The Time Being | Steve Kilbey

who the fuck is writing this stuff.......?

my bizarre day

i fly to melbourne early to do press

met at airport by 2 lovelies the delightful smiling cake

and the aegean diamond  herself

who drive me around town

so far so good

i get to the first interview at the abc radio

before we go on

a guy comes up introduces himself

hes a novelist and we’re both on this show today

something is troubling him however

hes hesitant to say it exactly

hes about ten years younger than me and hes a very nice bloke

hes very articulate

and he goes at great lengths to be polite and gracious

to cut a long story short

he is currently “seeing” an old flame of mine

a famous old flame i have never really ever discussed much

shes not mentioned in my bob lurie bio at all

lately strangely i have been feeling her presence in my life

to set things straight

she was truly the first women or person i ever “loved”

whatever that word means to you or me  now or then

she was that person

after being in a few boring painful meaningless nothing much things

a short marriage to a women who was good looking and intelligent

but so unfulfilling for both of us

and then one day i met this particular person

i was 26 and pretty much single again

at 21 she was extremely girlish

she was reading the news at a radio station where i was being interviewed

i looked through the glass booth and we made eye contact

and her charisma and happiness and intelligence blasted me

i also had an incredible sense of familiarity instantly

we both felt the hand of fate

we recognised each other

i knew at once we would fall in love

i got an introduction and it all worked out

she came and saw my band play one night

and the next day i refused to go back to sydney

it was impossible

things happen in my life

and i cannot do otherwise but obey this feeling of destiny

like the way i hired marty on the spot…i just knew

i could  sometimes somehow remember the future…

well i stayed in melbourne

i remember the other geezas laughing and getting on the plane

but i hung around in melbourne and tracked her down

i had never done anything like that in my life

i was confident that this person would play her part in my life

we met up

she was everything i thought and more

larger than life and so thoughtful

so well bred

impeccable taste impeccable manners impeccable language

yet approachable with a musical laugh and strange emphatic eyes

she blew my socks off i guess you could say

we fell in deeply and fast

we were in truth each others first important thing

she obliterated everything before her with one easy smile

and she was yet young and naive and …..everything

for the next 2 years or so  81,82

i spent most of my time staying at her flat in south melbourne

she was delighted to show me round melbourne

a city that was always more my spiritual home than sydney

she got up early and went in to her job now on tv

it was apparent to me she would be a big star

no question in my mind

she had across the board appeal for everybody

she had all her bases covered

she was effortlessly “sexy” whatever the fuck that is ,she was

she was that without trying

and no one to my knowledge could resist her warm soothing voice

but she was not a fake

her dad was a silver haired handsome  pharmacist

her mother  an incredible beauty and ex-socialite or something

she had 5 brothers n sisters all goodlooking and charismatic

it was just one of those families …they were all kinda perfect

a stately family home

after dinner the gentlemen would retire drink a brandy

and play billiards in the billiards room

they were an elegant family

it was an honour to know them

they made me quite welcome even tho i was a pot smoking yob

my parents and my house werent anything like them

i was a bit impressed and intimidated

yet they were not snobs by any means

they were just a patrician type of family

they were good taste and never vulgar

they were like australian royalty or something

i could not find any fault with them or my girlfriend

she inspired many songs

i wrote many well known church songs to her and for her

to be in your eyes was a private song i wrote for her

but other people urged me to put it out there

i guess i didnt need much arm twisting

another song :disappear?

i wrote that as a lullaby for her on the spot

one sleepy afternoon strumming my guitar as she lay in bed half awake

many other songs too….you can figure em out if you want

we had amazing times together and rarely quarrelled

i believed we had something

we spent much time enjoying ourselves

we had money between us and some fame

and free time to goof off

and we had little holidays n stuff

am i allowed to say all this now?

is 30 years long enough for declassification ?

anyhow i met karin jansson in  late 82

and felt the hand of fate

i knew as soon as i saw her that we would have the twins

i could not alter it

me and the other girl parted company i guess

she was understanding and super unhysterical

she was sad but no fuss was made

i saw her once or twice after that

but it was kinda strange and it discontinued

she went on to fame and fortune

she had a few famous and not so famous boyfriends after me

she got married had kids and i never heard from her again

the case was closed

we never mentioned each other i guess

then lately i feel her moving again towards me somehow

on the way to this studio ive been thinking about her today

30 years ago today….i wonder what i was doing ….

anyway the author guy kinda says he thinks someone may mention it

someone has in fact mentioned it already it seems

he doesnt want it n she doesnt want it

but me…i cant guarantee him i wont talk about her if they ask

shes a bit of an icon with a serious reputation

i guess they dont want me reminiscing over our days

even tho so long ago

i come loaded with drug and hedonistic connotations

is it possible people may imagine how that youthful popstar

and that lovely and clever catholic

and soon to be famous girl next door type

whiled away a few years

when money and time and freedom were plentiful

people may imagine i was a bad influence upon her

people may imagine she was impressed by my schtick

most people probably dont imagine

how we had such a good thing and let it go just like that

i dont really understand it myself

its a bit of a mystery

anyway luckily i suppose because

after a strong spliff and a big cup of coffee

i was ready to yack my head off about anything

including and especially about her

despite the authors very reasonable hope i’d shut up if asked…

but they never asked

the author turns out to be a good guy

a serious contender in his field

a deep and weighty tome on something serious

at the airport i notice his books all over the place

the man is a top notch proper artistic type

the reviews from everywhere are glowing

paris washington new york london

the guy is doing very very well

i am pleased for them both i guess

they are both very clever and very gracious too

yet i am disturbed nonetheless….why?

the rest of my interviews today is just me raving on

i’m good at raving on

so its all at it should be

the other thing tho is weird

postscript

i see the geeza again later outside another radio station

he kinda blanks me

and gee

i had hoped they might invite me over for dinner one night

seriously…

or what……?

the listeners here as the beholder

if there is one thing that i am very pleasantly surprised about

it is martin kennedys and my decision to plunge into commissioned songwriting

the idea was initially martins which he casually mentioned one day

eventually after some thinking about it i kinda just blabbed it all out

on facebook of course

and left mk to sort out all the details

anyway the results have been astonishing to me i now admit

you see these commissioned songs still must have been excellent

they must have been intensely personal yet pleasantly universal

they must have had had integrity whatever they were about

and whomsoever they are for if indeed that was their purpose

regardless of anything else mk and i purvey integrity

we purvey humour too along with the gravitas

we do spiritual we do pop we do atmospheric ruminations

anyway the songs we have come up with have captivated me

first let me say some things about mk

he is getting incredibly good at this thing and better all the time

martins music is warm subtle understated deceptively simplistic elegant

somehow so far

he has had the inexplicable uncanny ability of creating a perfect track

every single time

he is very very very good at what he does

in this sense he is an artisan

he is realising the directions in your commission as actual music

he interprets your wishes and he is the prime mover in the process

the singing can only be a reaction to the music as per our process

the singing must be married to the music invisibly joined

but hats off to the guy who comes up with the music first

in this sense martin is the other guy in all those duos

those ones that comprise of the singer and the player

such is the division of our labour

although martin is now performing some excellent backing vocals

anyway he just has the knack the gift  the way

he has perceived his niche and he nails it constantly

he tailors this music for a vocal he hasnt heard yet

but  he’s  simultaneously suggesting it and preparing its way

he at this one particular thing is so on form right now

in fact he has proved himself to be an excellent collaborator

every track he has come up with has been of a shockingly high standard

a master craftsman he concocts the music methodically and with calm focus

no wild erratic genius

no touchy prima donna

no sulky ego

martins got the song and its waiting to go

its streamlined its versatile its timeless its classic style

its never messy awkward or bombastic

martins music has a certain intrinsic transparency and honesty

it achieves what it does not thru trickery or sheer grunt

but by an almost mathematical patterning of elements

as the various instruments react with and against each other

always a real sense of that trademark elegant simplicity

a quiet confidence is radiated

martins music has a strange spiritual component

although that is all you can really say and leave it at that

nonetheless it is clean positive healthy logical music

mk does not wallow in noise or discord or racket or dissonance

it is good music in all the many senses of the word

the music implies martins own quiet dedication to his craft

without drugs or headlines or nervous breakdowns or trauma

he sits down in his studio in his house

and he assembles brilliant music thoughtfully and seamlessly

endlessly recycling subtle devices (some of the same ones as me)

when i say this

i mean small phrases repeated against changing chords for example

whatever he does exactly i dont care to analyse that closely

his method is not in itself a mystery and it definitely yields results

yet it has some other mysterious ability to create magic

you can dissect it to a certain extent but the mystery remains

there is a magic at work here

but mk is an artisan in this context

and he is unique too…nothing else sounds like him

so i turn up n he gives me the music he has composed for each piece

but i think of martin as an architect in some sense as well

and his buildings would be sleek if thats what he did

and most of all

above everything else and its something you cant just expect

it is always evocative

and for me as well it evokes/invokes the singing

and this is my part of the gig now

i must sing this persons song for them now

in their words and mine which must and should intermingle

it has been delightful

that i have been able to use whole lines from the brief

ie someone has described something they wanted in the song

and lo! it has fallen into place for me as a complete line

of course like mk i am an artisan here

and i have twenty years on him working on my thing

and here i do my magic if i can

because somehow… these songs …some in particular are good

beyond any reasonable duty to be a good song for 1000 hard earned bucks

yes you expect a good song for that and youve a right to

youve trusted us to come up with something

something you cant even begin to imagine yourself

except you’ll know if its corny or unsuitable or condescending

i will admit now i have adopted other singers approaches more here

you see i am an artisan myself too in this regard as well

and i examine my palette of characters

to see who will sing each song

and i allow myself way more latitude than a normal song

because i am being commissioned to deliver something

for example i believe on albums like desire especially

bob dylan has a good way of approaching narrative lyric

a way of telling a story and certain techniques on many levels

the words themselves the timing the feeling of urgency etc

that strengthen and increase the songs ability to cast a spell

you know its just a singer and a song but somehow you are drawn in

the very best singers and songs draw you all the way in

until they are suddenly creating some actual magic

some intangible and beautiful resonance when it all adds up

mk and i are artisans at the service of any who can afford our expertise

of the 12 or 13 songs weve done so far i believe all but one hit the mark

ie the customers were satisfied (that is a gross modest understatement of course)

we tackled our brief

we got in the stuff they wanted

we got in the feelings and the possibility of personal touch

and then because we are such damn fine artisans

me and mk

weve accidentally come up with a few bona fide 4 minute gems

those people got lucky because some of them are brilliant songs

i mean i dunno what mk and i actually thought we would come up with

i knew theoretically we could make good on our promise of a decent song

listening to some of these however

we have delivered so much more something beautiful and moving too

the one crowd who were unsatisfied got their dough back from mk

they were opportunistic i believe

and could not possibly have complained unless they were ninnies

i recontextualised some mundane stuff and it sounded like lou or van

mk had the perfect music too

they got their money back

but they still had the song to use if they wanted

ironically they were well-to-do too..often it is that way

anyhow except for that we have succeeded in a nebulous gig

we have come up with some fantastic songs

and that in the end of the day

is really the main thing

and for me

it always will be

i know you know that

still i am very pleased at the success weve had

and i am genuinely pleased we can offer this to those who want it

a world class song

melodic concise intelligent and eminently listenable

we make it look easy

file under :

customized pop gems for discerning types

who want to commission a slice of genius for themselves.

results guaranteed

Steve Kilbey will be a guest on today’s “The Conversation Hour” with Jon Faine. Tune in on Tuesday 18th October at 11AM AEST to 774 ABC Melbourne as Steve will be on-air chatting to Jon and Guest host, Lior. STREAM LIVE:http://bit.ly/97G4Iq

For those that missed it – http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2011/10/18/3342607.htm

yet he

a famous actor feted luxuriantly in approaching china evening

why you all know the fellow : handsome but brainless

in his world not far from here

a different plane

hes spitting shakespeare and gargling ibsen

a marvellous play then that was set in eden

eve was played by dorothy gale

adam by  tolkien walker

yes i had a cameo as a cherub with a flaming sward

there was no internet at the euphrates cafe

the outside had no truck with the inside

the inside meanwhile looked out and shuddered

like the roman empire it was fun while it lasted

but here comes babylon the temple sluts flouncing along

israel saturated with convictions

gog and magog begin to condense within the storm

in one life i was pilate  slyly  questioning the christ

in the next i was improvising against a set theme of burlesque mayhem

wars and crusades knights and witches

the pope whispered burn those heathens and hells maw yawned wide

we just accepted everything like fools even though it was our world

on the threshold of hypnagogia

at the beginning of synaesthesia

(my lines come to me as if from a fog)

in one world a poet ,in another a madman

in one lane speeding ,in another standing still

i embody nobody so much as yourselves

gentlemen all we proceed in good faith (with our derringers cocked !)

but at night we strip away our clothes to reveal the pale monsters we really are

i must have a talk to my agent …he’s such a lazy type ……

my name is misspelled on the billboards in great cities you see

i was rather under the impression i was someone else

an impossible task and a scam of cosmic disproportion

i appear in the underworld and i wont be short of female companions

orpheus and his liar

marc bolans skull white strat

he was a celtic bard but atahualpa blocked the flow with his snow

and dionysius drop by drop rotting his muse from under him

i play someones brother from the aftermath which is finally ready

in no uncertain terms a bleak indictment of something or whatever it was

i measure my cloth against the majestic garment sky which terra dons at dawn

in some ways its easier to be a poet than anything else i suppose

an actor has to remember his lines but poets have forgotten everything

they stand around fountains gazing at fucking butterflies while actors toil

yes we toil and painters sweat it out in their fume of oil and hues

and musicians who must travel around

they beat on their drum they whistle their flute

the sculptor beating with hammer the face from the rock

the dancer limping and spraining a joint

long lonelinesses of authors doomed to be alone with their book

the magician must first juggle and cause rabbits to vanish

but what does a poet do but mutter his stuff

or write it down somewhere tho nobody cares

no director of drama no martyr to art

an actor i play yet another actor

a poet i sing the ether and wind

the christ was right

this is a bad time

kali yuga all over the place

in ten thousand years we will have a good laugh

things have a way of working out like that

i have been sent here by a time in your past

hired to impersonate a singer for a hypothetical position

the offer expired in spades during lent

and borrowed too we must not forget those forgotten items

the artist formally known as the time being is no longer extant

certainly not as you would understand it

he will henceforth be addressed as the time being

no italics no sandals no doubts no admission

all operators are probably having a cup of tea right now

its 12 28 and its raining; please dont jam the switchboard

nothing else moves on the streets

only poets and actors persevere into this dismal night

the actor plays a poet and the poet describes the actor

there has been no death of ego

there has been no opening left closure

actors and poets both have their lines , dont they…?

the actor may stumble

the poet may fall

the universe does not quake nor does the humble lamb

their god does not ever stoop to cruelty on their creatures

men are men and nothing more but sometimes often something less

brutes and fiends and devils abound

the ratbag and rake

the cad and the bounder and blackguard

the delinquent on fire in vandalistic self immolation

actors are required to represent them in films i guess

and poets who obliquely pour scorn

careful with their adjectives around old money

because the power  goes to the machines head

and the voltage enclosed in one mites life could light up andromeda

and i act out the one part of myself

and it goes on and on

until it collides with Eventually

A minor 7th

no mirror could reflect octobers grey eyes

no sky to hold its stars much less father a field

no meaning in its music which is birdsong and surf

no prophet in its sails no blue in its lagoon

no july in its june

no movement on earth as it hurtles ever on in darkness unmanned

no resistance to irresistible temptation …let it have us then

no scales to weigh good in one hand and evil in the other

no beautiful poem will shelter us from moloch or magog

too many words have been spilt already

too many warnings too many promises

too many times we wait until its too late

too late to tango too late to tangle with fate

too much bullshit not enough milk

too much fallout not enough bang

too much work not enough money

too much money not enough planet

too hot to be really cool anymore

too cool to be bothered  too detached to care

too soon too soon

soon the age of the elemental

soon the age of the child

soon the age you can fight in my  war

would you like one two or three…?

soon the fish will be hooking and cleaning themselves

soon the birds will fly away with the clouds

soon the east and the west will meet for dinner sometime

oh sorry it was all a mistake

oh good lets all be friends

oh thats all right for you

oh help me please i’m lost and alone

oh no i’m alright

i’m just a small boy on the wrong bus somewhere

its cold and raining outside

i feel the quiet and darkness

surround me like arms

out of body reply

despite impossibility infinity has been reached

time of its own accord with life on earth

a strange intelligence superimposes its will

subject to the moons position in your bed of sky

object to the verb to love

anger is the vermin feeding off my mind

lust is the entangler never far behind

but caution

we are beasts in magnetic fields

we are animals with our pinioned wings

we are cheetahs with the spots of dice

we are glad of our sadnesses

we dim starred galaxy spiral alien seeded superseded dna

my mama was a river in her mouth water reads

in medieval times the dog the cock the snake in the sack

the witches crucified by fire screamed the blues for jesus

the flames that consumed them burn somewhere still

death is a child that wanders a highway

gathering eons in its pale stiff fingers

what does it matter we all drown in time

and spat out somewhere further much further along

the ages move on they rise and they fall

they rise and they fall and they rise and they fall

one day and one night to brahma thats all

gnieb emit eht

the world turns on and on

us flawed humans with our skull full of blues

us semi angel dusk creatured in edenic double single

we half demon i am slim mr death in my mansuit of black

oh there is magic oh yes there really fucking is

wild disastrous coincidences abound

like mesosaurs in seas of possibilities

it appears that justice is hidden and random

the good die young

but could it be that that is actually a reward not a punishment….?

a mystery

theyre never gonna solve it either

cat and dogs will always fight

men and women will always break each others hearts

suspicion will exist between young and old

the ignorant will attempt to control the unknown

the genius will attempt to control the unknown too

so how can you tell em apart?

for every husband who loves my music

there is a wife who hates my groovy sounds

people are strange they are stark raving mad

dont count on numbers dont count on names

if you must call me something call me decider

my oh my how history will repeat

what did you learn from the last one million years

we are the idiots that nailed up jesus christ after all of us

and if he did not indeed exist than if he had

then we still would have nailed him

john kennedy john lennon bobby kennedy MLK

gandhi and witches and artists and intellectuals

and strangers and foreigners and everyone else

a crusade on anyone who might have a clue

or holding out on some possible secret

this wild scenario if you will

a substance found in the bark of a particular tree

which is found all over the world strangely enough in different forms

but essentially the same thing

is declared implicitly so evil that to possess it means you may go to jail

thats how bad it is

thats how bad they wanna protect you from its harmful effects

that it may or may not have on you

who are the clowns in this circus ?

who is so frightened of some arcane knowledge ?

who drowned brian jones in his bath of sleep?

who declares the god of natures gifts not fit for my use?

why do they give us vodkas and wars?

why do they take away sacraments and precious things?

anyway one day something will happen

we all wake up and we all get our day in court

i’m just following my mind here

my semantic hyper priming is valve bouncing

waves of neural electricity saturate my freak brain

jeff buckley in vision singing his sweet voice home

i invoke all spirits of song to fly to me

my command of our dead language is fading

i call upon indra the god of heaven :

send your daughter to earth again

the ghost music infringes copyright in the beyond

i’m rolling lucky tonight you will never know

i will fall

we all will

but not yet

not while my ride takes me out of shadows reach

before i come tragically undone

outdrawn by some hipster in deadwood

gunned up at sundown shot down shot gun bang

old and weak i will be eaten by the aunts who come out

hapless hopeless helpless alas and a lack

our understanding is faulty

our administering of pity …is it wrong…?

i abjure to my enchanted slumber

i will orchestrate a dream of such magnificent ambiguity

and lose myself in its perfect blur

detail from no details available

my mind is so stuffed full of things to say

but i dunno

what do you want to hear?

what do you need to hear?

what should i and what should i not tell you?

how private is privacy…?

how pirate is piracy…?

how normal is normalcy …? (i wouldnt know)

my mind so full of so many things

so many good things

more good things than i deserve….?

even that is tricky and interpretable

a guy asked me the other day

whether i thought i deserved my “success and longevity”

deserved is an ambiguous word here

well one could argue both ways…couldnt one…..?

i didnt deserve it because i’m an idiot

and i did deserve it because i’m a savant (or something)

suddenly i’m not sure about anything

strangely enough its not such a bad place to be

strangely i met a guy at the icebergs

dr gary yeah and he says are you a performer i heard you are

i says yeah

he says yeah you should come n see me n i’ll sort you out

i say yeah sure

i mean i am a sceptical cynical bastard

ive seen it all ive heard it all

dr gary says look i’ll give you a free 30 mins see what you think

ok yeah sure i say

dr gary sends me some e-brochures on his thing

of course i dont really read it properly

i never make an appointment i just forget about it

but lo n behold dr gary rings me up one day n says come in

come in for yer 30 mins free then you decide

ok i guess thats fair enough even to miserable pessi-mystics like moi

so i go along to see him one sat’day arvo here in the instant suburbs

i dont even know what part of my “performance” is gonna be improved

but fuck i could use some help right across the board

i mean it couldnt hurt ,could it?

so to cut a long starry shorts

and to let you in on what dr g does..

he stretches you open

more open than you probably ever been

like a kind of elizabethan rack thingy

and as hes opening your body

hes kind of whispering chanting affirmations

and verily it seems when you are truly open

when your framework is stretched to its maximum

then your unconscious or subconscious or something

receives and accepts incoming info

before dr g gave me my treatment he said perform something for me

so in his office i performed the 1st verse of the disillusionist

with all my moves and gestures

we start my free half hour

of course after 30 mins i say go on do the 90 mins

after its all over

he says do that song again for me

i do

and lo and behold

its so much better looser freer cooler opener deeper

wow dr g thats really neat….you have somehow helped my performing…

but wait….

theres more

dr g was telling me some other stuff as he stretched me

you know like “dont carry the weight of others burdens ”

stuff like that

yeah that sounds kinda obvious

but when hes got you stretched right out on one side

beyond anything i have experienced in say , yoga or osteopathy

in an almost  distressing kinda pain

then your heart listens to the words being sung n said to ya

and the words dr gary asks you to sometimes repeat after him

and it is kinda actualized

i dunno how but it is

and i walked outta there suddenly detached from a lot of malarkey

some people have been laying some stupid trips on me

suddenly thanks to dr garys treatment it didnt seem to matter

i’m just not worrying so much about all that bullshit anymore

he has released it from my breast somehow

i am detached from all the guilt trips and the power trips

i am in some subtle but deep way changed

and thus some serious conflicts now loom in my life to be resolved

and i must not jump in boots n all

but i am not gonna be put upon by the put upon-ers

and somethings gonna give

but it must happen whatever it is

because some people were clouding my better judgement

with anger and scorn and impatience and guilt

most of all guilt

and most of that guilt was not mine nor ever was

a veil has been lifted and i’m seeing things more clearheadedly

no longer tyrant or serf

i am setting myself free

things will change

i am entirely self sufficient

i need nothing from no-one artistically or morally

i am just a bloke neither good nor bad

so

i question all my loyalties

i see many have been misplaced

i question all my trust

i see what i knew all along

some is terribly misplaced

yet i am not disillusioned or even determined

not angry or anything

i am detached from the incredible mumbo jumbo

from the doggerel and the dogma….

f’rinstance…

i read an article in the paper the other day

some right wing conservative rag with some ignorant woman raving

a real redneck ignorant discourse on the uselessness of vegetarianism

a real 1950s commonsense and picket fence baloney christian dribble

normally i would have fumed …you know me…but

i just shrugged: good…eat meat then you stupid bint and pay the price!

yeah you can justify anything with a bit of conservative common sense

anyhow i digress

i am changed i am changing i will change

my performances since the treatments began have definitely been more fiery

and the entanglement of other forces in my life i have slipped off

i am ready to call every mothers bluff

enough is enough n i had enough

i aint getting even

i’m just gonna slip off

no one has any power over me any more

it wont work now…. look i am free….

i can paint on my own

i can write on my own

i can make records on my own

and believe me the next record i make on my own

well it will be all killer and no (hardly any)  philler

i aint the greatest guitarist or keyboardist playing live

but gimme a studio and i can work wonders

and gee i was recording myself and mixing myself

while some of my peers were still in the garage

figuring out how to play E

i got it covered

this is my specialty constructing songs

i can recreate a hundred different styles

yeah i got an encyclopaedic knowledge of musical tricks

i understand rock music and its mechanisms

this is my forte

i know the throb of bass

the patina and colour of guitar

the possibility of the keyboards

the gravitas of the piano

the prickle and crash of the percussion

what my voice can and cant do

i know how to add and subtract and layer and give sheen

i know my music and  i know how it should sound

maybe better than anyone

i know what i want and its unique

and its good too

rich and strange music that i make

it will evoke past and future

it will soothe and inflame

it will convey my reveries directly to your heart

if you want them of course…

i am quite pleased with the reaction to SKP

i am determined to eliminate as many middlemen as i can

none of them ever care the way i do

my ten year battle with heroin laid me low

i lost everything i had….. everything

and i was humbled

strangely i do not regret it

maybe because i never deserved it all to start with

someone once said i was just an idiot in a room with a tape recorder

to describe my early success on the charts in australia

oh boy yes it was so true

i was an idiot in a room with a tape recorder

not a true musician but a geeza fiddling about

seeming like he knew something and fluking a few songs

but i was a savant in a room with a tape recorder as well

never focus on one without thinking of the other please

they are equal in me

a real fucking idiot but a real fucking savant

i perceive the deep stuff

i see the implications i see the possibilities

i hear complex eternity in the simplest second

i have words pouring into my head pictures melodies

a direct feed from the collective human thingy

i can hold forth on almost any subject you like nonstop for 45 mins

try me… hire me for your next do

i just start up and i go and it all just happens

so i am at last feeling satisfied with myself

i have had a few defeats but i will prevail

it is my nature to do so

i will endure it and i will endure

all the anger and guilt in the world just rolls off my back

i know who is loyal

i know who is disloyal

i am at the service of my few true friends

all the rest i will avoid

i am determined to go out experimenting with what i can do

i did the opera house with an orchestra sold out  it was huge

in a few weeks im doing an italian restaurant to a tiny audience

can i bring as much integrity to it as i did to the o.h…..?

i am composing some music for a wonderful new australian film

i am appearing in melbourne as part of the writers festival

i have pieces i have written coming out soon in various forms

i am back in melbourne in march for “van park” the musical from last year

i am working on so many things

i have so much to do

ps 3rd good thing about dr garys treatment

it actually sorted out some muscular argy bargy happ’nin’ round my neck

so thats performance and attitude and bad back sorted out

not bad i’d say

my scepticism gone i am a believer in whatever hes doing to me

i wish i could afford to send some other people there

ironically the ones who need it the most would never probably go

a metaphor for life perhaps….

i forgot to mention this the other day

the garageband tracks i did last year will be being made available on SKP v. soon

they will be yours to have about and to hold in

life is strange my friends oh yes in spades

believe it

i recommit to my benefactors and believers

KLK, holly, kip, sam, martin k, jeffrey c, david r, sue c, john t……..

and my subscribers and readers

this next lot of stuff i dedicate to the dedicated as always and always it will be

maybe i aint a real renaissance man but i can do a good impression

i am the time being

and you will love what i come up with next

i absolutely guarantee it!

(or i’ll come round yer fucking house

and cook ya a nut cutlet….!)

st kilda back pocket

have been down in melbourne working on a short film

its called comeback

its about a rocker who quit the stage and is making a uh comeback

its pretty funny

a lot of hardish work too

doing things over and over for a good take

sorry i been neglecting the blog

my kids are here too

i been knackered every night

also the argy bargy continues to flow

ie i am under constant hassling from beyond my control

thank you sam for all your help

tomorrow drive back to sydney which’ll take all day

i think you guys will like this film i was doing down here

its pretty funny n about this old popstar bobby birdhouse

hes been away from show biz a long long time

he had this one mega hit ” the one hundredth and one girl”

sam sejavka is in the film as my faithful roadie snake

a lowlife layabout type but i love him addled as he is….

we  had some real magic between us going there….

ive always wanted to act with ss…

the other players were pretty fucking funny too

a hypochondriac daughter trying to take a new publicity shot

a metrosexual son i cannot stand pushing my buttons

a crazed granny groupie still following me from the old daze…

jesus……!

and a happy ending ……..

i guess

nice work keysie who wrote n directed this 14 minute blockbuster

i reckon it might do ok……

(oh i do like a spot of acting……..!)

anyway

see you in sydney tomorrow you wild crazy fools……

sk

the church

“Future Past Perfect Tour” December 2011

Performing three classic albums in their entirety

the church’s 30th Anniversary year has taken the band all over the USA and Australia with the induction in October 2010 into the ARIA Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.  In April 2011 the band played their “A Psychedelic Symphony” concert at a sold out Sydney Opera House with the 70-piece George Ellis Orchestra.

To conclude these celebrations the band are pleased to announce the Australian “Future Past Perfect Tour” in December 2011. The band will perform an album from each decade of their existence – the critically acclaimed Untitled #23, perennial fan favourite Priest=Aura and the iconic Starfish. In America the shows were rapturously received and reviews were outstanding. As this tour comes to Australia it is an opportunity to experience the past, present and future of one of Australia’s best and most intriguing bands.

Untitled #23 released in 2009 is widely regarded as a modern classic and has received glowing reviews from the music press, including an unprecedented 5 star review in Rolling Stone magazine. Priest=Aura (1992) has constantly been voted as a favourite of church fans over the years and Starfish (1989) is the album that put the church on the map in America. Starfish features along with The Blurred Crusade (1982) as one of two entries by the band in the “The Best 100 Australian Albums” book published in 2011.

The ticket price includes an exclusive A4 program featuring album and single sleeve artwork, selected lyrics and photographs of Steve Kilbey, Peter Koppes, Tim Powles and Marty Willson-Piper. This seated show will include two intermissions and will last for three and half hours with no support. Playing the albums in reverse chronological order the band ask you to simply close your eyes, sit back and join us on this special journey through the decades.

“Future Past Perfect Tour”

SUN 11^TH DEC WAVES Wollongong NSW (On Sale Now)

SAT 17^TH  DEC THE ENMORE THEATRE Sydney NSW (On Sale Now)

FRI 23^RD  DEC  & SAT 24TH THE POWERHOUSE Brisbane QLD (On Sale Now)

THU 29^TH DEC NORWOOD CONCERT HALL Adelaide SA (On Sale Date TBA)

FRI 30^TH   DEC THE FORUM Melbourne VIC (On Sale 24th October)

the church

“Future Past Perfect Tour” December 2011

Performing three classic albums in their entirety