Jet’s Nic Cester once auditioned for AC/DC, but things didn’t go as expected.
Cester got invited to try out for AC/DC when Brian Johnson had to step back because of his hearing problems before Axl Rose took his place.
In a recent interview with Triple M, Cester revealed that he got a call to audition for the band. The thing is, it came right after he heard the news about Brian Johnson leaving:
“Angus put me through my paces. Everything was a test to see how I’d handle it – the volume and him going, ‘OK, let’s do this song,’ and I didn’t know [some of them] off the top of my head so he’d just go, ‘Go over there and learn it’ and the whole band would be waiting there for ten minutes and I’m just going, ‘Oh f*ck.’”
The audition wasn’t just about having a great voice. It was a full-on test of stamina, the right attitude, and how well someone could handle pressure and adapt to different situations:
“It was pretty intense, but I realize now Angus was a super professional guy and he wanted to push me to my absolute limit to see how I would react.”
Cester Knew It Wouldn’t Be Easy
In another interview, the rocker recalled the moment he saw Brian Johnson leaving the band. Although he didn’t think of joining the band at first, he got a call from the band to audition. Cester also knew that it wouldn’t be an easy call. He said:
“I was staying with my in-laws and I got up in the morning and read the paper and it said that Brian Johnson was not in the band anymore. I remember saying to my father-in-law, ‘You would not want to step into those shoes.’ Literally 20 minutes later, the phone rang saying, ‘Would you be interested in going to Atlanta, Georgia to audition and potentially fill in for this next round of dates that we’ve got?’”
You can watch the recent interview below.