MEMORIES IN FUTURE TENSE -- IT'S JUST THE BLURRED CRUSADE by Michael Delaney From Juke magazine, June 26, 1982 The Church play a stylish and articulate hybrid of contemporary folk-rock and neo-psychedelic powerpop, its roots as much in the foppish, Dylanesque idiosyncrasies of Steve Harley/Cockney Rebel (93Make Me Smile94, 93Se bastian94, Mr Soft94) and the throbbing, medium-weight insistency of mid-period T. Rex (93Hot Love94, 93Get It On94) as in the east coast electric folk of The Byrds (93Eight Miles High94, 93Mr Tambourine Man94). But more so than ever , it's that reflective, sonic, solipsistic jingle-jangle mesh of chiming 12-string gu itar and sunburst vocal harmony so much the latter's stock-in-trade that has determined the present (and one would suspect future) profile of The Chur ch. Lead by vocalist/writer Steve Kilbey, The Church is fundamentally the res ult of his vision, his persona, astutely imaginative, some would say eccentri c, lyricist and tunesmith, Kileby's engagingly eclectic blend of myth, mys tery, romance, wonder, exotica and wide-eyed esoterica has fashioned some of t he most interesting, memorable and distinctive pop/rock currently on vinyl. Though they quite openly flaunt their influences, The Church at no stage content themselves with mere imitation. They may owe a great deal in for m to the music (and spirit) of The Byrds, but, simply this, no-one sounds lik e The Church. No-one else has quite the same magic. No-one else has quite so effectively joined together such seemingly oppositional characteristics: vulnerability and tensile strength; insight and, at times, flagrant naivetE9. To repeat, The Church are distinctive, different. They have a sense of integrity, a sense of integrity, a sense of honor, a nobility in what th ey say and in the way they say it that has both substance and pertinence. T hey make a whole lot of valuable sense to a whole lot of people. At the sa me time, they're like quicksilver, elusive and illusive, hard to pin down -- not that you would want to, or, for that matter, should, because that denies them their subtlety, their space. An d space has a lot to do with what The Church do and say. Inner space. The space in between the words and the music. The space in between us a ll. The illusion of space between us all. And The Church needs a lot of spa ce within which, unfettered, they can ebb and flow, soar and shimmer, build to furious intensities and then evaporate clean and clear away leaving naugh t but their bitter-sweet afterglow to permeate like incense. Put it like t his: you don't break the butterfly on the wheel. The Church have confidence and tremendous personality, a considerately energetic yet curiously implosive edge that, despite its exuberance and s ense of grandeur, retains a gentle, reflective, almost self-effacing sensitivi ty. Intriguing and genuinely insidious, The Church exhilarate a sense of maj esty and a fullbodied emotional presence as intangible as it is thoroughly pervasive/persuasive. It's there, but don't try and pin it down beca use it'll just spill right through your fingers. That's their nature. T hat's The Church. Derek Taylor once said of The Byroads that they were 93one of the few g roups with value who could relate to values beyond the sound of music, who coul d reach to the ends of the world and touch, just touch a human spirit and l eave that touch to work and activate what it may...94 Like The Byroads, The Church are one of these groups and one cannot say why, because it isn't FELT, then it isn't to be explained in words. EVEN THOUGH THE FIRST OVERSEAS SET IS DOING SO WELL, YOU'VE INTIMATED T HAT CAPITOL IN THE STATES ISN'T ALL THAT IMPRESSED WITH THE BLURRED CRUSADE 2E WHY IS THAT? Well, I spoke to Bruce Raywood who's the guy that initially signed us u p, and after he'd heard the album, he said he was a bit worried that there was n't a hit single on it and some of the tracks were a bit too long. He said it wasn't as punchy or as poppy as the first album. I keep hearing report s through various sources that, despite listening to it over and over again , they still don't think the second album'll go all that well in Americ a. THERE'S NOTHING ON THE BLURRED CRUSADE QUITE AS HARD-HITTING AS 93MEMO RIES IN FUTURE TENSE94 OR 93FOR A MOMENT WE'RE STRANGERS94. Oh, I like 93For A Moment We're Strangers94, but I don't like 93Me mories....94 WHY NOT? That was a song that I think got a bit our of control. It's ended up v ery different from how it was originally intended. I think there's enough bands around already playing that sort of music without us doing it as well. I DIDN'T THINK THE SECOND SIDE OF THE FIRST ALBUM WAS AS GOOD AS IT COU LD'VE BEEN. I FOUND IT REALLY PATCHY. Really? YEAH. I'VE NEVER LIKED 93SHE NEVER SAID94. I THINK IT SHOULD HAVE B EEN OMITTED FROM THE LP -- I THINK IT DESTROYS THE CONTINUITY. IT'S A REAL LY DISPOSABLE SONG, CERTAINLY IN COMPARISON TO 93THE UNGUARDED MOMENT94, 93 FOR A MOMENT WE'RE STRANGERS94 AND 93FIGHTER PILOT -- KOREAN WAR94. Yeah, that's true. 93She Never Said94 was done really early. In fac t, it was the first thing we ever recorded. I don't think it was recorded as wel l as it could've been . I mean, that was the first time we were ever in a p roper studio. If we did it now, I think we could fulfill the potential that th e song had, but really, it was a bit of a rush job on that first album. YOUR GIG SCHEDULE IS FAIRLY EXHAUSTING. WHEN DO YOU FIND THE TIME TO WRI TE? I haven't written any songs for a while, but every now and then I'll just sit down and write three or four songs over a period of one or two days. DOES YOUR WRITING COME FAIRLY EASILY? Yeah, no worries! YOUR SONGS HAVE RECEIVED A LOT OF CRITICISM FOR WHAT SOME CONSIDER TO BE THEIR LACK OF SUBSTANCE; AURAL BROCADES, ALL FORM AND NO CONTENT. Well, you know, it's like 93Blue Poles94 One man sees a thousand thi ngs in it, the destiny of mankind, and someone else91ll just regard it as a blob of paint smeared over a piece of canvas. What can you say? To each his own. WHERE DID THE CHURCH SOUND ORIGINATE? THERE'S ALWAYS LOTS OF OBVIOUS REFERENCES TO THE BYRDS, T. REX, STEVE HARLEY. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THESE PEOPLE, IF IN FACT, IT IS THESE PARTICULAR PEOPLE, THAT HAS PARTICULARLY INFLUENCED YOU? I just think The Byrds is like taking a trip. They're like seeing a re ally sad film that has this strange type of triumphant ending, or something. I don't know. See, I always think that if I knew what it was that I like d about those people I could say it, but it really is something that you ca n't quite.... SURE, IT'S THEIR FEELING! Oh, definitely! It's very difficult to pin an emotion, the sprit of wh at's happening. How do you contain that? It is what it is and everybody's interpretation and reaction is different. IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO PIN DOWN SOMETHING AS ELUSIVE AND EVASIVE AS THE BYRDS! I'VE BEEN TRYING TO DO THAT IN PRINT FOR FIFTEEN YEARS! THEY' D BE WITHOUT DOUBT, THE MUSIC THAT'S AFFECTED ME THE MOST OF ALL. Yeah, they were very special. AND T. REX? MARC BOLAN? WHERE DOES HE FIT IN? Oh, I was just totally infatuated with Marc Bolan for two or three years! When I was 17 or 18. The albums A Beard Of Stars, T. Rex, and Electric Warrior are probably the most played records in my collection. I THINK THE T. REX ALBUM WAS THE BEST THING HE MADE. Just with him and Mickey Finn on the cover? YEAH, THE ONE WITH THE RE-RECORDED VERSIONS OF 93ONE INCH ROCK94 AND 93 THE WIZARD94. Oh, yeah! That's fantastic! I've always enjoyed that sort of delica cy that T. Rex had. I mean, it was rock & roll and it made you want to dance, bu t it wasn't oafish and brutal. I used to sit down and listen to his lyrics over and over again! It's the sort of music that you can just get totally l ost in. You can retire from the real worked and just listen to that album an d let it take you somewhere else entirely. I DON'T THINK BOLAN EVER RECORDED A BETTER VOCAL THAN THAT RETAKE OF 93 THE WIZARD94. I REALLY THINK IT'S ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING AND IMAGINA TIVE VOCAL TRACKS THAT'S BEEN CUT UNDER THE AEGIS OF ROCK. IT'S ASTONISHI NG! THE FIRST TIME I HEARD IT I WAS COMPLETELY SUNNED! I'D NEVER HEARD ANYTHIN G LIKE THAT IN MY LIFE. That big freakout at the end! WHAT ABOUT STEVE HARLEY & COCKNEY REBEL? THERE'S A VERY PRONOUNCED CONNECTION IN VOCAL STYLE BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU. I really liked the first two Cockney Rebel albums. 93ALMOST WITH YOU94 REMINDS ME A LOT OF 93MAKE ME SMILE94 -- THE FLOW ING ACOUSTIC RHYTHMS, THE SPANISH ACOUSTIC LEAD GUITAR, THE CONVERSATIONAL VOCAL, THE OVERALL LILT. Do you really think so? I'd say 93Just For You94 has a lot more in c ommon with 93Make Me Smile94 but yeah, I can see what you mean. I think the first album, in particular, 93Human Menagerie94 was wonderful! The lyrics are just amazing! It's a really showbiz type of album, very cinematic, very rom antic, sort of circusy. THERE WAS ALWAYS THAT ELEMENT OF THE TRADITIONAL ENGLISH MUSIC HALL IN TH E FIRST TWO COCKNEY REBEL ALBUMS. THE VOCALS WERE ALWAYS VERY INTIMATE, AN D THE MUSICAL SETTINGS VERY GRAND, COLOURFUL. THE CHURCH HAVE THOSE SAME QUALITIES. Yeah, that's right! No-one knew how to record my vocals on the first a lbum except me. No-one really listened. Instead of standing in a room with t he microphone turned right up so I could relax and sort of, you know, croon the vocals, I had to stand there and yell because it was turned right down. It made it really difficult for me. I wasn't particularly happy with the way it turned out, but, like, that's just part of the learning process. YOU'RE IN A VERY VULNERABLE POSITION AS A BAND. YOU'VE ONLY BEEN TOG ETHER A SHORT TIME, YOU'VE RECORDED TWO HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL ALBUMS, BUT YOUR 91L IVE' PROFILE HAS DRAWN TREMENDOUS FLAK BECAUSE OF YOUR RELATIVE LACK OF EXPERI ENCE IN THAT PARTICULAR MEDIUM. PERSONALLY, AT THIS STATE, I SEE YOU FAR MORE AS A STUDIO BAND. THERE ARE FAR TOO MANY VARIABLES INVOLVED IN 91LIVE' W ORK. We're not your basic 91meat and potatoes' group, you know? We're not the sort of group who can just troop out on stage and run through the songs. Ther e's a lot of very delicate personalities in the band and if somebody has a ba d night, it really tubs off on everybody. All I can say is that, sure, we have a lot of mediocre nights, but when we have a good night I think it's re ally worth waiting for. THE CHURCH STRIKE ME AS A VERY MOODY BAND. IT MUST BE DIFFICULT MAINTAIN ING AN EVEN EMOTIONAL KEEL? Oh yeah! Sometimes it's just havoc! I've never met anyone like the other three guys. We're all like laws unto ourselves. HOW DO YOU MEAN? UNPREDICTABLE? Peter's incredibly moody. Very intense. You know, I watch the televisi on clips back and you can just see how Peter is such a dark, brooding person 2E He can sink to the depths of despair and then suddenly just bounce back and be extremely elated. He tends to ping-pong back and forth between the tw o. Richard's the most blasE9 19-year-old person I've ever met in my lif e! We could see ten million albums and you'd ring him up and tell him and he' d say, 93Yeah, but have you got any good hash?!94 He just doesn't get affec ted by it, you know? Marty's generally a sort of very happy, easy to get along with person. Every so often he'll go through this thing where he gets very unwilling and stubborn, sort of petulant in a way. And, of course, the bigger the band gets, all of these individual qualities start to become more and more exaggerated, and the bigger you are the, the more you can afford to.... INDULGE YOUR WHIMS? Yeah, and I don't know, sometimes it gets to the stage where we're al l sort of living out our fantasies of what we think people in our position shoul d behave. THAT CAN BE DANGEROUS. DO YOU THINK THE BAND HAS A FAIRLY STABLE RELATIONSHIP, GRANTED THAT EVERYBODY DOES CONFLICT AT SOME STAGE DUE TO T HE NATURE OF THE CREATIVE BOND? Yeah. Yeah, I do. I really hope that we can maintain ourselves, but, li ke Peter's a really unpredictable guy. Success doesn't mean much to him 2E It's his own personal feelings. If he feels he's not....Sometimes Peter fee ls he's not playing up to his 100 percent potential -- which I think is cr azy 91cause, like, I really rate him as one of the best guitarists ever -- and it makes him feel like he wants to do other things, he could leave. No matt er how well or how badly we're doing. he could just leave. I think Marty and Richard are pretty well committed. YOU'VE BECOME PRETTY MUCH THE FOCAL POINT OF THE BAND, AS THE LEAD VOCA LIST AND CHIEF WRITER. DO YOU FIND THAT FORM OF ATTENTION DIFFICULT TO ASSIMILATE? yeah. Sometimes I feel bad that the other three have to put up with the things that I say because, when someone asks you a question, everyone ass umes that you're automatically the spokesman for the whole band and that's just not the situation at ALL! I can't speak for anyone else, that's just not the way it is. Like, on SOUNDS the other day, Martin was asked to justify something that I'd said about myself being the best songwriter in the w orld, which was a misquote anyway. I mean, that's totally unfair. That's putting him in a situation that's just ridiculous! All the guy wants to do is play guitar and get on with the job. SURE. BUT THEN AGAIN, YOU MUST REALIZE THAT BECAUSE OF THE BAND'S RAPI D SUCCESS YOU'RE GOING TO CREATE MORE PRONOUNCED INTEREST AND POLARITY. THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO REGARD IMMEDIATE ACCLAIM WITH A LOT OF SUSPICION. I MEAN, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE OUT FOR YOU, WHICH THEY ARE. Yeah, but that's alright! ARE YOU SURPRISED AT THE ALBUM'S OVERSEAS SUCCESS? I don't know. Yeah, some days I'm full of doubt and some days I thin k that nothing can stop us. Really, I try not to think about what's happening overseas. I WAS REALLY SURPRISED TO SEE THAT QUITE A FEW OF THE ENGLISH REVIEWS HAV E TAKEN TO THE CHURCH WITH OPEN ARMS. THAT'S SO OUT OF CHARACTER FOR THE M! Yeah! That was astonishing! That really has surprised me. ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING ASPECTS OF THE CHURCH IS THAT, EVEN THOUGH YO U DO FLAUNT YOUR INFLUENCES QUITE REMARKABLY, THE BAND DOESN'T COME ACROSS A S ANY FORM OF IMITATION. Hmmmm. I don't know why. Maybe we're actually not good enough to pu ll our influences off. Maybe if we were better musicians.... I DON'T THINK YOU UNDERSTAND ME. I THINK YOU DO PULL IT OFF, THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! I THINK YOUR INFLUENCES ARE OBVIOUS, PRIMARILY THAT OF THE BYRDS, BUT, AT THE SAME TIME, NO-ONE SOUNDS QUITE LIKE THE CHURCH. NOBOD Y ELSE SAYS THINGS QUITE LIKE THE CHURCH. I don't know what that is. Just lucky! YOU DO COME ACROSS IN SOME SITUATIONS WITH FAIRLY, AH, AMBIGUOUS STATEMEN TS. I'm becoming aware of this, yeah. I just want people to get what they ant out of what we do: to enjoy it for whatever reason they want to. The re ason I've been very reluctant to say what the lyrics are about is because I haven't wanted to spoil it for people. Anyone who's interested enoug h can interpret them to suit their own perceptions. I mean, everyone's point of view is different. YOU DON'T WANT TO TAKE AWAY THAT SENSE OF MYSTERY? Yeah! But, like, what's happened now is that everyone's saying, 93o h, the lyrics are meaningless. You've said the lyrics are meaningless, so if you don't see anything in them then I'm damned if I'm going to look for anything in them.94 That's not what I wanted to happen at all! I really thoug ht that people wouldn't take me so literally. Of course the lyrics mean someth ing to me, but I don't want to spoil it for everyone else. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++END OF ARTICLE++++++++++++++++++++++++ Oh, and by the way, this issue of JUKE indicates that this particular interview is part one of two parts, and was to have concluded in the next week's issue. Unfortuantely, I don't have that one. : ( Anybody else have it? I guess that would be July 2, 1982. - Cath