Interview Remasters #09 - Steve Kilbey - The Church
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- Опубликовано: 13 окт 2024
- Steven John Kilbey (born 13 September 1954) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and bass guitarist for the rock band The Church. He is also a music producer, poet, and painter.[1] As of October 2014, Kilbey had 750 original songs registered with Australian copyright agency Australasian Performing Right Association.
Music
Early years: Saga, Precious Little, Baby Grande and Tactics
Following his birth in Welwyn Garden City, England, UK,[3] Kilbey was taken to Australia by his parents at the age of five years, and grew up around Dapto, before living with his family in Canberra. He began his professional music career at 17 years of age, when he joined a five piece "cabaret band" called 'Saga' in Canberra.[4] Around 1973 he joined 'Precious Little', a rock band featuring future Church bandmate Peter Koppes on drums.[5]
This was followed by Kilbey forming 'Baby Grande' around 1974 while still living in the A.C.T.[6] Koppes was also in Baby Grande for a time but left to travel, then played in a band called Limazine which brought him in touch with future Church drummer Nick Ward. Baby Grande recorded some demos for EMI Australia in 1977 but were not signed to a permanent recording contract. Baby Grande's demos surfaced on the internet after about 30 years, and despite initial protests from Kilbey, he has now made four of the five tracks available on his solo compilation album of early work Addendaone (2012).
Kilbey was also (while working as a computer programmer) a member of the new wave band Tactics for about a month in 1977.[7] He played 'about four gigs' with Tactics before being asked to leave by the band's singer and songwriter Dave Studdert.
The Church
Kilbey formed The Church, together with Koppes and Nick Ward in Sydney in the late 1970s.[8][9] Marty Willson Piper joined the band in May 1980 days after his arrival in Australia when he went to see the band play a gig. After some success in their native Australia in the early 1980s, Kilbey and The Church went on to international fame when "Under the Milky Way", from the 1988 album Starfish, achieved success (Kilbey had co-written the song with Karin Jansson of Pink Champagne and Curious Yellow[10]). "Under the Milky Way" appeared in the top-selling singles charts of both Australia and the United States (US). In late 2011 Kilbey revealed that, at the time of the interview, the song was still used for television programmes and advertisements.[11]
After recording the Gold Afternoon Fix album in the USA and touring to support it with the Church until mid-1990, Kilbey returned to Australia and made the Jack Frost album with Grant McLennan. He then went on a solo acoustic tour of the US, playing mostly clubs. After this tour, he and McLennan toured the USA together on the back of the Jack Frost project. The Jack Frost band name was derived from mutual friend of Kilbey and McLennan, Joel Eaves of Canberra, whose expression of "another Jack Frost day in Oceana", became a popular Sydney expression during the period.[12] In 1990 Kilbey began to use heroin around the time of his girlfriend Karin Jansson's pregnancy.[13] His use of this drug continued through the recording of The Church's album Gold Afternoon Fix and beyond.
Kilbey had recorded much of his solo work at his home studio in Rozelle, Sydney until around the release of his album "Narcosis", which was recorded at his new 'proper' 24 -track studio in Surry Hills, Sydney. He also worked as a producer with artists such as Melbourne singer Margot Smith and Canadian singer Mae Moore. He also produced the albums by Hex, Curious Yellow and Jack Frost.
In late 2012, as an act of protest against the conduct of the Church's North American label Second Motion Records, Kilbey announced his resignation from the band. The announcement was made on Kilbey's Facebook fan page following the receipt of an insufficient royalty cheque from the record label.[14] Kilbey placed the incident in the broader context of the music industry:
it seems(tho its hard to tell) that the church might have brought in 30 or 40 grand ( i mean starfish alone brought in 6000 on itunes)…but the members of the group got 100 bucks each. i mean he couldnt give us nothing to he came up with 100 bucks each. i am insulted. i have decided to leave the church. this is not a joke. i will complete the current tour and then i’m done. i implore you all not to buy any records from second motion records. as you see none of it will come to us. same as it ever was.[15]
However, the Church continued as an active band and, in November 2013, Kilbey published an official announcement on his Facebook fan page stating that Willson-Piper was replaced by former Powderfinger member Ian Haug.
Australia’s greatest songwriter by 10000 thousand miles
Fascinating interview.
What an enjoyable, educational chat thanks guys.
Oh how I wish El Momento Descuidado was mine to err whatever Steve said :)
The album is brilliant, thanking you Steve and the lads.
Amazing interview was fun to hear some new stories
I love Steve he really tells it like it is true bad ass
Great interview I’d love to see more videos along these lines
Great interview...it kept me entertained flying from Brisbane to Melbourne.
Very grateful to have met Steve in Edinburg, and a photo taken before the gig sometime 2017
Steve was spot on regarding these talent shows i love when he said he wouldnt have got past the first round so true, those shows are a joke.
How many good artist have we lost because of these shows to be what they want
We love you Steve. Thanks for everything.
Well...to say that Steve is one of my fav artists would be an understatement. One of the best interviews I've heard with him. Thank you boys. 😀
As a large proportion of this video was devoted to talking about 'Under The Milky Way'; it was very apt as the tv adverts for The Dry (Dec 2020 - Jan 2021) have been using this slowed-down cover version in their promotions (sounds eerily great). Great book btw! And I never knew I had to mute the E string playing the G chord so thank you for showing us 😎.
A few random comments otherwise I'd be writing a thesis as so much was covered here:
1. I still have my original vinyl copy of Jack Frost. (& Grant's passing still really saddens me).
2. Nothing was mentioned here of Steve's work with Martin & I'm not sure why, perhaps a taboo topic as nothing new released for some 3 years & there's some ill-feeling going on?
Nevermind that...what I wanted to mention was how I walked into 'the' record store in 2009 & Warwick was playing Unseen Music, Unseen Words (it was literally just released). It became my album of the year, along with Untitled #23 (the last album with Marty).
So, I'm thinking it was 2009 that coincided with The Church's resurgence as referred to by Steve.
3. Nelson Riddle - what a band leader. He worked on most (I would have to check to say all) of the classic 'Capital' Sinatra albums. And he played/arranged the original Batman tv series music.
Cheers. 🎼 🎸 🤝
Thanks mate
Everything Steve talks about is the truth of where being a great musician and songwriter comes from. There has definitely been a poisonous influence in the music business that has killed what is real and inspired like he was in his youth.
I found it interesting how Steve was talking about how Bowie lost his way and for me The Church lost their way starting at Priest = Aura although I like about half of it and didn’t get it back until Hologram of Baal. Still my favourite band and the new stuff is great.
❤️
😂😎🔥
I always thought he was much younger? Not born in 1954? Maybe 1957 or 58?
Sorry ... but Ian is virtually invisible on stage with The Church ... the band is becoming a Ghost ship ... Ploog was never satisfactorily replaced - and Marty is HUGE shoes to fill, that frankly have not been filled. The Church ( I say this having been a fan from day 1 ) are getting around like a Las Vegas act these days. And Steve says some stupid things sometimes ... sorry Steve but ... Powederfinger are the biggest band Australia has ever had???? How about NO! .... INXS ... AC/DC ... Midnight Oil ... Icehouse ...
gday....fair call....
Good riddance go back and live in the past people and bands move on!
@@desertrance also a fair call :)
Cold Chisel
@@desertrance Yeah, but you know that bit in this interview where Steve says he saw Bowie in 1987 and thought it was garbage, but he'd have loved to have seen him at Hammersmith in 1973? Or that he loved Mick Ronson but thought that Reeves Gabrels was awful? Same thing as the OP's saying, right?