Peter Jerijian was inspired by the Beatles when he landed in London in the late 1960s, leaving behind his Armenian family in Lebanon who viewed the budding bass guitarist’s long hair with disdain.
Six decades later in Dandenong, the grandfather reflects on a worldly, well-travelled life in his self-published memoir Bouncing Back: Tales From a Passionately Lived Life.
He recounts the words of Beatles frontman John Lennon who said that people can tell their story through lyrics or music.
“Everyone has a different way of telling their story,” Jerijian says.
His book started as a Covid-19 project, a way of filling in the quiet nights at home.
Writing in English – which is not his first language – was a challenge. But he stuck at it for five years, unearthing surprisingly vivid memories as far back as his childhood.
“Some say Armenians are resilient. When I start something and I believe in something, I don’t stop until I finish it.”
Bouncing Back spans 77 years of a life well lived in Lebanon, London, Melbourne and South Korea.
Ever resourceful, Jerijian been a bass guitarist in a pop band, etcher, machine engraver, screen printer and English-language teacher.
All the while mastering several languages including Armenia, Arabic, English, French, Turkish and Korean.
He grew up in a “riches to rags” situation, after his parents and cousins fled the 1915 Armenian genocide to take refuge in Lebanon.
Finances were modest but he was enriched by a loving community in Bourj Hamoud, a town near the vibrant capital Beirut that was then known as “Petit Paris”.
“We can’t thank enough the Lebanese who at the time took as in. You later realise how lucky you were.”
After landing in London as a young man, he discovered the haunts of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles – “my dream places” like Abbey Road studios, St John’s Wood and the Bull and Bush pub.
He lived in a bedsitter and played in nightclubs with pop bands The Conquerors and later The Lords.
“It was fantastic. It was like a dream for us singing on the stage, playing music with all the bands in London.”
Holding a work permit, he was also focused on survival and began carving his career as a machine engraver.
There he met his Ethiopian fiancée. Together they moved to Melbourne where she had family in the mid-1970s.
Jerijian enjoyed married life in Melbourne – which he viewed as a similar but tidier version of London.
However in the 1990s, life turned cruelly and he fell to his lowest point. He divorced, as well as lost his screenprinting business during the national recession.
He met close friend Rosemarie, boarding with her in a place opposite Chisholm Tafe.
They took in overseas students as boarders, and became steeped in new cultures and foods.
In the early 2000s, an inspired Rosemarie embarked on teaching in Japan and South Korea.
Jerijian followed, quitting his job, learning how to teach as a volunteer at AMES in Noble Park and finding plentiful work teaching English to children and parents.
Now back in Dandenong, he reflects on his “fantastic journey”.
“There are sad parts of this story – I had to cry sometimes. The best part was in those years when I was in a band and a drama group, and I started becoming a man.”
Bouncing Back will be launched at Armenian Community Centre, 8-14 Police Road, Springvale on Saturday 21 June, 4.30pm. Details: peterj313@hotmail.com or 0435 786 736.
