1/14/2003

Twelve years ago in our very first issue Steve Kilbey was interviewed with Donnette Thayer. It’s been 12 years but finally another chance to talk to the great writer, poet, lyricist and lead vocalist of The Church. With hours left of material recorded for Hologram Of Baal and with the release of the cover album Box Of Birds, up comes an artistic album of high standard After Everything Now This was released on January 21, 2002. Parallel Universe is rerecording remixed version of After Every Thing Now This and a bonus EP/CD of 6 tracks was added. I caught up with Steve Kilbey at The House of Blues on Sunset for this interview. Steve Kilbey said: “I hate doing sound check interviews.” I wasn’t sure how to reply. I decided if this was how Steve’s temperament was to be I had better come up with a great reply. I said “I’ll make this as easy as possible. I am sure this is a difficult time for this to be set up. I’ll keep it simple and easy.” This comment by Steve about the sound check interview wasn’t recorded, but I truly understood where he was coming from. Steve was in a nice dark tweed suit, dress shirt and a tie. Was he headed to a meeting, going to Church or doing the concert dressed like this? Steve wasn’t looking like a rocker. Even his hair was cut short and seemed a bit business looking. Steve was very polite to me being it was sound check and all. So we did do this interview.

Why an America tour first for the release of “After Everything Now This”?

We have actually done Europe for the tour of this new album all ready.

How did that tour go for you?

It was pretty good. I wouldn’t say it was a million gated success, but it had it moments.

Did they get into it? Did they understand the album? Did they get into the feel? Did the Europeans get then into the show/tour?

I always have that question do they understand the lyrics. So while I am there singing I think do they really understand what I am saying? So it is a benefit to play in an English speaking country. I think they feel it and react like they feel it. Understanding the lyrics is kind of irrelevant. There great. They aren’t as good of an audiences as The Americans. America is sort of the show business culture of the world that invented this whole thing. That’s why Americans know how to enjoy it and be a good audience. If Europeans could do that, they would be as good of an audience as the Americans, they would draw better performances. But in their own way they are more reserved people. In that way of being reserved, the audiences there were really nice to us.

I guess, Americans are a much warmer of an audience?

It is just more fun here as a performer. I know maybe people think that The Church we are this cold band, arrogant band that don’t care what the audience think. But nothing is further from the truth. I love it. After all this time I just come back to this thing like I’m a musician, when I play if the audience likes it I feel like that’s what it’s all about. So if the more they like it the more I like it. Then we get this feed back thing going and it’s great. It’s fun then to see how far we can take the whole thing.

I would like to see you play again outside? Like you did when you toured for the album “Starfish” at The John Anson Ford venue?

Yeah, on a warm summer night in California. Actually that would be an amazing feeling. It’s like being in this early traditional theatre being outdoors there. At this particular theater on a warn night in that anthem theatre, you’re there and you’re under the lights, the stars and the moon and the night sky. I saw A Midsummer’s Night Dream in Australia on the side of the ocean on this little island this same way. The scenes in the forest were done on this island that we all walked over to. So I totally agree with you.

Let’s talk about the new song Invisible. The song is very strong, Is there something were aren’t seeing that we need to see about this song?

It’s this yearning for this thing. It’s like I want something and never get it. It doesn’t look like anybody ever does. Well except our Buddha or your Jesus Christ and your Christians or your Mohammad they get it. But it is so hard to follow that path. We all struggle in our own ways yet it’s never really there. Which is different, because the verse isn’t really about that. It’s one of those songs where the chorus doesn’t have anything to do with the verse. It’s like the writer is telling you this story about this woman traveling on a train to meet a man somewhere. In the middle he breaks into that to tell you he wants something out of life as well.

The Picture taken below was done by myself. This shot was from The House Of Blues in Hollywood California 2002.