Over nine nights in July and August,Newtown rock band DMA’s heralded the return of live music in Sydney by playing 18 shows - two a night - to a seated,reduced capacity crowd. Patrons were temperature checked on the way in and social distancing was maintained.

Gudinski says this model could readily be applied to small music venues like the Tote in Collingwood or bigger ones like Richmond’s Corner Hotel and St Kilda’s Prince of Wales. To make it work,artists,venues and promoters will all need to accept that none of them will make the money they normally do from a show.

“It might go back to acts doing two or three shows a night in the one venue,’’ he says. “We have got to be very creative about how we get it to move ahead. It is going to come on in different stages.”

Throughout the pandemic,Gudinski has had more insight than most into Premier Daniel Andrews,the man ultimately responsible for the breadth and duration of Victoria’s lockdown measures.

The pair never talk about politics but,as Gudinski explains,they have discovered a shared love of live music,classic vinyl and emerging acts.

“He is renowned as a Midnight Oil tragic and he loves the way Jimmy Barnes has communicated throughout this period,''Gudinski says."He has been very supporting of music and the arts. It reminds me of the Paul Keating days.

"I send him a bit of music. I know his kids love G-Flip.''

Although Melbourne and Victoria are a long way from Hyperfine,Gudinski has regained his optimism after,by his own description,spending the first two weeks of Melbourne’s initial lockdown under the sheets in a state of panic.

The turning point was when he came up with the idea of Music From the Home Front,a made-for-TV and streaming music event which connected some of Australia’s leading artists to raise money for frontline health workers.

He takes comfort from knowing Paul Kelly has used lockdown to think and write and “our queen’’ Kylie Minogue will release a new album before Christmas,that his Saints are only a win away from playing AFL finals and his good friend Nick Williams is likely to have a strong group of runners in this year’s Melbourne Cup.

It also helps that he has used his time off the road to kick the last remnants of rock'n'roll lifestyle and get himself fit.

“I am probably having the most creative time I have had in 30 years,’’ he says. “You can sit there and dwell. People I know who have been doing that,it is no good on any level. There is a lot of positivity that will come out of this.

“Melbourne is famous for the things that have been most affected but we aren’t throwing in the towel. We will be very keen as soon as we can get started. Hopefully that is not as far off as people think.’’