Hard rock cafe: Grates turn over a new leaf

THERE'S no superstar attitude in this Brisbane tea room.

Patience Hodgson and John Patterson in their Brisbane cafe. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

EVEN Patience Hodgson admits that opening a tea room in suburban Brisbane is not typical rock-star behaviour.

But for the lead singer of successful Australian indie band the Grates and her husband and bandmate John Patterson, the side project made perfect sense.

"We serve people now; hospitality is really humbling when your job is to serve somebody and make them feel better," Hodgson says from the Southside Tea Room in the sleepy Brisbane suburb of Morningside, across the road from Kevin Rudd's electorate office.

"It's the complete opposite of what is typically expected of somebody, a 'rock star'."

Hodgson and Patterson opened the tea room a year ago, after returning from a stint in Brooklyn, New York, where they worked on their third album. Back in their hometown of Brisbane, the pair identified a yawning gap in the market: a friendly neighbourhood dive bar.

The establishment kicked off serving only takeaway coffee, pretzels and cakes from outside the suburban shopfront but has grown into a thriving cafe-bar, adorned with vintage knick-knacks. There's a small but creative brunch menu (the salted caramel milkshakes are sought after) and a soon-to-be-launched expanded bar food selection, plus live music, trivia nights, "crafternoons" and a Mum Club ("BYO baby").

Fans of the Grates make pilgrimages from across the country -- and the world -- to sip cappuccinos made by Hodgson. One devotee is flying from England next month to host a party at the tea room.

But why did two-thirds of a successful band, which won a Breakthrough Artist ARIA award in 2006 for their debut album Gravity Won't Get You High, decide to open a cafe in suburban Brisbane? "We wanted to do something different before we were too old," Patterson, 31, says of himself and wife Hodgson, 30.

"This is way more of a creative challenge than I've had for years with the band. We've written and recorded albums now three times and we've toured for years."

There's also the added financial security, now that the business has been running smoothly for months.

Hodgson, arguably the nation's most energetic frontwoman, says this gives the pair -- and drummer Richard Daniell, also their barista -- more freedom to record the music they want, when they want. "It's really nice not to have music be the only thing that feeds you, literally," she says.

"And that makes music more fun. It just makes a nicer experience when you're not having to be like -- oh shit, if this album doesn't get played on the radio, we're going to have to go get (a job working for someone else)."

And while they say they're in no rush to record a new album, the pair are certain inspiration is only around the corner.

"I don't need to break an album to live anymore," Patterson says. "It's a lot more comfortable."