From 1976 he has worked in Australia and has been a member of various groups including The Johnnys, Beasts of Bourbon, Paul Kelly and The Coloured Girls, Chris Bailey and The General Dog, Maurice Frawley and The Working Class Ringos, and Sacred Cowboys.
The Johnnys formed in 1982 in Sydney when bass guitarist Graham Hood tried out for the Hoodoo Gurus after quitting the Allniters.
Beasts of Bourbon are an Australian alternative rock, blues rock band formed in August 1983, with James Baker on drums (ex-Hoodoo Gurus), Spencer P. Jones on guitar (The Johnnys), Tex Perkins on vocals (Dum Dums), Kim Salmon on guitar and Boris Sujdovic on bass guitar (both ex-The Scientists).
In August 1983 while a member of The Johnnys, Spencer formed a side-project, Beasts of Bourbon (1983–85, 1988–93, 1996–97, 2003–08, 2013) with James Baker on drums (ex-Hoodoo Gurus), Tex Perkins on vocals (Dum Dums), Kim Salmon on guitar and Boris Sujdovic on bass guitar (both ex-The Scientists).