The Church performing live at the Triple Door as part of KEXP’s VIP Club concert series. Recorded February 8th, 2015.
Songs:
Toy Head
Delirious
Laurel Canyon
Lightning White
Miami
Posts Tagged ‘The Church’
The CHURCH – ” Live at the Triple Door “
Posted: April 4, 2015 in MUSICTags: KEXP, Live, The Church, Triple Door
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The CHURCH – ” Laurel Canyon ” Live On World Café
Posted: April 1, 2015 in MUSICTags: Australia, Steve Kilbey, The Church
The Australian band The Church, best known in the U.S. for its 1988 hit “Under The Milky Way,” has a new album (titled Further/Deeper) and a new guitarist, with Ian Haug replacing founding member Marty Willson-Piper. In this episode of World Cafe, singer, bassist and songwriter Steve Kilby presides over a set of new and old songs. During the church’s successful North American “An Intimate Space 30th Anniversary Acoustic Tour,” the band recorded a session for NPR’s World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, PA. The popular program, hosted by David Dye at the WXPN headquarters, can be heard on over 200 NPR stations nationwide
The CHURCH – ” You Took ” World Café Live Philadelphia 10th March 2015
Posted: March 16, 2015 in MUSICTags: Further Deeper, Steve Kilbey, The Church, World Cafe
“You Took” , by the reformed band The Church, World Café Live, Philadelphia, PA; March 10th, 2015; On their Further/Deeper Tour, Its a unique Band that finds itself cherished as a bona fide legend in the ARIA Hall of Fame while remaining a virtual enigma to the world that knows its name. But maybe that’s no more remarkable than the mystery that continues to unfold within its own ranks.
The Church’s accidental signature tune, Under The Milky Way, is like a lighthouse on the brink of a continent forever to be discovered: 25 albums over 35 years and countless diversions that have almost destroyed them a dozen times, yet always reaffirm a mutual commitment to an uncompromising and unparalleled act of creation
The CHURCH – ” Starfish ” Released 16th February 1988
Posted: February 16, 2015 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSICTags: Australia, Marty Willson Piper, Peter Koppes, Starfish, Steve Kilbey, The Church
The Church, a mystical indie band from down under; known well for the imagery layered under lush guitars and stand out riffs, absolutely met the expectation of a one of a kind, dreamlike experience. On this day in 1988, The Church released its fifth album, ‘Starfish,’ featuring the singles “Under the Milky Way,” “Reptile” and “Destination” One of that decade’s best works. it certainally has aged so much better than most albums of that era. Starfish is the fifth studio album by Australian alternative rock band The Church, released in February 1988. It was the band’s big breakthrough album, “Starfish” went gold in America and has remained the band’s most commercially successful release. The first single, “Under the Milky Way”, charted well into the USA Top 40, leading to significant exposure of the then relatively underground Australian act.
Starfish is a beautiful, magical album that stood out “Under the Milky Way”. The track has continued to be a from it’s usage in the movie Donnie Darko, “Reptile” is another specific track from Starfish that has just held so much power from the opening riff both powerful and sinister; the overall message of learning from your mistakes and moving on, but always seeing the past as it was, not through the rose colored glasses that color reality given enough elapsed time.
“A New Season” sung by Peter Koppes, was even better live that it was on the album. The band took a break after completing “Starfish” . The album was recorded/produced in Los Angeles by L.A. session musicians Waddy Wachtel and Greg Ladanyi. The recording is more sparse and open than its predecessor, “Heyday“, which featured orchestral arrangements with brass and strings. Many of its songs have seen heavy rotation in live set lists, and the album remains a favorite among many fans.
The song “Under the Milky Way” was co-written by Steve Kilbey with his then-girlfriend Karin Jansson of Pink Champagne. Because the band was unable to get a drum track which sounded right live in the studio by Richard Ploog, the band played to a click track and later session musician Russ Kunkel was brought in to add drums and percussion.
The album’s title was taken from singer/bassist Steve Kilbey‘s nickname for friend/ musical partner Donnette Thayer, who signed herself that way on postcards she sent to Kilbey. Kilbey contributed a long untitled poem to the album’s liner notes. “Hotel Womb” has dream-themed lyrics relating to an imagined wedding. Music videos were filmed for “Under The Milky Way” and “Reptile.” The fifth season of the US TV show, Miami Vice, featured two songs from the album. “Under the Milky Way” was used in an episode called “Asian Cut” and “Blood Money” was showcased throughout “Heart Of Night” (18 November 1988).
- Steve Kilbey – bass guitar, lead vocals
- Peter Koppes – guitars, lead vocal on “A New Season”
- Marty Willson-Piper – guitars, lead vocal on “Spark”
- Richard Ploog – drums, percussion
- Additional musicians
- Greg Kuehn – keyboards
- Russ Kunkel – drums and percussion on “Under The Milky Way
- David Lindley – mandolin on “Antenna”
- “Awesome Welles” – Synclavier
- Waddy Wachtel – backing vocals
Check out The new album “Further Deeper”
THE CHURCH – ” Under The Milky Way “
Posted: March 22, 2014 in MUSICTags: Australian Bands, Music, Peter Koppes, Steve Kilbey, The Church
How The Church’s Steve Kilbey really feels about Under the Milky Way
April 25 2025
The Church frontman Steve Kilbey had no idea he was sitting on an Australian classic when the band played Under the Milky Way for record executives for the first time.
“At the time we recorded it, no one thought that was the hit, but the guy, the big guy from the record company in America came in and said, ‘That’s the song I want’,” he said.
The 1988 single became a chart hit at home and abroad, peaking at number 24 on the United States Billboard Top 100.
From featuring in the soundtrack to the film Donnie Darko to being played at AFL Grand Finals it has since become an enduring cultural phenomenon.
Such was the popularity of the song that Kilbey grew tired of it for a while.
“At the time, it was such a big hoo-ha, and the next record, people were going, ‘Oh, we’ve got to write another song like that, but not like that.”
However, upon reflection, he has found peace with the song again and feels a lot of gratitude for its success.
“I’m glad it was the one [the big hit]… I’m glad it has so much ambiguity in it. It isn’t stuck in the time that it came out,” he said.
“I can stand on stage in 2025 and sing it and not feel silly. You know, Mick Jagger must feel silly singing Satisfaction in his 80s.
“If you’re gonna be stuck with one song, there could be a lot worse songs to be stuck with, that’s for sure.”
While Under the Milky Way was the song that catapulted the band to international fame, it was their 1981 single The Unguarded Moment from their debut album Of Skins and Heart that catapulted them to fame in Australia.
“We were on Countdown, and the next day, we were rock stars. We never looked back. It was that quick.
“We never went back to playing tiny venues to absolutely nobody, that one performance, that one song did it for us. So I’m really grateful.”
Under the Milky Way and The Unguarded Moment are just two of the 20 singles the band will play during its upcoming tour.
The Singles Tour: A Career Retrospective will see the band playing singles from throughout its career. Having produced 27 studio albums over 45 years, there is no shortage of material to choose from.
The band has evolved a lot over the years, from its new wave, indie rock beginnings to a sound that has increasingly embraced slower-tempo songs with lush, surreal soundscapes.
Kilbey, the band’s songwriter and sole constant member, said he strives to constantly take the music in new directions while continuing to produce songs that are unmistakably The Church.
“This is my paradox: that I want everything I do to sound like The Church… and yet at the same time, I want to improve upon that, push the envelope.
“Have a more ethereal Church, have a more jazzy Church, have a more complex Church, have a more mature Church, have a more literary Church.”
This desire to push the envelope and try new things saw the band venture into the new territory of the concept album for 2023’s The Hypnagogue and its 2024 companion album Eros Zeta and the Perfumed Guitars.
The acclaimed pair of albums revolve around the story of a creatively frustrated rock star who utilises a technological device that transforms dreams into music.
With its themes of the consequences of using technology to inspire creativity, comparisons have been drawn to the rise of artificial intelligence but Kilbey said any parallels were purely coincidental.
He had not previously had any plans to make a concept album, but when the idea came to him, he felt it was something he had to pursue. He even wrote an accompanying novella.
While some music fans are turned off by the idea of concept albums, he said the project’s narrative was somewhat loose and the music can be enjoyed independently of it.
“One guy [fan] wrote, I don’t really like concept albums. I don’t really like this concept, but I like the music, so I’m just gonna enjoy the music.
“That’s all right with me as well.”
The Church is a Australian Rock band formed in Sydney in 1981 associated with Psychedelica and the paisley underground .
THE CHURCH – “Unguarded Moment”
Posted: March 15, 2014 in MUSICTags: Australian, Music, Peter Kopes, Steve Kilbey, The Church
one of the great videos THE CHURCH from Canberra Australia, stormed into the uk with this track in 1981 taken from the “Skins and Heart” their debut album Steve Kilbey has just revamped the band for a new album and a tour
The Fat Angel Sings 