Church

The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Canberra in 1980. Initially associated with New Wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of "progressive rock," featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay.

The Church's debut album, Of Skins and Heart (1981), earned them their first radio hit "The Unguarded Moment." They were signed to major labels in Australia, Europe and the U.S. However, the U.S. label was dissatisfied with their second album and dropped the band without releasing the album. This put a dent in their commercial success, but they made a comeback in 1988, with the album Starfish and the American Top 40 hit "Under the Milky Way." Subsequent commercial success proved elusive, however, and the band weathered several line-up changes in the 1990s. The last decade has seen them settle on their current lineup, which features the original three founding members plus drummer Tim Powles.

A survey among readers of Melbourne newspaper The Age garnered 37,000 votes and the majority chose "Under the Milky Way" as the best Australian song of the last 21 years.

Members

The Church has undergone several line-up changes over the years. The core members of Steve Kilbey, Marty Willson-Piper and Peter Koppes have basically gone unaltered, save for the brief departure of Koppes in the mid-1990s. The current members are:

Steve Kilbey (b. 13 Sep 1954): bass and lead vocals
Marty Willson-Piper (b. 7 May 1958): guitar
Peter Koppes (b. 21 November 1955): guitar
Tim Powles: drums

Previous members include:

Nick Ward: drums (1980-1981)
Richard Ploog: drums (1981-1990)
Jay Dee Daugherty: drums (1990-1993)

History

The early days and first album (1980-1981)

From the early 1970s, Steve Kilbey and Peter Koppes had played in several glam rock bands in Canberra, Australia. In April 1980, they formed a three-piece with Nick Ward on drums and began performing. After Marty Willson-Piper (hailing from Liverpool) joined them, they took the name The Church. Allegedly, the name was chosen largely because it was unclaimed, but later allusions to the band's spiritual interests by Kilbey hint that it was less coincidental. At the time, only Koppes was a fully-proficient musician. Kilbey was an erratic bass player and Willson-Piper was still searching for his style on guitar.

A four-song demo was soon recorded. Thanks to contacts from Kilbey's former band Baby Grande, they were able to send the tape to Australian record label, ATV Northern. The song "Chrome Injury" particularly attracted the attention of publisher Chris Gilbey (who heard a song being played in the next room to Don Bruner, his Professional Manager). Chris had recently formed a record production company in association with EMI Records in Australia and had resurrected the Parlophone label as his label. Chris went to a rehearsal of the band and subsequently helped shape the band's sound by buying Marty Willson-Piper a 12 string Rickenbacker guitar, and by equipping Peter Koppes with an Echolette tape delay. These helped bring out the musical direction of the two guitarists in the band complementing the vocal and bass style of Steve Kilbey. The band's first record contract quickly followed, but, of the four songs on the original demo, only "Chrome Injury" was later included on an official release.

Their debut album, Of Skins and Heart, was recorded late in 1980, produced by Chris Gilbey and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Almost all tracks were written by Steve Kilbey. The first single (and studio debut for the band) was "She Never Said," which was released in Australia in November 1980, but did not chart. A second single, "The Unguarded Moment," was released alongside the album in March 1981, but initially only in Australia. This single garnered greater success, appearing on the charts, where it reached number 22. Thanks to this publicity, the band went on their first national tour.

By the time of the album's release, drummer Nick Ward had already been replaced by Adelaide native Richard Ploog. The arrangement was made by the band's manager, after hearing of Ploog's reputation in his local music scene. Ploog's arrival established the Church's first stable lineup.

The success of Of Skins and Heart enabled Chris Gilbey to present the band to Freddie Cannon, the Managing Director of (Carrere) and Rupert Perry, the Head of A&R for United States label (Capitol), which both went on to release it. In both regions, the album was renamed The Church and repackaged with slightly altered track listings. Richard Ploog was credited as the sole drummer on the U.S. release, despite playing on only one song. Capitol also released an edited version of "The Unguarded Moment" which was a minute shorter than the original - a decision that didn't much please the band.

Establishing their sound: The Blurred Crusade (1982)

The first songs that the new line-up with Ploog recorded were not released on a full album, but instead as a five-track double single. Among these tracks was "Tear It All Away," which showed a development towards more elaborate guitar structures and what is often regarded as "the typical Church sound." The release also contained the first collectively-written song by the band: "Sisters."

The second album The Blurred Crusade, was released March 1982, this time both mixed and produced by Bob Clearmountain. Stylistically more complex than the band's debut, it is widely considered a more consistent and sophisticated work. The first single, "Almost With You" resulted in a second hit for the band, climbing to number 21 in the Australian charts. It has since become one of the band's trademark songs.

Due to this renewed success, the Church went on a second Australian tour. Carrere released the album in Europe as well, bringing in enough sales to convince the band to tour there for the first time. But Capitol, the band's American label, declined to release The Blurred Crusade and demanded the Church write more radio-friendly material. A batch of five demos passed on following another recording session left Capitol even less impressed, and they dropped the band. Rather than see those songs disappear into record company vaults, Steve Kilbey pushed to have them released, resulting in November 1982's Sing-songs EP. Compared to The Blurred Crusade, the EP was recorded and mixed quickly and sparsely. Public reception was cool and it went largely unnoticed. Quickly deleted from the catalog, it became a highly sought collector's item (until its re-release on CD in 2001, nearly two decades later).

Introspection and atmosphere: Seance and Remote Luxury (1983-1985)

May 1983 saw the release of the band's third album, titled Seance. Here the Church produced themselves for the first time. The album made somewhat more use of keyboards and synthesizers than previous releases, and the accompanying live shows included a guest keyboardist, Melbourne-based session player Dean Walliss.

Although Seance was a self-produced effort, the band employed Nick Launay for the mixing (based on his work on Midnight Oil's 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1). The end result was not what the band expected: a distorted, noise-gated drum sound that particularly stood out on the staccato-like snare. Unsatisfied with the sound, the band asked Launay to redo the mix, but the effect was in the end only lightened. The first single, "Electric Lash," featured this sound prominently (some fans likening it to a "machine gun"). Despite dissatisfaction over the mix, Seance featured a lusher, more atmospheric Church with notable highlights like "Now I Wonder Why" and "Fly." All the same, the album sold poorly, being considered dark and cryptic, and the general public seemed to lose interest in the band. Critics in Europe and the United States liked the album, however, with Creem hailing them as "one of the best in the world."

Seance was still largely dominated by Kilbey's songwriting. Some 20 songs were put together on his home 4-track for the album but Kilbey also encouraged band members to present their own material. It was becoming obvious that music oriented around one personality would create resentment in the band. In the end though, only one band composition made the album: the experimental "Travel By Thought." Kilbey and Willson-Piper had co-written another track, "10,000 Miles," but the record label rejected its inclusion. Kilbey was subsequently upset by the label's interference, finding the track essential to the set. The song was instead later included on the successor release, Remote Luxury.

Foregoing a full album, in 1984 the band released two EPs, Remote Luxury and Persia, both only in Australia and New Zealand. Neither were particularly successful commercially. Again, almost all tracks were written by Kilbey, but compared to Seance, the atmosphere was lighter and less gloomy. Persia had the band's trademark guitar sound complemented by the keyboards of guest musicians Davey Ray Moor and Craig Hooper.

Internationally these two EPs were repackaged as a single album titled Remote Luxury. Its release in the United States (on Warner Bros.) was the first since the band's debut (though The Blurred Crusade and Seance had sold well on import). Due to the interest raised in the U.S., the band left Michael Chugg Management in Sydney and signed with Malibu Management's owner John Lee. The band did their first tour there in October and November 1984. Venues in New York and Los Angeles saw decent crowds of some 1000 people, but other gigs gathered as few as 50 fans. In financial terms the tour went poorly and the band lost thousands of dollars a week.

As a whole the band felt it had reached a sort of nadir in 1984. Unable to repeat the success of the first two albums, there was some perception that their creativity was dying down. Kilbey was later quoted: "I think we released a few dud records that weren't as good as they should have been, after The Blurred Crusade.....The band was just drifting along in a sea of apathy, I was writing not-so-good songs and the band wasn't playing them very well, so everyone's enthusiasm just waned."

1985 was a quiet year for the band. The different members spent time apart in Stockholm, Sydney and Jamaica, with the only notable release being Steve Kilbey's debut solo single This Asphalt Eden.

Rejuvenation: Heyday (1986)

After the perceived necessary hiatus, the band reconvened in Studio 301 to commence work on their next album. Unlike previous works that heavily bore Kilbey's stamp, the resulting recordings were largely a group affair. Released in January 1986, Heyday (produced by Englishman Peter Walsh) brought in a new stylistic element with the addition of strings and horns, creating a warm, organic sound.

Released in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the United States, the album was warmly received by fans. A promotional tour took off in April 1986, with concerts both at home and abroad. Unexpectedly for fans, Marty Willson-Piper suddenly quit mid-tour after rising in-band tensions. July 10 saw a three-piece Church perform in Hamburg, but Willson-Piper returned within a week.

Unfortunately, despite the charged atmosphere and warm press, low sales for the album in Australia prompted EMI to drop the band. Plans for a double live album called Bootleg were quickly scrapped. The Church now found themselves in an awkward situation where they saw greater success overseas than in Australia. The band had long hoped to record in the fresh atmosphere of a studio abroad. Now, no longer bound to EMI, the opportunity came. After eyeing numerous other offers, the band opted to sign a contract for four albums with U.S. record label Arista Records in 1987.

Into the mainstream: Starfish (1988)

The next recording sessions found the band in Los Angeles. Paired up with producers Waddy Wachtel and Greg Ladanyi, the environment was somewhat of a new challenge for the band. Used to following a more relaxed routine in the studio, the Church suddenly found themselves having to adjust to a thoroughly different approach. Kilbey: "It was Australian hippies versus West Coast guys who know the way they like to do things. We were a bit more undisciplined than they would have liked." Personality clashes became inevitable as the two sides bickered over guitar sounds, song structures and work ethic alike. Despite these conflicts, the results seemed promising. Under pressure from the producers, Kilbey began to take vocal lessons, an experience that he came to regard as valuable in hindsight. Wachtel and Ladanyi found promise in the songs, particularly "Under the Milky Way," which they focused on as a potential single from early on.

Life in Los Angeles came as a shock as well, and its influence filtered into the session. With the band feeling out of place, the stresses of a major American city energized the songs. Kilbey: "The Church came to L.A. and really reacted against the place because none of us liked it. I hated where I was living. I hated driving this horrible little red car around on the wrong side of the road. I hate that there's no one walking on the streets and I missed my home. All the billboards, conversations I'd overhear, TV shows, everything that was happening to us was going into the music." "North, South, East and West," "Lost," "Reptile" and "Destination" all bore the imprint of the faces, scenery and daily life of the group's new, temporary home.

Largely recorded live after four weeks of grueling rehearsal, Starfish focused on capturing the band's core sound. Bright, spacious and uncluttered, the recording was a great departure from the layered orchestrations of Heyday. The intention was to make it as "live" and dynamic an album as possible, which was achieved to a measured extent (Willson-Piper later went on to say that trying to record a live atmosphere lacked a real gig's sense of "being there"). Although the band found the results bare and simplistic, the reception they would come to receive would be unlike any they'd had before.

Released in February 1988, Starfish soon found its way into the mainstream, propelled by the single "Under the Milky Way." Although never perceived as an intentional "hit" by Kilbey (who wrote it with then girlfriend Karin Jansson), it "just seemed to be the right song at the right time" as he would later claim. The warmth of the melancholic melody shone through on the 12-string-based progression, accented by light keyboards and minimalistic electric guitar. Kilbey's baritone vocal line "Wish I knew what you were looking for, might have known what you would find" made up the distinctive chorus, providing an abstract, but striking emotional centerpiece. A near-five minute music video received respectable airtime on major music video television channels.

"One straight from the factory...": Gold Afternoon Fix (1990)

After an exhausting nine-month tour to promote Starfish, the Church returned to the studio to craft a follow-up album. With one gold album now under their belt, there was mounting pressure from Arista to create another. The band had been negotiating over bringing in former Led Zeppelin keyboardist and bassist John Paul Jones, who had recently built a reputation as a sophisticated producer. Despite enthusiasm by all four members, company and management vetoed the option. To reproduce Starfish