It’s really quite difficult to imagine a time without The Church.
Under the leadership of the charismatic and charming Steve Kilbey, the band has seared itself into the consciousness of the world.
Since their inception in 1980, and their debut LP Of Skins And Heart, they’ve been a remarkable force of creativity, releasing a consistent stream of quality material at a steadfast clip.
It certainly helps that – unlike a lot of their 1980s contemporaries – they’ve never gone away to begin with. Iconoclastic mavericks that they are, their darkly poetic and shimmering paeans to the id have taken a firm foothold in the national imagination.
More recently, they’ve just finished up a summer tour that saw them touring with international staples of equal longevity, Simple Minds and Devo.
Over the phone from his flat in Bondi, Kilbey takes a break from putting together the finishing touches on his new solo album, Apocrypha, to chat a bit about his life, his band, and his future.
“I’m really happy with it,” Kilbey beams, when asked about the progress of Apocrypha. “But it’s hard when you play everything by yourself – engineer it and everything – so I might give it to someone else to mix! Get a bit of distance from it, you know?”
In addition to his longtime work with The Church, his solo outings, and his frequent collaborations with an impressive bevy of musicians; Kilbey is an accomplished painter, poet, and blogger.“I’m a bit like Gaudi, I’m probably going to get run over by a bus because I’m always so obsessed with whatever I’m working on that I don’t give the rest of my life very much attention!”
His personal webspace, The Time Being, is a brilliant glimpse into the artist and how he views the world around him (it’s seriously essential reading). As someone so damn prodigious with his creative outlets, the question must be asked: how the hell does he manage it? Is he a bit like Nick Cave, in that he goes into an office at 9am sharp and works until 5pm every day?
“You know, I’ve heard that he did that,” Kilbey says, “Lord Tennyson used to do that too, apparently – he’d turn up in his office and just write poetry. I guess I do it by … I have a lot of creative energy, and I just can’t sit still! I never ever sit down and watch TV, I never ever sit down and read a book – I’m going all the time.”
“That’s what I like doing; I like doing this. I have to do it, but I can’t be organised like [Cave] – it’s always disorganised,” says Kilbey, with emphasis on the last word. “It’s all terribly chaotic. It’s always things being done at the last moment, and then everything’s being done all at once! It’s real chaos!”
“I’m a bit like Gaudi, I’m probably going to get run over by a bus because I’m always so obsessed with whatever I’m working on that I don’t give the rest of my life very much attention!” he concludes with a sharp laugh.“I still don’t know if I’m going to leave the band… But I’m pretty fucking upset about this!”
Sadly, his attention as late has been given over to the ugly business end of the music industry. After a much-publicized brouhaha with The Church’s American label, Second Motion Records, it came to light that the band was pretty much being screwed in their royalty fees.
Kilbey was furious at the pittance of their most recent cheques, in which he was paid a paltry $400.
In an incendiary back-and-forth over social media with record label boss Stephen Judge, Kilbey made some interesting threats, concluding with Kilbey stating on his blog: “I AM LEAVING THE CHURCH BECAUSE OF YOU”. Full stop.
Did Judge respond to his latest missive? “He’s written me privately, saying, ‘Can you stop all of this? You’re ruining my life’,” Kilbey explains with a dash of scorn.
“But he has not responded to my lawyer, who’s trying to audit him. I don’t know what he’s doing; maybe he’s hoping it’ll all go away! But I’m going to pursue this as much as I can.”
As for the future of The Church, Kilbey says, “I still don’t know if I’m going to leave the band… But I’m pretty fucking upset about this!” he declares pointedly.
“The rest of the band are just kind of ‘Uh, another time with us not getting anything’,” heaves the frontman, affecting a defeatist tone. “This time, when I fucking saw that [attitude], I just lost it. I wanted to make a huge exclamation mark for everybody who’s interested at all to go, ‘It’s so bad, this guy’s ripping us off so badly, this is unacceptable what he’s trying to pull off here,’ and I want everybody to know this.”“…it’s unacceptable that all these records were released over and over, over 25, 30 years and we’re still not getting any money!”
When asked if his “huge exclamation mark” has triggered a response within the lineup, and if they’ve become more outraged about their mistreatment, Kilbey sounds somewhat doubtful. “Well, I think they are, but they don’t like the way I’ve gone about it. They’re going, ‘Well, Steven, if you want to do something, you shouldn’t do it this way.’ But sometimes you have to do things this way, because there’s nothing else you can do!”
The 58-year-old takes a deep breath, his frustration palpable; “As I’ve said, maybe he [Judge] can make all this make sense, although he hasn’t yet. But whatever the result, it’s unacceptable that all these records were released over and over, over 25, 30 years and we’re still not getting any money!” he fumes.
“Haven’t we done enough time yet? I mean, if someone told me 32 years ago that these records still wouldn’t be paying, that we still wouldn’t be being paid for when you’re almost 60, I would have thought that was a joke!”
So the question remains: is Steve Kilbey truly going to make good on his threat to leave The Church?
Who knows? The man himself seems to be unsure of the answer. But what is certain is that, regardless of the outcome of this tawdry drama where artistry and monies meet, Kilbey will still be making music on his own terms.
Namely, narrowly missing being hit by buses in his beloved Bondi, dreaming his dreams, and living his life his way.
It’s in his blood.
Apocrypha is coming soon. Head to The Time Being for more updates.
