Troy Adrian Newman was born in Perth, Western Australia.[1][2] He began writing songs while attending Hollywood Senior High School and, in his earlier years, fronted The Exdreamists. At age seventeen he joined popular local Perth band Boys as a vocalist, when they reformed in 1987 with Camillo Del Roio and Lino Del Roio on guitar, Eddie Parise on bass guitar, drummer Frank Celenza and Tony Celiberti as keyboardist.[3][4][5] A year later the band changed their name to Boyschool but split soon after,[4] with Parise and Celenza moving to form Bamboo Curtain, before joining Baby Animals