{"id":24558,"date":"2025-07-26T22:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T22:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/24558\/"},"modified":"2025-07-26T22:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T22:16:09","slug":"a-rock-stars-guide-to-the-hsc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/24558\/","title":{"rendered":"A rock star\u2019s guide to the HSC"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kirk<\/p>\n

Kirk Pengilly on stage with INXS in Ontario in 2011. Pengilly did his HSC in 1975, the year the first HSC Study Guide was released.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text size<\/p>\n

Kirk Pengilly, guitarist and saxophonist for INXS, doesn\u2019t remember much about his HSC. He does know he didn\u2019t do music.<\/p>\n

He also knows that if he had forced himself into studying HSC subjects he didn\u2019t like to chase an ATAR he didn\u2019t particularly want, his rock-star dream may have never become a reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cI studied to the best of my ability, but I lived in a place of distraction. I could go fishing, I could go swimming, I could take off on a motorboat. I spent a lot of time looking out the window,\u201d he said, recalling his HSC class of 1975 at The Forest High School on the northern beaches.<\/p>\n

This was also the same year the Herald\u2019s first HSC Study Guide was produced. The 50th anniversary edition of the guide, in partnership with the NSW Education Standards Authority, is launched on Monday and is designed to support the 80,000 plus students sitting the HSC exams later this year.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Pengilly said by the time he was in year 12 he knew his life plan: a career in music.<\/p>\n

\"Kirk<\/p>\n

Kirk Pengilly performing with INXS at the 2020 NRL grand final.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n

And what a career. Over 40 years, INXS became one of Australia\u2019s most successful rock bands. With more than 70 million records sold worldwide and more than 4 billion career streams, they have won seven MTV Awards, three Grammy nominations, Brit Awards and hundreds of platinum, gold and now two diamond awards from Canada and Australia.<\/p>\n

The band, comprising friends from school, first performed locally as The Farriss Brothers in 1977. Michael Hutchence (vocals), Pengilly (guitar\/sax), Garry Gary Beers (bass), Jon Farriss (drums), Tim Farriss (guitar) and Andrew Farriss (guitar, keyboard, percussion) won Australian fans and then international acclaim, touring and performing for millions around the world, including the historic sell-out 1991 performance for 74,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.<\/p>\n

\"INXS,<\/p>\n

INXS, with frontman Michael Hutchence, pictured in 1997.Credit: AP<\/p>\n

\"Pengilly<\/p>\n

Pengilly performing in the early years.<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

Michael Hutchence, Pengilly, brothers Andrew, Jon and Tim Farriss and Garry Gary Beers (back) as INXS in 1986.<\/p>\n

\u201c[When I hear our music in] the supermarket, it\u2019s a mixture of pride and hide. I get approached by people everywhere I go, which is lovely, but I find it a bit awkward in a supermarket when one of our songs is playing,\u201d he has noted.<\/p>\n

\"Pengilly<\/p>\n

Pengilly said it was important to \u201cdo something that you love\u201d.Credit: WireImage<\/p>\n

\u201cIn stark contrast, hearing a massive audience sing along is breathtaking \u2013 such a powerful energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Pengilly said it was important to do \u201cwhat you love\u201d and, for all the HSC pressure and stress, the reality is that life goes on after the HSC.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

\u201cYou need to ask yourself what you love in life and what you love doing,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you can uncover that and get to the bottom of what it is you love, the things you do, then you can see how you can make a job connected to the things you love doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not healthy to be doing something you do not enjoy and don\u2019t want to be doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly don\u2019t stress if you don\u2019t know [what you want to do] at the end of your HSC. Enjoy life and it will come to you. Your niche in the world will come when it is ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kirk Pengilly on stage with INXS in Ontario in 2011. Pengilly did his HSC in 1975, the year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24559,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[64,63,134,136],"class_list":["post-24558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}