁over se as ▁acts ▁such ▁as ▁the ▁Beat les . ▁They ▁regularly ▁collabor ated ▁with ▁other ▁local ▁mus icians , ▁including ▁members ▁of ▁beat ▁band ▁Steve ▁& ▁The ▁Board , ▁led ▁by ▁Steve ▁K ip ner , ▁Nat ' s ▁te en age ▁son . ▁ ▁Fr ustr ated ▁by ▁their ▁lack ▁of ▁success , ▁the ▁Gib bs ▁began ▁their ▁return