The folks at OC Music News have been fans of The Church since… well, forever it seems. From the early days of “Under the Milky Way,” “Metropolis,” and “Reptile,” to the most recent albums – “The Hypnogogue” and “Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars” – The Church continue to show what incredible artists they are and give us a peek into the brain of founder/frontman, Steve Kilbey.
The Australian band is headed to our shores this summer for their own headline tour, plus a one off OC show with The Psychedelic Furs and Mission UK.
Dubbed The Singles 1980-2025, the North American tour will allow fans to experience the all the things – the hits we know by heart, the atmospheric and psychedelic tracks from the recent albums, and the enchanting storytelling from the one and only Steve Kilbey.
Kilbey – often self-deprecating with dry humor and sarcasm that I adore – was kind enough to chat with us before packing his bags to head our way.
Traci: Steve! The last time I talked to you, you were in a garage in Santa Barbara, so this looks a lot better. You’re not being held hostage anymore?
Steve: No, I’m sitting in my living room. It’s about 11:00. I’ve just been down by my sea pool where there was a sighting of an octopus – there are nine octopi living in there. It’s full of fish and birds and octopi, obviously. And I had a swim. I did 10 laps, and I had breakfast sitting there looking out at the Pacific with my friend who’s an arranger and a conductor. And we were cooking up plans to do an album together next year of orchestra torch ballads. And I’ve come home just in time to speak to you. So I’m having a really nice day so far, but I’m sure anything could happen to ruin that at any moment.
The Church | Photo by Adam Nicholas
Traci: What is the worst question I could ask to ruin things?
Steve: “Why are you so old and ugly? You were once so young and beautiful. How does it feel to be an old, ugly man?”
Traci: (laughing) I heard you kicked a puppy once!
Steve: Screaming boys and yapping puppies make me want to kick, but I don’t do it.
Traci: Because you’re mature.
Steve: If I could get away with it. I don’t know what I do, but it’s really just the fear of being apprehended. It’s not because I’m mature.
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Traci: You cannot get arrested because we are excited you’re coming back to North America.
Steve: Yes. Yes, I am.
Traci: The singles tour, which you’ve got what, 45 years’ worth of singles?
Steve: Forty-five years, yeah. Two that are known and probably 100 that nobody knows about.
Traci: Yes, there is that big one with a milestone recently. “Under the Milky Way” passed 100 million streams on Spotify. That’s still such an unfathomable number to me.
Steve: I know.
Traci: And obviously, that’s not even the full life of that song since Spotify has not been around that long.
Steve: Yeah. In this world, we deal in numbers. When I was a kid, people never used to talk in those terms. I remember when The Beatles became millionaires, it was quite a thing. Of course, now being a millionaire is nothing.
Traci: Exactly. I need a million dollars to buy a house across the street from me and I’m in a plain suburb.
Steve: Yeah. Yeah. Sydney’s like that.
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Traci: Of course, “Under the Milky Way” will be essential on a singles tour.
Steve: Our singles are pretty good. It’s not like the albums are great and the singles are a load of rubbish. And the singles weren’t planned as singles. “Under the Milky Way” was not ever written or planned or recorded as a single. Almost in every instance, someone decided afterwards – whether the band or the people involved – this should be the single. And it’s just like that with our latest album.
He went on: We made an album in Austin last year and there’s 20 tracks, and now we’re trying to figure out which one should be the single. But none of them were earmarked as the single at the time. The Church has never really made a song that we thought, “Oh, this is going to be a single.” So the singles don’t really vary that much in quality from the album tracks. It’s not like there’s these deep-cut album tracks that are really full of integrity and blah, blah, blah. And then there’s these shallow, silly novelty singles.
Traci: Yeah, you have quality, chunky songs. A new album, you say?
Steve: We’ve had a few patrons because we’re not signed with a big record company. We went because our patron lived in Austin, and he said, “Hey, it’d be great if you come and make this album in Austin.” We went there, and he’s also one of my very best friends. He really looked after us and we worked in this beautiful, beautiful studio called Arlyn Studio, which it’s got Willie Nelson all over the place.
Steve chuckled and went on: “Willie smoked a joint here.” “Willie took a piss here.” “Willie wrote a word here.” It’s Willie Nelson all over, but a huge and beautiful studio. We have one of the top producers in the world, dropped everything to come and work with us, and that’s a guy called Darrell Thorp. He’s got 11 Grammys, he’s worked with McCartney, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, blah, blah, blah. If I drop enough names I will become by association; you will go, “Oh, Steve Kilbey reminds me of Radiohead and Paul McCartney.” He mixed our last two albums, and he came and worked on that record with us and now has mixed it and done such a beautiful job. So we’re really excited.
He went on: I don’t know, it’s a truly excellent record. I know I say about that about all of them, but the stars just aligned and we’ve got 20 tracks, too many, maybe. It’s too many even for a double album. It’s like you couldn’t even get them all on a double vinyl. So we made that record and I’ve been very busy making other records. And we’re hopefully coming to America in July and doing this tour.
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Traci: It’s no Maldives! [The band just played a few shows on the gorgeous island.]
Steve: Yeah. Look, I’m glad I saw the Maldives. Maldives, very hot, like hot all day and night. And if you didn’t go surfing, not a hell of a lot to do. You could lie in a hammock all day and drink Pina coladas. That’s some people’s idea of a holiday. I can’t do that.
Traci: I don’t picture you ever sitting still.
Steve: I can’t. I can’t. Very, very hard, very hard for me to sit still.
Traci: Well, not an island, but I see you are returning to the caves in Tennessee where I saw you a few years ago, plus some other nice venues.
Steve: My favorite gig is in a really nice theater. People sitting down in a comfortable theater with all the lights and the sound that I want to have. That’s really my ideal situation. I don’t like playing in bars and I don’t like playing festivals. I really I really like playing inside in a really nicely appointed theater. I think that’s where you get the best Church experience.
Traci: Is there anything you are doing to get in shape to get here? Are you meeting with a stylist? Are you working with your trainer? (laughing)
Steve: I could use a stylist. I could use a trainer. I could use a vegan chef. I could use a masseur. Imagine if I was going on tour with all that! I’d better make it easy. The band are playing really well at the moment. This band, they deliver every night. They really take it seriously. They love what they’re doing. Tim Powles, who was just the drummer, he’s now playing keyboards and extra percussion, and we’ve got a new drummer, and Tim has moved on to this other thing. We’ve got three guitarists, and it’s a really good band. So I think we’re going to make people happy.
Traci: You will. That was something I noticed at the last show – your fans are very devoted. They were discussing all the albums; not just “Under the Milky Way.” They’re very into everything that you put out.
Steve: Yeah, we have amazing fans. We have amazing fans. Well, The Church has been going for 45 years. Obviously, it’s only me left now from those days. And 41 years we’ve been touring America. We first toured there in 1984. Yeah, it’s a good thing. I count my blessings. I really do. I don’t take all of this for granted. I’ve got a whole different attitude towards… I can’t fathom who I was when I was young and what I was thinking. But now I wish I’d been thinking like I think now more. It’s like the most important thing for me is putting on a good show, developing all the dynamics, looking at every aspect of the music and the delivery. Every night we come off and we discuss, in this bit here, we should blah, blah, blah. We put a lot of thought and work into it.
Steve paused and went on: The earlier days weren’t like that. It was like the least important thing was the show. There’s a certain charm to living like that. But now, as this, in my twilight years, it all winds down. I have a real desire to just make the audience as happy as I possibly can. And give them a quasi-spiritual experience that I think music can do that. Music can give you a quasi-spiritual experience, if not indeed a real spiritual experience.
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We look forward to any spiritual experience from The Church – whether it be seeing the band this summer, or just hearing the new music. “Let me I’ll tell you, our new album,” Kilbey promised, “If you like ‘The Hypnogogue,’ the new album is beyond that. It’s just beyond… It’s just a beautiful sounding album, and we’ve milked every second of it.”
Make your plans to catch The Church when the tour kicks off July 15th in Phoenix. They make stops in SoCal on July 18th at Belly Up in Solana Beach, July 19th at The Fonda in LA, and July 20th is the mega show at OC Amphitheatre with The Psychedelic Furs and Mission UK. The tour runs through August 16th.
