From ctn2d@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu Tue Jun 1 07:48 PDT 1993 1 Jun 93 10:49 EDT From: ctn2d@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu Church Subject: Re: New Church stuff ?!? hey, was the PK referring to peter koppes leaving? when did this happen? chris From mosk Mon Jun 7 20:30 PDT 1993 From: mosk (Morten Skjefte) Subject: Re: New Church stuff ?!? I'm picking up an old thread here, since traffic has been slow lately... > From BSmith@vcomtelc.telecom.com.au Mon May 31 14:40 PDT 1993 > From: "Smith, Brian" > To: Church > Subject: Re: New Church stuff ?!? > Date: Mon, 31 May 93 10:12:00 EST > Encoding: 19 TEXT > > > Regarding Andrew's message about a new Church album.....ALRIGHT !! Great > news indeed, but it leads to a couple of questions. > I just hope this isn't just a rumour.... I've had actual dreams about going into record stores and finding 2-3 new Church albums in the bins... :-) > 1) Since "Marty is learning to play the drums, because JD left", is the > Church now just SK and MWP ? Will it be Marty playing all guitars plus > drums ? > That would be something.... I didn't think Marty and Steve were the best of friends as it were, but didn't someone mention that they were supposed to have a gig together in London around last Christmas? And since Marty and Steve are both successful solo artists, I din't think they would stick together if it were only the two of them... But these are just my personal opinions, of course... I'd love to be proven wrong... > 2) Anyone care to comment on how much of the "Church" sound came from Peter > ? On stage he always seemed to be doing a lot more than Marty, ie. a > workhorse kind of guy. He provided most of the "jangly" bits, while Marty > did the icing on the cake. > Well, judging from the shows I saw, Peter was really the main guitarist in the early days. When I saw them on the Heyday tour, he played most of the leads and most of the themes... Marty did most of the jumping... But I think Marty slowly but surely took over the role, and became a lot more popular with the audiences, at least judging by the applause. Maybe this was part of the reason Pete left? On the Starfish and GAF tours, Marty did a lot of the fast leads, played his 12 string Rickenbacker to it's jangly knees and in short stole the show from Pete, at least in my opinion.. > 3) Does Peter's lack of musical output indicate a possible move back to The > Church ? I'd like to think it does.... > Hopefully, but it could also mean that he's simply just not creative enough... > Thanks for the info, Andrew. > > Brian "The Relieved" Smith > morten (sceptical until I see the disc in the stores) From mosk Mon Jun 7 20:52 PDT 1993 From: mosk (Morten Skjefte) Subject: Re: What? New album? > From colcloug%it.usq.edu.au@zeus.usq.edu.au Mon May 31 19:08 PDT 1993 > From: Steve Colclough > To: "'seance@thechurch.ebay.sun.com'" > Subject: What? New album? > Date: Tue, 01 Jun 93 12:11:00 PDT > Encoding: 26 TEXT > > > Sorry, but I've been a bit out of it lately, I only just signed up to the > mailing list. > > What's this about a new Church album? > > I was under the impression that they had split up. After the last gig I saw > in Brisbane, Steve Kilbey said that it was their last tour ever, and the > Church were finally going their seperate ways. That was in about October of > last year. > That was the report I got too from other people who were at the last two concerts in Melbourne... > Soon after the release of P=A though, Steve said they were keen on doing an > instrumental album. Is this it? > In the interview I read, Steve was quoted that _he'd_ like to record an all instrumental Church album sometime in the future. But no indication was given that it had been started. This was in April of 92. In the same interview he also stated that he would like the band to finish another album by the end of that year (we know how that went, I suppose). > Great if they haven't split up, but that came from the horse's mouth. > I guess all we can do is crank up "Film" and direct or wishful thinking towards a certain bedroom in Sydney and hope Mr. K has his esp turned on... > Steve > -morten From mosk Wed Jun 9 08:43 PDT 1993 From: mosk (Morten Skjefte) Subject: More tidbits... Brian went through some of his clippings and found these tidbits.... He asked me to pass it on to the world.... :-) Also, a friend of his claims there is a Steve Kilbey Interview disc. Anyone seen this??? -morten ----- Begin Included Message ----- BSmith@vcomtelc.telecom.com.au Mon Jun 7 21:04 PDT 1993 "The Church are going to the movies. The band is producing a short film, featuring tracks off their new album, The Blurred Crusade, which will be shown as a support feature in cinemas. Members of the Church have turned actors to appear in the movie." GIMMEE GIMMEE !! Has anyone seen / heard anything about this ? The clipping is from a magazine called SCENE Feb 27th 1982. Another item is from a teeny bopper magazine called Smash Hits, which spoke to Peter Koppes when GAF came out. When asked if Richard Ploog was still playing with the band, he said "Well, yeah, sort of. He plays on four tracks on the album." Does this lend any credence to the rumour that a drum machine was used on some of GAF ? In an interview with Steve when Starfish and the Slow Crack were released, he said that the Slow Crack (named when a builder told Steve his house had structural problems, "It's got a slow crack.") was made for $300. Starfish cost $300, 000 and Steve made the comment that it wasn't a thousand times better. The interview also reveals that a couple of tracks off Earthed were used in a documentary about eye operations. Along this vein, can anyone name the film mentioned by the Hindsight sleeve notes which says that Life Speed Up was used in a surfing film ? If there's enough interest, I'll type up these interviews and others that I have. ----- End Included Message ----- From mosk Thu Jun 10 10:05 PDT 1993 From: mosk (Morten Skjefte) Subject: Re: More tidbits.... I guess it wasn't clear from my message yesterday, but if you want to see those interviews typed in, forward your responses to Brian, he is the one who so generously offered to do it... :-) e-mail address: BSmith@vcomtelc.telecom.com.au I have passed on the requests that were sent me so far... -morten From BSmith@vcomtelc.telecom.com.au Thu Jun 10 21:05 PDT 1993 From: "Smith, Brian" Subject: The interviews I'm typing up Sounds like everyone wants them, so I'll do it ! I'll be starting with the most recent, and work backwards (chronologically.) On the other hand, I may just type them in any old order, or order of "juiciness". Any requests for specific incidents etc. will be taken as Gospel. Brian "70 Words Per Minute (Thank God)" Smith From vh00+@andrew.cmu.edu Mon Jun 14 08:06 PDT 1993 via MS.5.6.starfighter.andrew.cmu.edu.pmax_ul4; From: Vernon H Harmon Subject: Hex... For the interested parties: I heard on the radio that Hex is supposed to be playing the 'HFStival in DC on July 3. I believe tickets are still available (price unknown). Other acts include INXS and various alternative bands. --Vernon. From mosk Mon Jun 14 08:20 PDT 1993 From: mosk (Morten Skjefte) Subject: Re: Hex... Vernon, Are you sure this is "our" Hex? As far as I know, the collaboration between Steve and Donette has ended. But maybe Donette is still working under this monicker?? Or could it be the "other" Hex band, the one that that can't even spell (Hexx)?. Judging from their album cover, that is another one of those no-brain-gory-as-you-can-get-heavy-metal bands..... (flames to flames@thechurch.mwahaha.com) :-) I don't mean to take the exitement away, it just seemed odd that they are performing together (steve and donette, i.e.). As usual, I'll be delighted to be proven wrong... -morten > From vh00+@andrew.cmu.edu Mon Jun 14 08:06 PDT 1993 > Date: Mon, 14 Jun 1993 11:05:48 -0400 (EDT) > From: Vernon H Harmon > To: seance@thechurch.EBay.Sun.COM > Subject: Hex... > > For the interested parties: > > I heard on the radio that Hex is supposed to be playing the 'HFStival in DC > on July 3. I believe tickets are still available (price unknown). > > Other acts include INXS and various alternative bands. > > --Vernon. > From vh00+@andrew.cmu.edu Mon Jun 14 08:56 PDT 1993 via MS.5.6.starfighter.andrew.cmu.edu.pmax_ul4; From: Vernon H Harmon Subject: Re: Hex... Excerpts from mail: 14-Jun-93 Re: Hex... Morten Skjefte@EBay.Sun. (1062) > Are you sure this is "our" Hex? As far as I know, the collaboration > between Steve and Donette has ended. But maybe Donette is still working > under this monicker?? Or could it be the "other" Hex band, the one that > that can't even spell (Hexx)?. Judging from their album cover, that is > another one of those no-brain-gory-as-you-can-get-heavy-metal bands..... > (flames to flames@thechurch.mwahaha.com) :-) > I don't mean to take the exitement away, it just seemed odd that they > are performing together (steve and donette, i.e.). > As usual, I'll be delighted to be proven wrong... > -morten No, I'm not sure this is "our" Hex. I hadn't heard anything here about it, and I just caught a quick mention of the bands this weekend, while I was home in the DC area. I thought since INXS is the "headliner" for the show, that perhaps they were going for the Aussie thang. :) I would doubt that its a heavy-metal gore band, because the 'HFStival is more of an alternative musical happening than a Lollapalooza (with alternative, metal, rap, etc all on the bill). For example, past performers have included TMBG, David Byrne and the Soupdragons. If anything, they tend to lean more toward the mainstream than the outrageous. I was hoping for either a confirmation or a refutation by somebody on the list....I could've just misheard the guy on the radio. :/ Ah, well. --Vernon. From BSmith@vcomtelc.telecom.com.au Tue Jun 15 00:16 PDT 1993 From: "Smith, Brian" Subject: Interview with Skilbey, April 1992 PART ONE All typos 'n stuff are entirely my fault. Copied without permission from Sound & Image magazine. Any complaints ? 5...4...3...2..1...Nope. Here we go then. This interview is copied from Sound & Image magazine July/August (1992). SI: Can you remember your earliest musical influences ? SK: The first record I sent my father out to buy for me was Under The boardwalk by the Rolling Stones. The first album I bought was It's Too Easy by The Easybeats. Fantastic ! Every song a hit. Then, when I was 11 years old, my father took me to the Albert Hall in Canberra. He'd bought me a front-row ticket and the bill turned out to be MPD Ltd, Bobbie & Laurie, Normie Rowe, with The Easybeats heading the bill. Little Stevie doing his leapfrogging-over-the-band trick, throwing drumsticks into he audience, girls screaming. I thought, "I've got to get into this !" Even before this I remember riding my bike through the alleyways between houses in the Canberra suburbs and there was this guy opening up the case of an electric guitar. I'd never seen an electric guitar and there was this plush velvet case lining this white and silver precision instrument. I still feel like this when I open a guitar case. I still remember my first gig. I was off work for three days leading up to it. Just worried sick - vomiting for days. Before the gig I had 100 weeds. But after that - no worries. SI: Do you play keyboards on stage or just bass ? (Ed note: Never been to a Church concert....) Just bass. I've got a Galleon - Kruger 7 to 800 Watts and ... well a great big heavy cabinet full of speakers. In 1973 I bought a six string Fender bass. Someone said to me the other day, 'give me a look at your baritone guitar', and that's what it is. I'd often plinked around with it and recorded with it occasionally but never really treated it as a bass = through an amp, with the band. But the other day, I had lent all my other basses out and took the six-string to rehearsals and started playing it with a pick (I usually us my fingers). And I was astonished at what an amazing bass guitar it really is. Forget the plinky stuff and the tremolo arm. It's now my main 'axe'. I used it on every track Priest = Aura - getting in with the rest of the band, playing my 'art' stuff. SI: You don't find that, with a six string, there's a temptation to neglect that all - important bottom end role of the bass player ? SK: No, I try to get it all in. I try and keep the bottom-end going and bung in some chords; the whole lot. As we were doing Priest = Aura, the recording engineer kept saying, 'now let's get out the four string bass, we need a really solid bass sound on this one'. We'd get one out, and he'd always agree to go back to the six string. I've got ten year old strings on it and I daren't break one; they just don't make them any more and the neck is too long to use other strings. SI: Was bass your first instrument ? SK: No, I had some piano lessons when I was ten, but I didn't really learn very much. It was a new system with numbers under the notes showing which fingers to use. IN the end my teacher said I was doing well, but I wasn't reading the music, I was looking at these numbers - it was more like working a typewriter. When they gave me something without the numbers I couldn't do a thing - I was faking it, and was terribly embarrassed when I was expose. I never gained any sense of notes or harmony from these lessons - I got further just trying to work out little piano riffs by ear. Then, at sixteen, I decided that I wanted to learn bass. I wanted to get into a band really badly and I thought that drums would be too much of a hassle. Guitar looked too hard and every kid in the street played really well. So I thought that bass would be the quickest ticket to get in. And it is ! I got really lucky when, a year later, I got a gig with cabaret 50/50 band (half covers, half originals) called Saga and I was making a small fortune. The band got very popular. We had to wear the same suits and go through these tacky routines. I didn't get on very well with the rest of the band, but I was making nearly $200, at 17 and those days . . .You'd turn up on a winter's night in some little ACT (Ed: Translation - In or near Canberra) country town and play in a room the size of someone's lounge room, squeezed in between the couch and the first - "oh, you're not using amps are you ?!" SI: How was growing up in Canberra ? SK: I didn't know it was Canberra, I thought it was the world ! It was the world of sitting around in blokes' bedrooms, listening to records and trying to play the guitar. So I think I would have turned out the same wherever I was. SI: When did you first meet the other members of the Church ? SK: I met Peter Koppes in 1973 when we were still teenagers. We did musical things together way back then. I met Marty Willson-Piper in 1980 and Jay Dee in 1988. Jay Dee replaces Richard Ploog, who left the band because of musical personal differences (Ed. Huh ?) JD was the drummer with the Patti Smith Group. We were touring with Tom Verlaine and he told us that if we ever needed a drummer, JD was our man. So when Ploog left, we knew where to look. (Ed. But where will he look now !) SI: Did you have any material left over from GAF that needed a hearing on P=A ? SK: No, we never do that. We always write a fresh batch of material for each album. SI: Did you have a particular flavour in mind for the album before you started work ? SK: No, just as long as it was nothing like GAF. GAF was to be the opposite model of what we were after. SI: Why ? What was wrong with GAF ? SK: I didn't like it. It didn't get any passionate critical assessments. Nobody really flow and it lacked ... I don't know ...beauty. I couldn't get excited about it at the time. It really wasn't a good bunch of songs. SI: Surely you must have some affection for Metropolis ... SK: No, it just wasn't innovative enough, even by Church standards; it was treading water. I blame myself = it just wasn't my best work. If you've got a bunch of good songs, it's hard to ruin them. And if your songs aren't good, it's very hard to turn them into a good album. SI: Most Church songs are co-operations between yourself and other Church dignitaries. Does the tradition continue with Priest=Aura ? SK: That's taken for granted now. Since the Heyday album, the songs are all basically written by the band, with me writing lyrics. With the odd exception of course, like Milky Way (Ed note: Steve & Karin Jansonn wrote that one. . .not that I need to tell you !) GAF was a totally co-operative album. SI: How does this approach work in practice ? SK: It's based on the interaction of four people. It's not about someone saying, "Here's a song I've written; now you play this ..." It's writing songs together, creating instruments that aren't there by the interplay of what you're doing. That's what we're trying to do. SI: What did you get up to immediately after GAF ? SK: The Church tour finished in mid 1990 and I came back the Australia and made Jack Frost with Grant McLennan, and then I went on a solo tour of the US - just me and an acoustic guitar ! (Ed. Anyone see/hear about this ?) SI: How was that ? SK: Oh it was a lot of fun ! I didn't pull a lot of people. I did New York, Washington, Baltimore, Boston and across to the West Coast: LA, San Francisco and famous Nine-Thirty Club in Washington and the small club out the back of McCabes' Guitar Shop in LA where they hold acoustic shows. I did two nights there - a really good place to play. After the tour we went back and toured with Jack Frost. SI: How did you enjoy working with Grant McLennan ? SK: It was great. He comes from a whole different way of writing songs. He strums on an acoustic guitar and gradually puts together a complete song, whereas I tend to write in a studio, jamming, putting words on them and modifying them as I go along. Grant's more of a purist. So that was very interesting. He had never written my way and I hadn't written like him since I first started writing and thought that that was the only way to do it. we found something in the middle where I'd be saying "Let's write now" and he'd be busy doing backing tracks. A good exchange of methods. SI: Is it a lonely existence for a solo performer ? SK: It's just me and the roadie/sound/light man. But you meet a lot of people. I have a lot of friends over there. I've been touring America for so long that there's a bunch of people I can hang out with in every town. It's very nice. SI: Are you a gregarious person ? SK: I'm not really gregarious, but I'm not downright anti-social. I enjoy the company of interesting people. SI: What sort of commercial impact is The Church having in the US ? SK: Starfish has almost gone 'Gold' in the US and GAF almost hasn't ! It's clocked up about 350 000 sales. P=A was released in America slightly before the Australian release, but I haven't yet heard how it's going. SI: How do members of The Church get on together after 12 years ? SK:Twelve years ago we were egotistical young twerps. We've grown up a lot and mutated from being a pop group to being a group of four musicians who like to play together (Ed. *Sniff* Ah, memories...) - that's why we still get together. There's not all that pop ideology anymore. SI: Do you still enjoy performing ? SK: Yeah, I like to be on stage, but not a lot of the things that go with it. Acoustics are a problem. You have to handle this random element every night. Like if your sound man have an argument with his wife two minutes before you went on ! I've never found a way to get artistic control over gigs. You rely on that guy out front and you just don't know what he's doing. At a sound check you can walk out with a cordless guitar, but you can't hear yourself singing. I've never done a tour where there was even a 70 % consensus that the sound man was any good. People would often come backstage in Australia and tell us, "you sounded awful". We had an American guy for a while who was a real artist. With him mixing for us, Bob Clearmountain came backstage and told us we sounded wonderful. We tried to keep him, but he went off with Laurie Anderson. SI: Do you ever have to play stadiums ? SK: God no ! We do smallish theatres and large pubs like Selina's (Ed: In Sydney) with audiences around the one or two thousand mark, with the up to three thousand at some of the Boston and New York venues. (Ed: Would this include the place where the 'Reptile' video was made ?) SI: Where was P=A recorded ? SK: It was all done at Emi's Studio 301. Partly digital; partly analogue. SI: How was the band involved in the actual production ? SK: It reads: 'Produced by The Church and Gavin McKillop'. In the past it's been "Bob Clearmountain and The Church", or "Waddy Wachtel and The Church". This time we're the major producers. Some of Gavin's recent credits included the last Straightjacket Fits album (Ed: A New Zealand band who supported The Church on the "Jokes-Magic-Souvenirs" Tour, which was confined to Australian soil. Hah ! :) back to the list...), Shriekback, General Public, Howard DeVoto and Hunters & Collectors - Human Frailty album. He's from Scotland, and when he was suggested to us by Arista, I really jumped at the chance. SI: A bit of a change from Waddy Wachtel ? SK: Definitely. But I have a tendency to try different juxtapositions of types of people. Any good group has potential in directions that they've never exploited. So I said, 'Let's see what the California-type-dudes can do to exploit a California-type side of the Church.' But the new albums definitely a Sydney album - The Church comes home ! SI: What have you been doing in the solo field recently ? SK: Well, I released a solo album last year (Ed: Actually, a 5 track.) that didn't do very well, called Narcosis. I recorded it at my own studio. SI: Your home studio in Rozelle ? SK: No, my new 'proper' studio in Surrey Hills. It's got a full 24 track recorder with an automated desk and a performance space behind glass windows and all that. I run MIDI sequencing through an Atari (Ed: Aarggh !!) computer using Cubase. SI: Do you find that music technology starts to get in the way of the creative impulse ? SK: It certainly can. I've got a partner and engineer named Pryce Surplice. He usually engineers what I do. I try to stay 'hands - off' these days, and leave Pryce to handle the technology. I understand what's happening and I can ask him to give me, 'that sample, played backwards and slowed down by three clock beats.' Otherwise you can get bogged down. SI: Have you recorded anyone else in your studio ? SK: Yes, I have been recording Margot Smith, a girl from Melbourne who's just been signed by Chrysalis and a girl from Canada named Mae Moore who's signed to Sony and there's a good chance that we'll get to do the whole album. (Ed: Anyone seen either of these two ?) SI: These aren't your first forays into producing other acts ? SK: Not at all. I've produced Hex - myself and a girl singer (Ed: Donette Thayer) which I did in the States. I produced Curious Yellow and Jack Frost and I would like to go on producing. It's the honorable way out when you're too old for anything else. SI: Which of your roles do you see as most important - writer, lyricist, producer, performer ? SK: I think what I am most pleased to be, is a jack-of-all trades. If someone else just needs some music, or lyrics, or just some bass, I think I can perform any task put in front of me. SI: But wouldn't you say that a big part of your role is the communication of ideas ? SK: No, not at all ! This might sound simplistic, but I just set out to create music that people enjoy. SI: What, pure entertainment ? SK: Not entertainment, enjoyment. There's a subtle difference. I'd like someone to come up to me and say, "I've just heard your latest record, and fuck, I really enjoyed it !" Then I know I've done my job. I don't have to go into it more deeply, though people can if they want to. People say that my music is sad and wistful, and yet I want people to enjoy it. But you can really enjoy a sad movie or a horror film. But if I stumbled across a good back-beat boogie, I might record it. PART ONE ENDS HERE. There's still a few more pages to type up, but this should keep us going for a while ! From mosk Wed Jun 16 16:37 PDT 1993 From: mosk (Morten Skjefte) Subject: Church Interview I was thumbing through some old e-mail files and found this interview in there... -morten ----- Begin Included Message ----- >From aus.music Fri May 1 14:44:04 1992 Following is the interview with the Church that started this mess in aus.music. If you want to complain typos, you can type it in youself next time ;-) The Church Enigma ----------------- Sunday Telegraph, April 19, 1992 By Ed St. John. Reprinted sans permission. Church's early goals were simple. "When we started out we were just four teenagers who didn't know much, " recalls singer Steve Kilbey. "We certainly couldn't play our instruments very well. We just wanted to have fun, go out, and meet girls." This year marks the 12th anniversary for the Sydney band, making them one of the longest surviving outfits still working in Australia today. In the intervening years they have released seven albums and three EPs, selling almost 2 million records (mainly in Europe and America). The band members - particularly Kilbey and guitarists Peter Koppes and Marty Wilson-Piper - have also engaged in a dazzling array of sideline projects, including solo albums, production work and songwriting projects. They've always stood well to the left of centre with their dreamy, often surreal music, but they've also demonstrated a knack for writing occasional hit records. Its a fragile and unusual combination, but it appears to work. "For most of our career we've just basically drifted along being relatively unsuccessful and randomly making records," says Kilbey. "We probably would have gone on like that if we hadn't recorded an album called Starfish that went and sold a lot of copies in America." Starfish, released in 1988, was a major world-wide hit thanks to the classic single Under the Milky Way. The albums unexpected success had a negative effect on the band's equilibrium, however, and the follow-up album (1990's Gold Afternoon Fix) was far less potent. "I'd always imagined that success would bring a certain freedom," says Kilbey, "but all it did was to bring more pressure. Suddenly I had all these people whispering in my ear. We started having meetings with hundreds of big-name producers, and then we finally went and made a record that took far too long and was laboured over too much. "It was a very ordinary Church-by-the-numbers record that we then had to spend two years travelling around the world promoting. By the time we finished I'd had plenty of time to think about things and figure out what we wanted to do." The Church has spent most of the past six months recording their latest offering in Sydney. The album carries a typically bizarre title, Priest Aura, and features some of the best music this enigmatic band has recorded. "With this album we felt as if the constraints had been cut. We went back to playing the way we wanted to play," says Kilbey. "The title of the album is basically a nonsense thing. I was in Spain, and I was signing an autograph for a girl when I saw what I though was Priest Aura written in her exercise book. I don't think it said that, but the words just stuck. "It turned into a bit of a joke while we were making the album, and then we reached a point where it was the only thing the album could be called." Kilbey, who writes all of the Church's lyrics, cheerfully admits that not all his lyrics make absolute sense. As a lyricist, he's more than comfortable with pulling strange ideas out of the air without too much concious thought. "I'm like a conductor for nonsense - but I might add that I think there is often meaning in nonsense. If someone said they found my lyrics incredibly meaningful they'd be just as right as someone who said they were utter garbage. They'd both be right." With a new drummer, American Jay Dee Daugherty, The Church are gearing up for a busy 1992 involving extensive promotional work and a tour planned for July. If the music on Priest Aura is anything to go by, the band may yet get another stab at lucrative international success. "I think what's happening at this point in the band's history is that we've really learnt how to play and how to improvise. Football teams can't stay together for 12 years because people retire or get injured all the time, but a band can stay together and just get better and better." ---End of Interview--- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen Nicholson stephen@wampyr.cc.uow.oz.au NorTel Technology Centre Wollongong University "I was hired and fired but never inspired, flattering chattering words to impress me" - 'Tantalized', The Church ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----- End Included Message ----- From s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU Fri Jun 18 05:25 PDT 1993 From: s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (SoMNuS) Subject: Church Discography update. Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ADDITIONS FOR THE CHURCH DISCOGRAPHY ------------------------------------ The CHURCH ========== 7" SINGLES ---------- 1980 She Never Said 7" (November 1980 _NOT_ 1981) 1982 The Unguarded Moment / Busdriver CARRERE CAR 212 (UK) 1983 (*Place after carrere cart 336) Comnstant In Opal (1 sided Promo) EMI/PARLAPHONE R.P.S. - TEN 1986 (* Place before Columbus 7"s) BOB 9 LYNTONE CUSTOM (UK) Warm spell (Hard Vinyl) (Same cut but superior sound) Columbus / As You Will WARNER BROS 7-28700 (US) Columbus (3:48) / Columbus (3:23) WARNER BROS 7-28700 (US) DJ 1987 FROM THE VAULT - The Australia Record Collector Vol 1 No 3 Great church interview and Flexi Disk of 'Musk' FTV 3 12" SINGLES AND MINI ALBUMS --------------------------- 1984 - Persia BUG matrix is: 430017 - Constant In Opal / Shadow Cabinet WARNER BROS PRO A 2197 (US) PROMO ONLY 1986 - Tantalized / The View / As You Will EMI 12 EMI 15557 (UK) - Tantalized (4:57) / Tantalized (3:58) WARNER BROS PRO A 2428 (US) PROMO ONLY - Columbus (3:48) / Columbus (3:23) / Happy Hunting Ground WARNER BROS PRO A 2484 (US) PROMO ONLY ALBUMS ------ 1981 - Of Skins and Heart - Capitol and Carrere LP's were titled 'The Church' 1882 - The Blurred Crusade - EMI / parlaphone PCSO 7585 (Aust Lp) - CARRERE CAL 140 (UK) 1883 - Seance - 'o' was ommitted in PCS, its meant to be PCSO. 1984 - Remote Luxury - Cassete Version (TC PCSO-430034) Includes non LP B sides 'As You Will' and 'The View'. A later edition of the LP with stickers, included two unreleased bonus instrumental tracks. This was very limited. 1990 - G.A.F. - The songs 'Monday Morning' and 'Laughing' ARE on the Australian LP. SAMPLERS -------- - ACM 109 (YPRX 2067) The Amco Album (Various Artists) includes: 'The night is very soft', promotional giveaway of some sort. DEBUT 05 (UK) LP and Mag package includes: 'The Unguarded Moment'. Steve Kilbey ------------ 1987 Unearthed (* no mention of times) - 2:48 - Forgetfullness 2:03 - Nonapology - Earthed - Earthed Poetry book did not accompany my LP, Just wondering how many people did get one with theirs. - Slow Crack (* Times) (sorry, forgot to do this, i'll do it at a later time -andrew) Marty Wilson Piper ------------------ - Apparently a booklet is meant to come with 'In Reflection'. ok, thats it. I'll leave it up to mortem to add it to the discography and re-destribute it. Also, if someone has the Lyrics to Starfish and GAF can they send them to me. Thanks, Andrew s932544@yallara.cs.rmit.edu.au From s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU Fri Jun 18 05:26 PDT 1993 From: s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (SoMNuS) Subject: JJJ Special on the Church. Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit OK, heres a script for the Church's "The Blurred Crusade" that featured on JJJ's (Oz Radio station) Midnight Special. Special thanks go to Richard Kingsmill for sending it out to me. Apologies for the spelling mistakes. Andrew, s932544@yallara.cs.rmit.edu.au -[ BEGIN ]------------------------------------------------------------------ MIDNIGHT SPECIAL - The Church's "Blurred Crusaade' (1982) Although they'll deny it themselves until their blue in their faces, The Church's finest moment on record was and still is The Blurred Crusade... and there's a couple arguments which will tell you why. The first is that it doesn't sound 10 years old, yet in March (1992) thats how long The Blurred Crusade will have been with us. And not only has this album stood the test of time, it was also one of the forerunners of a whole new style of guitar music. In 1982, remember what was around musically... The Human League, Adam and The Ants, Ultravox, and countless other new romatic bands. We were still a year or two away from hearing the likes from REM and The Smiths, but The Church were out there with their 6 and 12 string guitars writing solid jangly pop at a time when it was not only out of fashion, it was regarded as incredibly dated. The ironic thing was, The Church weren't harking back to the past at all... they were showing what was going to come in the years ahead. [song: Almost with you] The single "Almost with you" from tonight's Midnights special... The Blurred Crusade from 1982 by The Church. Steve Kilbey reckons that this 2nd album from The Church was the "... the guitarists formulated how they were going to interact", he says. Initially, The Church were only a 3 piece band, with Peter Koppes the sole guitarist. Marty Wilson-Piper joined after he had been in Australia for only a week. He had been the singer and lead guitarist in a London band, but in 1980 he married an Australia girl and decided to leave England to live in Sydney. A friend of his wifes suggested he might like to check out a band - he went to see them, it was The Church, and since they were looking for another guitarist they asked Wilson-Piper to join. "They asked me to join before they'd even heard me play", he says. "They said they liked the way i looked". Wilson-Piper found his place in the band playing the 12 string guitar. That sound let to a lot of comparisons between the Church and the 60's band The Byrds. "People talk about Roger McGuinn, but he was not an influence on me at all", Wilson-Piper says. "I never listened to him becaus I thought the Byrds were too country. I've changed my mind about that since though". [song: Field Of Mars] Sung by Marty Wilson-Piper and co-written with Steve Kilbey, Thats "Field of Mars. Ok, so people in 1982 were comparing The Church with not only The Byrds, but also a whole lot of psychodellic music of the 60's era. The paisley shirts the band was fond of wearing was a superficial link; Kilbeys fairly trippy lyrics - some of which he now thinks are a little like 4th form poetry - reminded critics of the days of rose colored glases; but Kilbey himself saw the comparisons as coming more from the music. "By the time of The Blurred Crusade, it was starting to get more psychedellic", he says. "A lot of that had to do with Richard Ploog Joining the band". The Church's original drummer - Nick Ward, who played on the "Unguarded Moment" and the rest of that first album - was a bit of a "rockist type drummer" according to Kilbey, and when Ploog joined the music flowed a lot better. Richard Ploog was able to build the songs up with such great rythym. [song: When you were mine] On Tonight's Midnight Special, you're listening to tracks from The Blurred Crusade album by the Church. [song: Just for You] Although he looks upon the Blurred Crusade favourably, Steve Kilbey has said he remembers very little of the recording of the Album. He was at that time writing hundreds of songs, but also taking lots of drugs. "I know I alienated the band doing the album because it was very much a product of me getting my own way', Kilbey recalls. "No one could tell me what to do". [song: You Took] It took 6 years for the band to record another album as strong and confident as The Blurred Crusade. Their Starfish album of 1988, and the single "Under the milky way" put The Church back in public favour as well. There's actually a lot of similarity between the song like "Under the Milky way" and songs from The Blurred Crusade. The link is the very lush acoustic strum and Kilbeys throbbing bass lines which carry the song along with a real ease. [song: Don't Look Back] From BSmith@vcomtelc.telecom.com.au Sun Jun 20 23:29 PDT 1993 From: "Smith, Brian" Subject: Part Two of SKilbey interview Typed out from Sound & Image magazine, who I'm not a part of PART TWO STARTS: why is this ? SK: That's very true. We're a real 'white' European band. Peter keeps telling me that I've got no blues, black or rhythm in my soul and it's true. I guess everyone approaches their own music differently in their heads. I guess it was a cerebral thing that first got me involved. SI: What are you listening to at the moment ? SK: I try to listen as much as I can, usually in spates. David Bowie's just had a lot of his stuff re-released on CD and I've had Low and Heroes on high-roration on the Cd for a while. Fantastic stuff. SI: What about new stuff ? SK: I thought the My Bloody Valentine album was great. I get a lot of the new English stuff, often just out of curiosity. I like some of the stuff Primal Scream are doing. If I really want to get stoned and turn it up really loud, I go into the studio. I've got the leather lounge and the Yamaha NS-10 monitors, and I really crank it up. At home, I've got twin nine-month old girls and they seem to enjoy a bit of volume, but some stuff they really don't like. SI: So how's the life of a family man ? SK: It was hard around the time they were born. I was doing Priest = Aura and staggering home at two or three. The kids would cry all night and I'd have to stagger back to the studio. Lokking after two kids can be a full-time job for both of us. I guess the nippers will cut down some of my travelling a bit, but I think that the recession will have more effect in this respect. We used to do promo tours through Europe for BMG, but that's not happening so much in the recession. The company probably looks after us better than our European success warrants. We've never been really successful there, not in record sales anyway. SI: Where are your favourite places to hang out in Europe ? SK: Spain, Amsterdam...I don't know if Australians realise that hash is more or less legal in Spain these days. It's great playing to a stoned audience. And if they think it sounds good then it does ! Some people enjoy music when they're drunk...but I don't. there a typical Church fan ? SK: No, and no. SI: Do you have lots of friends outside the music business ? SK: Most musicians I know don't differentiate between musicians and civilians. That's an old 'pop star' mode and some of the old school have a lot of fun being the centre of attention. Some it leads, quite literally, to suicide. SI: Would you call yourself a happy person ? SK: No, not really. I get pretty depressed. I don't think that whether I'm happy or sad has much bearing on the music I'm making. I specialise in making this sad-ish kind of music. There's enough happy midnless drivel going on and I feel that there's a need for these feelings to be expressed. Musically speaking, I'm quite happy being sad. SI: What is the significance of the album title, Priest = Aura ? SK: To me, finding an album title is like looking at a dog and saying "I'll call him Sandy because he looks like a Sandy." To me, P=A is just the right name for this album. It's hard to say why. It's a phrase that came about accidentally from a misunderstanding. The album title came up before the song of the same name. Everyone knew the album was going to be called Priest = Aura, and this shaped the songs and the sound. It's usually the other way round. SI: People tend to read mysticism into your lyrics. Does this indicate an ongoing process of inquiry going on inside you ? SK: Do you think that "Priest = Aura" sounds mystical ? I seem to have some sort of repuration for that but I can't see it. Which songs ? SI: Well, "The Disillusionist" for example. SK: That song came out of a real-life incident. We'd just done a really badly attended concert (Ed. Some towns have no taste...) at this place in America and the guy came up to me waving a magazine interview I'd done a month or two disillusioning people. Well you sure disillusioned me !" I came up with this great idea of a man going from twon to town, disillusioning people. I'm interested in philosophy, but I'm lazy and I don't actively pursue my own inquiries. I wish I could say that I was, but I'm not. I know that questions like "what is existence" and "why am I here ?" are far more important than plyaing the guitar or making a record. And I know that people would be very wise to spend time thinking about why they're here and what they can do about it. but I sort of lapse into playing music, listening to music, hanging out with friends, going out to restaurants and enjoying myself - and now bringing up twins. SI: Do you think having responsibility for the twins will change your ideas ? SK: Nothing will change my musical ideas. I'd be happy to see them become creative artists, but the music industry is a kind of pyramid with only a few successes at the top. There's too much emphasis on success - charts, sales figures, gold records etc. It's now a sort of competition. It seemed to start with Michael Jackson. Up till then, nobody cared how many records the Beatles sold; it was the quality of their music. But after Jackson, it was "Thirty Million" and that number was hammered home. Now quality has become quantity and it's too easy to feel a failure. It's like supermarkets squeezing out out corner stores. SI: You paint rather a gloomy picture of the industry. SK: As long as the youth keep throwing up a counter culture against the establishment, even though they will be absorbed into it next year, there will always be this continual revolt against the musical establishment. SI: Any more Steve Kilbey books in the pipeline ? SK: I'm working on a couple of things. I don't write notes as I go along, I just sit down and write the book. I've half a book on computer (Ed. What's he got ?!) at home (Ed.Probably on the Atari.....) but I'm not sure where it's going. I haven't got the energy or enthusiasm to finish it. I've just started another one which I think could be really good, but I'm too lazy to sit down and work on it. I really like reading Martin Amis; and books about rock 'n roll - Pete Townshend's autobiography. SI: Do you have a very sophisticated home entertainment set up ? (Ed Sound and Image is a hi-fi magazine, after all !) SK: God, no ! I've got a Yamaha amplifier, about 70 watts per channel I think, some large Bose STudiocraft speakers and a portable Sony CD player. That's a funny thing about me; I'm not that interested in sound quality - it's the stuff, the content that interests me. SI: Do you get involved in video production ? SK: No. I think it's a shame that music had to become so involved in video. Although it gives employment to a lot of creative people, it seems to water down the music element. I think it will eventually die out. (Ed. Bzzz ! Nominations for ' Most Contentious Comment of the Interview' are now closed. That one wins it !) SI: Any interesting future projects on the boil ? SK: I'm working on this project in which nobody will know it's me. SI: What' s it called ? SK: Hah ! From mosk Tue Jul 6 17:08 PDT 1993 From: mosk (Morten Skjefte) Subject: Updated discography I have made quite a few updates to the discography since it was posted. Is there enough interest for me to submit another copy to the alias?? I hate to fill up everybody's mail-boxes.... Morten From s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU Sat Jul 10 04:42 PDT 1993 From: s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (Andrew Benka) Subject: Bucketfull Of Brains Interview. Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ok, here's an article/interview from "BUCKETFULL of BRAINS" Issue # 15, with Steve Kilbey. The Address given for Subscription and Back Issues is: Bucketfull of Brains 70 Price Georges Avenue London SW20 8BH I know that they (BOB) are still going, as for the above address and the availability of back issues, i'm not sure. sorry for the typos. Hope you Enjoy it! -----[ Beginning of Interview ]--------------------------- THE CHURCH . BENEATH THE PLATINUM STARS / --- THE STEVE KILBEY INTERVIEW --- Back in 1981 there wasn't a garage band on every block, good guitar bands were thin on the ground and psychedelic bands were a similarly scarce commodity. There were however a handful of practitioners of these almost forgotten arts: the Barracudas, Cannibals and Mood Six here in the UK, the Dogs in France and the Chesterfield Kings, Lyres and Droogs amongst the Americans. In Australia, currently deluged in great new bands, there was The Church - another gleam in the general musical dross then prevalent. I can still vividly recall the first showing of the video for the Church's 2nd 45 "The Unguarded Moment" on BBC TV's "Whistle Test" programme, and from that moment i became a staunch fan of the band. Their subsequent for albums are well played favourites in this house - hold, with the debut LP and "The Blurred Crusade" ("Field of Mars" from the latter would easily make it into my all-time top ten tracks) being particulary revered. Despite the 4 albums and a host of excellent 45s and EPs there was rarely anything about the band in fanzines or indeed the mainstream music press outside of Australia and this state of affairs, compounded by the fact that no new material was released between mid '83 and October '85 (when the latest 45 "Already Yesterday" was issued), has resulted, in my view, in the Church being shamefully overlooked amidst the tidal wave of new bands. Recently the band have been signed worldwide EMI and the new album "Heyday" is already available in the USA and Australia and should be issued in the UK in April, preceded by the single "Tantalized". This album is somewhat of a departure in that 8 of 10 tracks are credited to the whole band - whereas, in the past, songs were composed almost exclusively by Steve Kilbey and in addition the instrumentastion had been augmented by a small orchestra. As Steve Kilbey says: "the real challenge was to compose together, to put our identity to the test, to let 5 long years of constant playing pay off in a week or two of spontaneous creativity. I feel the result of this gamble is the loosest, warmest and most musically exciting album we could make". From the opening moment of "Myrrh" it's evident that all the former Church trademarks are here - the songs are exquisitely crafted, exotic yet totally accessable with the strings and horns adding rather than obscuring. If any record by the Church is suffieient to boost them from cult-status to popular appeal, this is the one to do it - here's hoping. Determined to extend my meagre knowledge of the Church I contacted singer, guitarist & songwriter Steve Kilbey in January and the results of the long distance interview are printed here. Thanks are due to Steve himself for taking the trouble to wade through my pages of questions and for so readily agreeing to the inclusion of the previously unreleased track "Warm Spell" on the flexi-disc included with this issue; thanks are also extended to all at Mike's Management in New York for their invaluable assitance. BOB: When, why and how did the Church first come together? SK: The church originally came together in April 1980; there was Peter Koppes, myself and a drummer called Nick Ward who played on some of the first album. Peter and I had known each other previously and been in a few bands - mucking about. I had a four track studio in my bedroom and we have been recording a few things and decided that they sounded good enough to do something. Peter hauled in Nick Ward, who he knew, who was a fairly heavy kind of a character - eventually it didn't work out and when he left the band Richard (Ploog) joined, that was after we'd recorded most of the first album. Then we were based, as we always have been, in sydney. We started off doing very small gigs with a band who were friends of ours and things snowballed from there. BOB: What previous musical experience did you have? SK: Peter and I had been in a number of bands in Canberra that had never done anything at all, some of their names were Precious Little and Baby Grand but they never released any records - all we did was play at a few school socials. Marty Wilson-Piper was in a band in England called the True Hundred, who also never released anything; Richard Ploog was in a whole lot of bands - Exhibit A, Loose Kicks... he was also in a band, at one stage, with Doctor Robert who's now in the Blow monkeys. BOB: Who chose the name "The Church" and and have you ever had any serious objections? SK: I chose the name. We've never had any really serious objections. We had a death threat once when we were playing on Easter Sunday - a whole lot of people rang up and though there was a Mass on somewhere because of our name - that in turn got some newspaper coverage and the whole thing turned into a bit of a joke and someone objected to that and said thewy were going to come and get us live on stage with guns ... but it never happened. The name was just one at random from a list I had - at that stage we never envisaged it being anything more than just a band mucking about in small pubs and things. BOB: What music were you listening to at that time, who inspired you? SK: The Church has always had an incredibly electric range of influences... the Beatles, the Byrds, Dylan, Be-Bop Deluxe, Cockney Rebel, Doctors of Madness, pre "Dark side of the Moon" Pink Floyd, Big star, the Stones, Who, T. Rex, basically anyone who's done anything good in the last 20 years. All of those bands inspired us. Marty's into Can and Neu and Amon Duul and all thosde things. I've been into electronic and folk music and Richard has always been an extreme 60's freak as has Peter. BOB: How did your deal with Parlaphone and Carrere come about? SK: We signed to ATV/Northern songs at a very early stage. They had a deal with EMI that everything they did would be released on Parlophone. We didn't really have muct to say witgh Carrere who had signed with ATV. BOB: Did you release any records prior to "The Unguarded Moment" single? SK: Yes, we did release on single called "She Never Said" which was different to the version on the first album. The B side was called "In A Heartbeat" which was described at the time as being a Kinks-y type of thing. BOB: Can you tell me aboput the major tours that you hgave done? SK: We've being doing major tours of Australia for the last 5 years, five thousand people down to two hundred in pubs in the outback. BOB: Why dont you tour in Europe more often? SK: It's mainly a financial thing. When we played there in 1982, we lost a lot of meoney - we had to come back to Australia and flog ourselves round some fairly undesireable places just to get our money back. we want to play Europe properly or not at all. We did tour the USA in '84 and the reaction was really good. We played th Ritz in New York and the Palace in L.A. and got really good reviews. BOB: Did you use a keyboard player on that tour? SK: We have been using keyboard players for the last couple of years - none of them have ever been part of the group. That guy (on the US tour) was called Greg Kuehne and he'd done some playing with "New Wave" bands. We have no plans to add anyone as a permanent member of the group. BOB: What do you think about the resurgeance of psychedelic and guitar bands? SK: I think it's great. I'd rather hear guitars than synyhesizers anyday. We toured with the Rain Parade who are a great guitar band and there's some good one's in Australia: the Ups and Downs, Lighthouse Keepers, Triffids. We're in a bit of a cocoon here, consequently I'm not much of an authority on the new bands - that's more Marty or richards department. BOB: Do you regard the Church as forerunners of this movement and does it give you hope for the future? SK: Well, we were doing it before a lot of the other bands, in a way. I don't think many of them use us as an influence because I don't think we have much impact on the world at large. In one way we're an unacknowledged forerunner. It doesn't really give me hope for the future because I think that bands rise and fall on their own merits, I don't think being part of a "new guitar movement" is going to help you in the long run. BOB: Can you go through each of your records and tell me which tracks you particularly like or find successful? SK: I wasn't really happy with the first album at all, but probably "Bel Air" was successful - I like the lyric and I think that was to become our trademark with the guitar started happening on that track in particular. "Is This Where You Live" was an ok track, perhaps a little bit pompous and Gothic or grandiose - but I still think it had good lyrics and conjured up Sydney-ish images. "Tear It All Away", which was intended to be on the album but came out as part of a double single here, was representative of what we would start doing later on. I think most of the tracks on the next album, "The Blurred Crusade", were successful in the way we envisaged them, "Almost With You" was a bit of a hit in Australia, and it was a nice taster for the rest of the album - I think everything that happened on the rest of the album was included on that track. "When You Were Mine" was a very popular track live and we never get away without playing it. "An Interlude" has always been a favourite of mine, I wrote the lyrics in 1978 while I was staying in London. Next was "Sing Songs" which was actually a demo album. We had been in danger of losing our deal with Capitol Records and they wanted to hear four new songs which they, in their wisdom, thought would be some hit singles. We knocked out these four, learnt them, recorded them and mixed them in one or two nights. They didn't want to put them out, or the "Blurred Crusade" album so I thought why not put them out called "Sing Songs" which was quite an honest title. People were expecting the perfect production of "The Blurred Crusade" and fairly disapointed with this EP, it was taken in the wrong spirit I suppose. "The Night Is Very Soft" and "In This Room" were quite successful tracks, we never again followed the direction of those - it was a little avenue or a deadend that we left un- explored. "The Night Is Very Soft" appealed to me, it was the first time the Church did anything with a vaguely sexual feel to it. The there's (the LP) "Seance", I liked "Fly" and "Travel By Thought" which was the first time we really cut loose just for the sheer hell of making lots of noises. On the other side I think "Now I wondey Why" was the quintessential track by the Church; it's a very dreamy, melancholy thing that worked well, I dont think it was a great mix - I would have liked the drums to sound a little different on that. I like the part at the end where all the voices start wispering the lyrics at once. Then came "Remot e Luxury" (which was actually a combination of two EPs, "Remote Luxury" and "Persia"). The best tracks were "Constant In Opal", which had a good mechanical feel about it, and "Shadow Cabinet" where the lyrics were interpretable on a number of levels. Then there's the new album ("Heyday") and my favourite track is "Myrrh" which defines 1986 Church, it's all the best things about us. BOB: Who is Michele Parker, who sings on "It's No Reason" and co-wrote "The Unguarded Moment"? SK: She was a friend and some time collaborator of mine who I dont have much to do with anymore. She now runs a clothing shop in Sydney. BOB: Which do you consider your most artistically successful album? SK: If we're not going to talk about "Heyday" I think i'd have to say "The Blurred Crusade". I think it was the definitive Church album, it had a dreaminess, a luxury, a polish or lustre. Some of the lyrics are a little fourth-form poetry-ish, but it didn't seem like that at the time. We recorded that mid 1981 so it's almost 5 years old. I think on that album we formulated the whole groundwork for the Church, the guitarists got it down how they were going to inter- react. Bob Clearmountain did a superb job on the mix, and it had a nice cover. I remember that LP with very fond memories. BOB: And the least successful? SK: That would have to be "Remote Luxury", there's a couple of tracks that I really hate, like "Maybe These Boys" which was done as a kind of satire/send-up of that type of music; it was just a mistake. Compared to "Heyday", where we've come back and are really working as a group, it really pales into insignificance. I think "Remote Luxury" is a pretty throw-away album and hopefully that'll be the last time something like that will happen. BOB: There has recently be released a Steve Kilbey solo 45, why was this? SK: I write hundreds of songs in my bedroom studio. The rest of the band were on holiday and I had a few songs - I really liked "Ashpalt Eden" as a song and it gave me the chance to do my best Scott Walker deep-voice thing. It didn't do particularlt well, in fact it was rather ignored. I did it just for the hell of it really, waste a bit of EMI's money. BOB: Do you feel restricted within the framework of the Church? SK: Of course I do! Everything we do has to have two guitars.....I'm happy to work within those restrictions and I think on the new album we're breaking out of them - making this album has opened up a lot of vistsas to us and i'm feeling quite happy to work within the Church. I could have a recording deal in America to continue to put out solo material, if I so chose. I don't know if i'm going to get the time, it all depends on how (the Church's) new album does. BOB: Have you recorded any other solo material? SK: No. A character out here called Ignacious Jones put out a record that I wrote called "Like A Ghost" which had a version of "It's No Reason" on the B side. I believe it did quite well in the gay clubs in San Francisco but but apart from that I think it sunk without a trace. I think it was released on Ensign in England. Peter Koppes recorded a single with his wife, calling themselves Melody - which did absolutely nothing at all because it was a really nice song called "Love Can't "Imagine". Ploog's played drums on the Beasts Of Bourbon and Salamander Jim records, he's played gigs with them and the Saints. Oh, I played bass on a record called "The Immigrant Tango" which is by an Australian group called James Griffin and the Subterraneans - Marty played a bit of 12 string on it too; it's a six track EP. BOB: I recently discovered a 45 by the Crystal Set ("A Drop In The Ocean" SET 001, recently re- issued on Red Eye in Australia) which has two songs credited to Kilbey-Maher.... SK: Russell Kilbey is my brother and he's the one credited on the Crystal Set, not me. They're still playing around Sydney and have just done a new single which I helped to produce with Guy Gray who was one of the assistant engineers on "Heyday". It's called "Benifit Of The Doubt" and I think it's amazing. Russell plays bass and a bit of harmonica and appears on "Seance" as a bit of an after thought. BOB: Some of my favourite songs are "The Unguarded Moment", "Field Of Mars", "Chrome Injury" "Constant In Opal" and "Electric Lash" could you say a few words about these? SK: "Unguarded Moment" is an albatross around our necks and I personally hate the fucking song but it's something we have to do live. "Chrome Injury" was one of the first songs we ever recorded, it actually got us our demo deal. "Fields Of Mars" isn't science fiction, it's a cemetary in Sydney where the man next door, who was a very good friend of mine, was buried and I wrote that song for him, Marty sung that one. "Constant In Opal" was based on an obvious pun. I suppose it's about trying to gratify yourself with wealth or looking for this elusive thing that you can never find. "Electric Lash" was written a long time before we recorded "Seance". It was written during the "Blurred Crusade" sessions. We all had on these boots that had these plastic soles and you'd be walking along up at EMI on the nylon carpet and the bushes would bend over and give you an electric shock because of the static that was created. It was released here on a 45 but didn't do very much. BOB: I also like "Fly", whos the Tyranasaurus Rex fan? SK: We all are! I think i'm probably the biggest - my favourite albums being "Beard Of Stars" and the one simply called "T.Rex", which are two most influential albums on anything I've ever done. I knocked this one out quickly while I was waiting for the others - who were late. We added the bongos later, in the studio - it ended up sounding Tyranosaurus Rex-y - it was never intended to sound like that, but i'm quite happy for people to see it that way. BOB: Most of your singles feature B sides that are not available elsewhere, I assume this is deliberate policy? SK: Of course! There are two arguments: you buy a single and you get an unavailable B side and you get value for money; the other one says you have to buy the single just to get a B side - so it's a bit of a dilema. Normally we just record a whole bunch of songs and earmark the ones we like least for the B sides. BOB: Of the B sides I particularly like "Life Speeds Up".... SK: That could have been a really good track but became a bit grandiose - which is sometimes a bit of a tendancy of the Church - so didn't go ontyo the "Blurred Crusade" album. BOB: Regarding recording and production, how do you fing working with Bob Clearmountain and Chris Gilbey? SK: Bob Clearmountain is probably the best mixer and one of the best producers in the world and it was wonderful to work with him. Chris Gilbey was a "Good Ideas" man. We stopped working with them because Bob went on to bigger and better things - making billions of dollars in the US charts. We did the latest album with Peter Walsh he's definately the best producer I've worked with so far - I'd like to get him for the next album. BOB: How do you see the future of the Church? SK: I don't know about the future of the Church. We're doing a tour of Australia (February/ March), the new LP will be released in the USA and in the UK. I imagine there will be tours of the USA and UK this year, but any- thing goes - it all depends which way the wind blows. With dates currently being set up in the USA and Europe, you should be able to catch the Church on sdtage. It's been a long time since their last UK shows, so i'm eagerly awaiting their two dates at the Marquee in London in early April. I've just been told that the video for the latest single, "Tantalizes", has been added to the MTV playlist in the USA so perhaps the Church's time has finally arrived; after five years of great records they fully deserve all the success that this long overdue exposure generates. "Heyday" is surely the most access- ible of the Church's records (but the lyrics remain as obscure as ever) and, to quote the lyrics of "Tantalized", "Pandoras Box reveals a new surprise, can't wait to see your eyes, now you've been tantalized". I'm well tantalized! A headt mix of themes ancient ("Emerald haunt in overdrive, nightmare descent onto Jericho city") and space-age ("so now we're cruising down this shuddering highway, with a dead sun shining on my back"), thick with the mesmerizing guitars of Peter Koppes and Marty Wilson- Piper does the trick, totally. JON STOREY -----[ End of Article ]-------------------------------------- From BSmith@vcomtelc.telecom.com.au Thu Jul 15 16:30 PDT 1993 From: "Smith, Brian" Subject: THEY'RE BACK !!! Yes folks, you heard it right. The Church (half the size at no extra cost) are back in the studio doing thingies and noises and calling it music. In the August 1993 issue of Rolling Stone (Australian), there is an article titled "Smoking In Church" which is an interview with MWP and Skilbey. They're in Steve's Surrey Hills studio with Andy Mason (Marty's buddy) where they've been recording for the past month. They have twenty tracks down, but no lyrics yet, and are still open to the possibility of releasing an instrumental album. Steve has shaved his beard, and Marty looks like he picked up the bits and glued them to his face. I didn't recognize him ! I had to look at the caption ! More soon (I'm in a software crisis at the moment....) The album is scheduled for release in early 1994. Brian "Phew !" Smith From BSmith@vcomtelc.telecom.com.au Thu Jul 15 23:22 PDT 1993 From: "Smith, Brian" Subject: Rolling Stone (August 93) interview Copied out really quickly during lunch without permission or spell checking. --------------- The schism has passed. The Church is alive and well, holding up the faith in Surry Hills. The establishment, now reduced to a core of Steve Kilbey and Marty Willson-Piper will tell you it was never at threat; last year's departure of guitarist and founding member Peter Koppes merely signalling the start of another stage. Russell Kilbey, the former frontman of the Crystal Set (Ed. Has he left then ?!), answers the door of his older sibling's three storey terrace house. Through the long corridor to the to the center of the first floor sits the small home studio, a five-step stroll from the kitchen sink. The walls of the room are lined with a 24 track desk, a couple of synthesiser workstations, a computer monitor, a couch and a selection of Marty's instruments. There's hardly enough space left to swing a guitar. Steve comes in from the backyard and invites me into his electronic lab. Marty sits on an office chair, struggling to adapt his fretboard agility to a mandolin which - along with other exotic instruments - has been borrowed from an ethnic music shop down the road. Also present in Andy "Dare" Mason, a long- time cohort of the band and engineer on these sessions. "How do you want to do this ?" asks Steve. "Do you want to hear some of the stuff ?" Sure. "Okay, let's take the last five." he tells Andy, telling him to skip the other 15 or so tracks already put donw over the past month. As Steve lights a small hash pipe, Marty explains that the koppes-less Church is "a whole different beast." When you're a group, you all stick to the instrument that you always play. On this stuff we're changing around; I'm playing bass, Steve's playing guitar, we're both playing keys. Suddenly it's opened up a lot of creative avenues which is an interesting side-effect of being less than we were." "I think we're a lot wilder without Peter, " adds Steve, "because he was very sort musical and he liked things to be in scales and in tune. He very much likes pop music. I think Marty and I are no longer bowing to the tyranny of the pop song structure." He pauses to pass the pipe to me. "That'll frighten Mushroom when they read this, won't it !" he says, causing the room to explode in laughter. I take my place on the couch and take in a polite portion of the smoke. "Have some more if you like, " Steve offers with an inviting hand gesture. " You like your music loud, don't you ?" As the first track booms throught the boxes, Marty jumps out of his chair. "I know you have to take notes, but let's have a little mood lighting, hey ?" he says with a keen smile, dimming the room to fog- like visibility. synthesiser washes. It sounds nothing like Priest = Aura. If anything, it recalls the more conventional elements of the band's earlier work. The second track is more Church-like. It's based on an intricate staccato guitar loop with strings moving in and out, giving it a melancholic mood. Like all the other pieces it's still lyricless. Later, Kilbey suggests the band is still open to the option of releasing an instrumental album. Of the five pieces the third comes closest to where you would imagine (or naively expect) the Church to be at this point of its creative development. Constructed around a joyous Willson-Piper solo and a driving rhythm, it's the aural equivalent of, um, running through the bushes at high speed. (Sorry, the hash has taken hold.) The next track, "Day of the Dead", is a deeply texttured work, set to a samba beat. Long susatinged riffs blend with jungle effects into a chaotic zenith. I turn to Steve, who's stretched out beside me on the couch, for some reassuring eye contact but his but his eyes are closed. With the beard gone, he looks exactly like the youth who told us about "the Unguarded Moment" over a decade ago, perhaps a touch heavier. Marty on the other hand, in all black with scrubby facial growth and fringeless hair down past his shoulders looks like he belongs in an anti- Nam march. As the final song begins, the four of us remain motionless, all facing the gold awards for Starfish, The Blurred Crusade and "Skin and Bones" (Ed. Is Rolling Stone for REAL ?! I think they mean Of Skins and Heart.) which hang on the wall through the studio's window. Again the track is completely different to the other music which has been played. This is techno; an insistent beat, pulsating synth loops and an array of sounds moving in and out of the fore. Marty explains that they're searching for continuity in diversity. "We've got our own studio, we've got ideas and we've got people who'll buy our records, " he says. "We can just do what we like, create anything for the pure sake of our own self-indulgence. We're not doing anything for managers, record companies, ever the public. We're not doing it for money; we're doing it just because we can create great things. And also, you know, we've had success. Look." he says pointing at the gold records. "We've got gold records, we've toured the world three times. The only thing we've got left now is to try to make the best music we can for the love of it. A great position to be in." Along with Koppes' departure, which the band insists was completely amicable, the band was jarred in 1992 by the commercial failure of Priest = Aura. Kilbey describes the album as the best record the Church ever did as the Church. Marty theorises that it was "too bent" even for fans. "Instead of seeing it as an interesting rock record, the critics saw it as a pretentious record. And the public saw it the same way." The two men - who are adamant that the Church will not play live again outside the odd acoustic showcase - remain undeterred. The new record, not planned for release until early 1994 will be, according to Steve, "the wildest and most emotional thing we've ever done. Most people think we're going to get more and more mellow. It's going to be the exact opposite." --------- Brian Smith From s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU Mon Jul 19 01:17 PDT 1993 From: s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (MrBuDGiE) Subject: From The Vault Church interview. Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Ok, heres an article that appeared in an Australian music mag called 'From The Vault : The Australian Record Collector', Vol 1, No. 3 - 1987. The mag also contained a Flexi-disc of "Musk" (FTV 3). Hope you enjoy it. Andrew.. ---[ Start of Article ]------------------------- THE CHURCH TANTALIZED - THE CHURCH STORY Written and researched by Ian Mcfarlane Special thanks to Steve Kilbey.. The Eighties has seen a resurgence of interest in guitar-based rock, and the advent of the new psychedelia has meant the decline of synth-pop dross. As one of the movements first practitioners the Church infused a rich sound of shimmering guitars with a powerful and invigorating sense of melody and poetic density. Alongside the Barracudas in the UK, The Chesterfield Kings, The Lyres and The Plimsouls in the USA and The Sunnyboys here in Australia, The Church helped lay the foundations for the resurgence of guitar music on a world-wide basis. In recent years the genre has witnessed its fullest flowering in the so-called American paisley underground (REM, The Dream Syndicate, The Rain Parade, The Bangles et.al.), while Australia has also seen the emergence of a host of great bands (The Hoodoo Gurus, The Screaming Tribesmen, Ups and Downs, The Stems, The Zimmermen, Died Pretty, to name a handful). The Church has proven to be a particularly spirited and durable outfit and boasts an important songwriter in Steve Kilbey. Although the band didn't find it's true focus until the second album, The Blurred Crusade, it has now built up an impressive body of work. Yes, as in the case with many pioneers, The Church has had to contend with the problems of dwindling record sales, lack of coverage in the music press, and overall, a lack of recognition of its worth. Despite the five albums and a brace of excellent singles and E.P.s, the band has been severely under-rated and sadly overlooked as a result. The Band does however, retain a fiercely loyal cult following in Australia, while overseas it is hailed as one of the best bands of the Eighties and the records are highly prized and sought after pieces. For the sake of the local industry, it would be a tragedy if The Church was to move overseas in order to survive. The Church had its genesis in the songwriting aspirations of bassist/vocalist Steve Kilbey. He played with several bands in Canberra (including an early line-up of The Tactics) with guitarist Peter Koppes, before they moved to Sydney. The two began writing and recording on Kilbey's four-track home studio. Kilbey chose The Church as a suitable name for his new project with Koppes, and the first line-up of the band came together as a three-piece in April 1980 with the addition of drummer Nick Ward. After several low-key gigs in Sydney, Marty Wilson-Piper joined as second guitarist. Wilson-Piper was from britain where he played in a band called The True Hundred, before busking and travel led him to Australia. Marty's intricate and inventive playing complemented Peter's more flowing and melodic style and added extra depth to the bands sound. They were still experimenting however, with a variety of styles and lacked a definite sense of direction at this stage. Yet with an incredibly electric range of influences to draw on, the right elements began to come together. Collectively the band was inspired by the likes of The Beatles, The Byrds, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Big Star, T.Rex, Cockney Rebel, and Television. Individually, Steve listened to folk and the electric sounds of Eno and Throbbing Gristle, Marty was into German bands like Can and Amon Duul, while Peter was a sixties fanatic. Soon after Marty's arrival the band recorded a four track demo which was of sufficiently high standard to attract the attention of A&R man Chris Gilbey. He signed the band immediately to a publishing deal with ATV/Northern Songs and a recording contract with EMI/Parlophone. Only one song from the demo, 'Chrome Injury', found its way onto record in a re-recorded version on the first album. The band recorded the first album in late 1980 with Chris Gilbey producing, and the finished tapes were mixed by American Bob Clearmountain. The album was preceded by the single 'She Never Said' which was released in November, and then appeared in a different version on the album. 'She Never Said' was a modest effort and the flipside, 'In A Heartbeat', had a Kinks-type feel. It was the next single however, that was to gain the band national exposure. 'The Unguarded Moment' was released in March 1981, and was praised at the time for it's fresh approach, jangly Byrdsian guitar motifs and surrealistic lyrics. It reached No. 22 on the national charts and the band appeared on Countdown to promote it, with Kilbey also compering the edition. Eventually the song became something of a millstone around the band's neck, as it was the song most identifiable with the band for many years. In retrospect 'The Unguarded Moment' is the bands least interesting single and despite some nice guitar lines and a deep Kilbey vocal, it suffers from a dull arrangement. The band's debut album, 'Of Skins And Heart', was released in March 1981, but did not chart. As a debut it showed promise, but suffered from a rawness and an inconsistency that perhaps reflected the band's lack of maturity and direction. Of the songs themselves only 'Bel-Air', 'For A Moment We're Strangers' and 'Is This Where You Live', a long if somewhat pompous track, showed real depth or hinted at the bands later developments. Only one song, 'Fall Away', remains unreleased from these early sessions. The album did however, attract considerable attention and was released on Carrere Records in the UK and Europe and on Capitol Records in Canada and the USA. It was retitled simply The Church, on both sides of the Atlantic and had differing track listings to the local release. Prior to the album's release in Australia, drummer Nick Ward was replaced by Richard Ploog who hailed from Adelaide and had played in several young bands. Ploog possessed a strong, yet graceful playing style and was more in touch with the Church's spirit. The Kilbey/Wilson-Piper/Koppes/Ploog line up has remained intact to the very day. The band's next release was the delightful double single pack, 'Too Fast For You'. The E.P. came in a picture sleeve and contained five tracks, 'Tear It All Away', 'You've Got To Go', 'Fraulein', 'Too Fast For You', and 'Sisters'. 'Tear It All Away' had been intended for release on the first album and was actually more indicative of the band's emergent style with its melancholy, yet alluring grace. The accompanying video-clip also pressed an intriguing dream-like quality. This double single is now possibly the most collectable Church' item. 1982 was an important year for the band: the more representative 'Almost With You' was the second hit established the band a potential major force; and with overseas interest increasing The Church made its first journey to Britain and Europe. 'Almost With You' reached No. 21 on the national charts in early 1982 and was also the bands most successful single on purely artistic terms. The production was crisp and clear, Koppes acoustic guitar break was engaging and the song itself compelling and well-crafted. The video clip however, was a little too earnest and featured the unintentionally humorous image of a medieval knight dashing about in slow motion. Nevertheless, 'Almost With You was a strong taster for the album and was also the first track on side one.. 'The Blurred Crusade' was the definitive Church' album and, despite minor flaws, possessed a polish and balance not even hinted at on the debut. Bob Clearmoutain's immaculate production values enhanced the dynamics and subtleties of the band's music and highlighted, in particular, the diamond-hard yet elegant interaction of guitars. What's more, kilbey contributed some of his more memorable tunes to the album, including 'Almost With You', 'When You Were Mine', 'An Interlude', and the magnificent 'Field Of Mars' (sung by Marty). The album sold well and reached No. 10 on the national charts, while in support of it, The Church undertook a second national tour. In conjunction with the tour the band released a second single from the set, 'When You Were Mine'. The song was a live favourite and the band at its most forceful, yet it failed to chart. In defining the bands style, 'The Blurred Crusade' revealed the more mysterious and melancholy aspects to the bands nature. While this is what makes the band's work so intriguing, they have been accused of an over-bearing seriousness and a lack of appreciable humour, as a result. Similarly kilbey's lyrics have come under scrutiny as to their worth and meaning. They are either viewed as thoughtful modern poetry, or sixth grade drivel. There's no denying the striking imagery Kilbey manages to convey with his words, but they remain blissfully obscure. It was also around this time that the outspoken Kilbey declared, in an interview with RAM, that he was the best songwriter in the world. Whether he meant it seriously or otherwise, kilbey was criticised for his insufferable narcissism and The Church subjected to a critical backlash that persisted for several years, and may have well been detrimental in the long run. Meanwhile 'The Blurred Crusade' had been released in Britain and Europe and had sold consistent on the independent charts. In October the band left for an extended tour of the territories. They played several well-received shows at London's Marquee Club and scored favourable press in the major English music papers, as well as small, if inaccurate, feature in headbanger's bible Kerrang!, of all things. The band returned home in December, just as the 'Sing Songs' 12" E.P. was released. The E.P. consisted of demo tracks the band had recorded for its American label, Capitol. The label had not even released 'The Blurred Crusade' in the states and not surprisingly deemed the new songs unsuitable, and dropped the band. Kilbey wanted the songs released in Australia, but coming after the lustrous production showcase of 'The Blurred Crusade'', the E.P. sank without trace. 'Sing Songs' however, possessed its own delicate charm, and the songs represented an avenue The Church never again explored. Particularly effective were 'The Night Is Very Soft', 'In This Room' and a lovely cover of Paul Simon's 'I Am A Rock'. The First single for 1983 was the mournful 'It's No Reason' from the forth-coming seance set. Released in May, the album featured the stark image of an ashen-faced women on the cover which contributed to the overall Gothic and otherworldly feel to the set. Certainly it contained some of the band's more inaccessible tunes and was hindered by its harsh production. Nevertheless it appeared briefly on the national charts at No. 18. In retrospect Seance is one of the band's most uncharacteristic, yet challenging works and is a minor classic in its own right. It also contained several excellent songs in 'Fly', 'Its No Reason', 'Travel By Thought', 'Electric Lash', and 'Now I Wonder Why' which, with its dreamy melody and ethereal guitar lines, was The Church sound at its purest. Seance was released in Europe and also charted well on the British alternate listings. Once again the band received lavish praise from the fickle English music press, and even Creem magazine in America (where 'The Blurred Crusade' and 'Seance' had sold well on import) was hailing the band as one of the best in the world. High praise indeed when on home turf the band was virtually being ignored. The last release for 1983 was the 'Electric Lash/'Autumn Soon' single, which turned out to be the band's last single for two years. 1984 was a very quite year for the band: they toured irregularly, but did add keyboards player Craig Hooper (from The Reels) as a part-time member, and managed to release two five-track mini albums, 'Remote Luxury ' and 'Persia', both of which were commercial failures. This was obviously a difficult period for the band: as a unit they were suffering a creative lapse; they were being shunned by the public and the press; and a new generation of bands had emerged and were grabbing the limelight from under the band's noses. Yet the mini albums had been unfairly dismissed at the time and deserved a fair listen. 'Remote Luxury' is certainly the least satisfying of the band's records, with 'Maybe These Boys' being possibly the worst song Kilbey has ever written, but '10,000 Miles' and the beautiful instrumental title track stand out as effective pieces. In contrast 'Persia' was a very cohesive and intriguing release. 'Constant In Opal', 'Volumes' (written and sung by Marty), 'No Explanation', 'Violet Town' and 'Shadow Cabinet' were all strong songs infused with the classic Church' elements and were overlayed with Craig Hooper's bright keyboard work. The two mini-albums were issued as one album overseas, called remote luxury, and included identical tracks. The american album (on Warner Bros.) was the first Church release in the US since 'The Church' in 1982, and as a result of the interest generated there, the the band undertook its first stateside tour in October/November. The Church shared the bill with bands such as The Rain Parade, and played two memorable shows at the Ritz in New York and The Palace in Los Angeles to ecstatic crowds and favourable reviews. 1985 was an even quieter year and apart from several low-key east coast tours, very little was seen or heard from the band. Yet their was an air of expectancy and the second half of the year was spent writing and recording new material. The first release of the year however, was a kilbey solo single, 'This Asphalt Eden' backed with 'Never Come Back' and 'Shell'. 'This Asphalt Eden' was a very esoteric and unusual song, with Kilbey doing his very best Scott Walker' deep voice, but it went largely unnoticed. The first new Church single in two years, 'Already Yesterday', was released at the end of the year. It turned out to be the wrong choice for a single as it was an unassuming song and was not really indicative of the promise the new album held. As a result it was neglected and sank without a trace. Nevertheless, the general mood within the industry was that the band was on the verge of breaking through to commercial success once again. 1986 commenced on a high note with the release of the eagerly awaited 'Heyday' album. Expectation were high and the album did not disappoint. It proved to be a remarkable achievement and instantly won well deserved critical favour. All the loose pieces had been drawn together with considerable clarity, and producer Peter Walsh (Scott Walker, Simple Minds) was an important catalyst in extracting the best from the band. It was obvious the band was functioning as a unit once more, and the song were written by the band as a whole (although Kilbey wrote the lyrics). As such they compromised a cohesive song cycle, both musically and lyrically, with there wide range of themes: historical, religious and space-age. The album's haunting, fragrant nature gave it immediate appeal, with new subtleties revealing themselves with each listen. Taken as a whole the album possessed a consistency and depth that easily made it the best Church album to date, and one of the best local releases of the year. Yet in some ways Walsh's lush, layered production values gave the album too much gloss and, if anything, it lacked a definite edge. It does however, contain some of the band's most elegant and seductive tunes in 'Myrrh', 'Tristesse', 'Night of Light', 'Columbus' and 'Tantalized'. Particularly effective also were Kilbey's string arrangements on 'Tantalized' and 'Night Of Light'. Unfortunately, despite the album's positive feel and the lavish praise it received, it returned disappointing sales figures. It managed No. 14 on the national charts but for only one week, and then swiftly disappeared. To compound the disappointment, the two singles, 'Tantalized' (with its vivid and energetic video-clip) and 'Columbus', both failed to chart. Consequently the album is possibly the most criminally neglected local release of the eighties. In mainstream terms the album was a commercial failure, but it should be noted that it and 'Tantalized', both did well on alternate charts reaching No. 1. Meanwhile the album was released in Europe and America and again hailed as a classic, selling very well (over 50,000 copies in the US and 30,000 in Europe). In April the band left the country for its third international tour, this time taking in a string of dates across the states (supporting Echo And The Bunnymen), as well as Europe and Britain. While the band was on the European leg of the tour news arrived that Marty had left the band, and that the others were to complete the tour as a three piece. Several days later however, any problems were fortunately reconciled and Marty returned to the fold. 1987 began on a sour note when EMI, who had kept faith in the band over the years, finally grew tired of waiting for the big hit single and mega-platinum selling album and did not renew the band's contract. Also, plans for the double live album, bootleg, were scrapped and the material may never see the light of day. On the other hand, the band did well in both the Juke and RAM Readers' Polls for 1986, with 'Heyday' voted amongst the best albums of the year and Steve Kilbey scoring best songwriter award for the year. If nothing else, this reflected the sheer loyalty and enthusiasm of the band's fans. In the early part of 1987 The church has been inactive, while several members pursue solo projects. Steve Kilbey released 'Unearthed', a collection of home recordings, on the independent Red Eye label, followed by another album called 'Earthed'. 'Earthed' is a purely instrumental album to accompany a book of Kilbey's prose, bearing the same title. These works show Kilbey's desire to produce music outside the confines of The Church, and are very melancholy, reflective pieces specifically aimed at fans of his work. Similarly Marty has found time to assemble a collection of his own home recordings (from 1982 to 1985), called 'In Reflection', released on Chase Records. Peter also released a solo record, a 12" single called 'When Reason Forbids'. In April it was announced that the band had signed a worldwide contract with Arista Records and a local lease deal with Mushroom Records. At the time of writing the band was in process of preparing new material for the next album and looking for the right producer. Meanwhile EMI, which owns the band's back catalogue, has announced plans for a Church compilation album to hopefully include all the band's singles, as well as non-album B-sides. It's been a long and difficult road for The Church. After seven years of producing some truly fine music the band still remains a second division outfit, with only a loyal cult following in Australia. Yet overseas the band is hailed as one of the best to emerge in the Eighties and their records are highly prized. At present the bands future success seems uncertain, but there's every indication that subsequent albums will match the splendour of works like 'The Blurred Crusade', 'Seance', 'Persia' and 'Heyday'. ------------------------------------------------- As well as Steve's solo album, he has played bass on James Griffin And The Subterraneans' mini-album, 'The Immigrant Tango', and helped produce, with Guy Grey, The Crystal Set's 'Benefit Of The Doubt' single. Similarly, Marty played 12 string guitar on 'The Immigrant Tango' and has played with the most recent line-up of The Subterraneans, as well as his own solo show. Richard has played drums in the live situation with Beast Of Bourbon, Salamander Jim and The Saints, while Peter has released a solo single, 'Love Can't Imagine', under the name Melody. In 1982 Ignatious Jones released the Kilbey penned 'Like A Ghost' as a single, and in 1983 'It's No Reason' appeared as a Jones B-side. ---[ End of File ]--------------------------------------- From LMERIWETHER@macalstr.edu Mon Jul 19 12:32 PDT 1993 <01H0QAGQZ7CWAQ2C7W@macalstr.edu>; Mon, 19 Jul 1993 14:33:58 CDT From: skye Subject: taken from the tori amos mailing list... X-Vms-To: IN%"seance@thechurch.ebay.sun.com" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT From: IN%"anthony@xymox.apana.org.au" 16-JUL-1993 06:49:37.62 CC: Subj: Margot Smith - an Australian musical goddess! (stuff deleted) Anyway, having established that I was a big Tori fan, she told me that she'd just heard an advance tape of a new Melbourne artist named Margot Smith, and said that if I liked Tori, I'd *really* like this. The single was released this week, and I managed to snarfle one from EMI; it's *brilliant*, and I now am faced with an agonising wait for the release of the album. The single is called "Fall Down" and is, I'm told, atypical of what's on the album. The album material is more similar to the other two "b-side" tracks on the CD, which is something oike listening to Tori in conversation with Happy Rhodes at a This Mortal Coil concert. It's sublime. It's superb. And it's the first decent thing that EMI's usually tone-deaf A&R people have signed for years. Production on the single, and forthcoming album, is split between Eddie Raynor (former member of Split Enz) and Steve Kilbey - yep, the one from ^^^^^^^^^^^^ The Church. The Kilbey-produced track was also co-written by him, and sounds a lot like his solo work (which may not have been released in the US as it was released under a seperate deal) and his work with Curious (Yellow) - ask Stacey about that one :-) I'll report on the album as soon as it's out; in the meantime, those wanting to hear god-like music should hassle their import stores for the single: "Fall Down" by Margot Smith, EMI Records (Australia) 8740212. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Anthony Horan, Melbourne Australia - anthony@xymox.apana.org.au "Not everybody likes me, but I don't like everybody either!" - Ilka Heber ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From BSmith@vcomtelc.telecom.com.au Mon Jul 19 16:16 PDT 1993 From: "Smith, Brian" From BSmith@vcomtelc.telecom.com.au Mon Jul 19 16:16 PDT 1993 From: "Smith, Brian" Subject: Re: Rolling Stone interview Fellow Church Nuts, Did you all get the interview I typed up regarding Steve and Marty being back in the studio ? I just got a bounce message, but I think it's from one person on the mailing list, not the entire list. If somebody got that interview, please let me know. If you didn't, I'll repost it. Thanks Brian From BSmith@vcomtelc.telecom.com.au Mon Jul 19 16:32 PDT 1993 From: "Smith, Brian" Subject: Rolling Stone Interview August 1993 AARGH!! Bloody mailers !! Has anyone actually received the interview which I typed up. Here's the summary Steve & Marty back in studio, album due out 1994. Ring any bells ? Brian From s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU Mon Jul 19 17:39 PDT 1993 From: s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (MrBuDGiE) Subject: Bounced mail!!! Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Has anyone received the Bucketful Of Brains interview with Steve Kilbey and the From the Vault artice that i recently posted?? BOB interview has bounced! Cheers, Andrew.. From mosk Tue Jul 20 08:28 PDT 1993 From: mosk (Morten Skjefte) Subject: Re: Bounced mail!!! Cc: seance@thechurch Andrew, Both interviews were received by the alias. If you get bounced mail it may mean that some of the people on the list no longer have the account (especially for students at universities etc.) and didn't let me know. If you get bounced mail messages, please forward them to me and I can determine whether the user in question should be taken off the list or not.... Thanks, -morten > > > Has anyone received the Bucketful Of Brains > interview with Steve Kilbey and the From the Vault > artice that i recently posted?? BOB interview > has bounced! > > Cheers, > > Andrew.. > > From s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU Wed Jul 28 16:48 PDT 1993 From: s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (MrBuDGiE) Subject: Church info... Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ok, this is what appeared in one of the local music rags yesterday. "Steve Kilbey and Marty Wilson-Piper, The Church as the remain, have put down 14 tracks which will eventually see release as the new Church album." Also there was an artice on the Bhavagad Guitars (sp?) which has Steve's brother, John as a member, if anyone wants me to type that out, let me know. cheers Andrew... From mosk Thu Jul 29 08:03 PDT 1993 From: mosk (Morten Skjefte) Subject: Re: Church info... Cc: seance@thechurch > From s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU Wed Jul 28 16:48 PDT 1993 > > ok, this is what appeared in one of the local music rags yesterday. > > "Steve Kilbey and Marty Wilson-Piper, The Church as the remain, > have put down 14 tracks which will eventually see release as > the new Church album." > > Also there was an artice on the Bhavagad Guitars (sp?) > which has Steve's brother, John as a member, if anyone > wants me to type that out, let me know. > > cheers > Andrew... > Steve has a brother called John also??? How big is the Kilbey-clan? And are they all musicians??? (Sure seems like it... :-) I would love to read that article Andrew! Here in the US we are very hungry for any news of any kind about anyone that can be traced back to the Church... :-) -morten From gsa@panix.com Thu Jul 29 13:03 PDT 1993 From: Gary Assa Subject: nbew album no release date (most likely april 1994), but it is cccalled some thing like Everywhere, Somewhere. Arista gasn't approved the traccks yet. p.s. I dind't know about Steve's other brother, but Russell was in the Crystal Set, and another brother who hates Steve, even goes under a different last name. I believe he is known as John Underwood. I wonder if this is the same guy??? From s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU Thu Jul 29 21:18 PDT 1993 From: s932544@minyos.xx.rmit.OZ.AU (MrBuDGiE) Subject: Bhagavad Guitars article.. Cc: seance@thechurch.EBay.Sun.COM Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ok, heres the Bhagavad Guitar artice that apperaed in Beat magazine. - andrew.. ---[ cut ]---------------------------- Bhagavad guitars: hypnotic and elusive After a disasterous false start, The Bhagavad Guitars (BG from now on -Andrew) have finally released their album. Jeremy Butterworth explained to TERSEA BOLSTER why, after half a decade, they've had such a small output. In the world of pop music in which bands release as many singles as possible and albums at least annually, Sydney 'indie' institution BG are indeed an exeception. Although they've previously recorded 3 EP's on Red Eye records (also available together as an album) after six years of playing together the BG have only just released their debut album called Hypnotised. Is this band a part time project or are they just lazy buggers? Songwriter and guitarist Jeremy Butterworth explains -- "sometimes it's full time and sometimes it's no time. We've kind of been 'musicing'and around the whole time but as far as the listening public is concerned they have'nt heard much from us. there have been times when we've been doing a lot of writing and recording and also times when we haven't been doing anything." There is one very significant reason why we haven't heard much from the BG in the recording sense and this is what they refer to as their 'unreleased classic' or their 'lost album'. Until last year the band were signed to a major label and were given an advance to record their debut album. Jeremy rates the sad tale - "we disagreed with them constantly about everything to do with it artistically. They wanted to change arrangements to make them poppier. They wanted to put out different songs than we did because there was no obvious single." The mess resulted in an acrimonious split between the band and record company, with the BG losing an album and a lot of confidence. Lessons learnt the hard way the band chose to record their 'debut' album Hypnotised totally independantly and cheaply, recording it live. "As a recording process it was quicker and simpler. It was recorded live and the vocals recorded later. A day and a half in the studio with us playing together then a couple of days doing vocals. The sound of Hypnotised is fresh and poppy slightly 60's influenced with a bit of a vibe to it and an overall aura of optimism. It was a happy recording and creating experience by all accounts. The principle songwriters of the BG are Jeremy Butterworth and John Kilbey (Steve's brother) and their songs are uptempo and bright yet thought-provoking and introspective. It's indie pop for want of a better description! New versions of 4 songs from the lost album appear on Hypnotised including a beautifully optimistic song called Hope. Jeremy says that the new versions of the lost songs will hopefully be reappearing in the future. With a promotional tour to Melbourne and other cities and an excellent debut album (finally!) the BG are captains of their own ship at last and have plenty of reason to be more than optimistic. hypnotised is available on the bands own label A Kharmic Hit, distributed through Shock. --[ end ]----------------