The Time Being | Steve Kilbey

nemo

last night of musical was great

thanks

dunno when it will  be back again

i find myself wearier still than before

simultaneous need to rest and exercise

the wind is strong out there

summer has packed up n gone

a nippy little winter up ahead

my limbs heavy my head n heart too

i hear bad news about friends

this random and sometimes cruel world indeed

and its dips and dives

sooner or later

we all have to crash

vis a vis

so olde and tired

i end up in melbourne

ready to do 2 more nights of van park

come and see it for god sake

mechanics hall oakleigh fri and sat

it may be the final nights who can tell?

now im in a generic hotel cell

not the best or worst

everything muted

no fresh air available

ive done so much stuff lately

i cant even remember yesterdays name

or the music i made in some doped prism

i hurtle into the future nonetheless

hedges houses ditches

i write this and that

and things come together

fall apart

and yet some dream finds continuity in my sleep

where i’m hiding and persecuted in my underground

the traffic drones floors below my high room

mirrored in black glass that same old face

haggard rider of minds

diaspora of suburbia

ibis in glen waverly

tonight with vietnamese food

sam sejavka and john paul young

autumn rolls out of parks and drives

we go up to our rooms

and then sleep hits like a drug

and i dont care anymore

ive done my bit for a day

weary as weary can well be

goodnight

March 11 2013

March 11 2013

Regatta Point Stage

March 11 2013

Regatta Point Stage
Canberra

SETLIST:  Metropolis, Almost With You, Sealine, Reptile, Under the Milky Way, Block and The Unguarded Moment

Join our Facebook page – www.facebook.com/thechurchband

Regatta Point Stage, Lake Burley Griffin
Commonwealth Park, Parkes ACT

Subject to slight variations in time for any potential delays.

12.00pm    Royal Canberra Military Brass Band
1.00pm      George Ellis – Children’s Entertainment 1
2.00pm      George Ellis and Steve Kilbey
3.00pm      George Ellis – Children’s Entertainment 2
4.15pm       Machine Translations
4.40pm      Paul McDermott
4.55pm       Gadflys
5.25pm       Paul McDermott
5.45pm       78 Saab
6.15pm       Paul McDermott
6.30pm      Falling Joys
7.00pm      Paul McDermott
7.15pm       the church
7.55pm       Paul McDermott
8.00pm       Thom Buchanan Live Art Piece
9.00pm       Hancock Basement
9.30pm       Stateovmind
9.45pm       Fun Machine
10.15pm     Stateovmind
10.30pm    Super Best Friends

Free entry.

kil/ken i gloria excelsis

one of the best records i have ever worked on

you are everything

i loved our first minimalist outing

i thought our second one not quite so good as the first

but this….this….this is a magnificent collection

some people on here dont like me singing the praises of my other collaborators

feeling like “the church is my main axe why dont i just stick to that”

well as i said before

due to many many issues technical personal financial etc

there is no new church album

there still may be one day but really i wouldnt wait for it if i was you

i am telling you this new K/K album is as good as U23 as good as P=A

and even better in some ways…

first of all the sound

simon fucking polinski has given this record a sheen a gloss a depth

its like his whole life has lead up to mixing this

talk about lush talk about luxurious talk about organic

there is a cast of thousands

strings percussion backing vocals woodwinds pianos

i’ll grant you one thing there is no electric guitar interplay a la church

i know some of you love that more than anything else

martin kennedy is no jimi hendrix …ok

what he is is an amazing musical composer

hes taken a great leap forward between this and  “white magic”

an architect of song now

this mild mannered genius disguised as martin kennedy

has wrought 11  sonic masterpieces ; an honour to sing on them

this is like the blue nile or like talk talk or steely dan or something

not in sound but in the intelligence and love and maturity

it deserves to be number one around the whole world

its universal its personal its spiritual its for everyman

hard to believe that we even made this disc

that he came up with this music

that i came up with these words

it will be almost impossible to top this

where after all can you go after something like this

i want to excite you

i want to enthuse you

i want to make you quiver in anticipation

as i deliver possibly my best singing and lyrics

you want word play ?

you want songs where every line is a little fucking gem?

you want resonant deep soft notes and distant high choirs?

you want drugs and sex and love and death and god and all that jazz?

its no longer a pop record

it is beyond that narrow focus

we have stumbled on a universe of beauty here martin n i

not just one of the best records i ever made

one of the best records ever made period.

yes its that good

here is a track by track preview

the record starts with i wouldnt know

a dialogue with the devil

a chat to the cynical doubting darkness

super melodic as is the whole album

backing vocals la ooooh ooooh

pianos bent out of shape

the singing becomes higher and more plaintive as it goes on

wonderful stuff

next up is everyone

kinda like the title track

(but why do i think that)

it starts with that familiar old aussie/english voice

gruff doing a kinda kilbey rap

bitching about everything

the way only a white hippy elijah can

blaming god and even wondering if he exists

a girls voice comes in

“dear father send me money ”

more existential rapping and bitching

then a lovely oboe solo weaves in and out of nylon guitar

and then

and then martin pulls off his trick

where half way through a song changes gear and morphs before our eyes

this happens 3 times on this record

and every time its a corker

but here the shift is incredible

blinded by the holy light

everything swept up in the majestic strings

the prophet suddenly sees his god everywhere

(you are everything)

“hold on youre everyone” he exclaims

and did you ever really hear my voice sounding better than this

i havent

this is real singing

expressing the wonder and hurt of this world

everything swells up around my voice

repeating that simple phrase

the girl joins in

(leona gray)

she sings unison harmony and octave

and the mellotron strings pile in upping the ante

abloodymasterpiece!

lorelei is a like martin getting in touch

with his inner shoegazer

a huge dreamy soaring chorus

punctuated with twisted darker verses

you’ll hear my voice fucked with and fucked up

i like that

amongst the organic crooning

is some real electro babble

so may it be and so may it rock!

knowing you are in this world

a simple slow song

like spending the afternoon in a quiet monastery garden

or remembering someone who’s gone

or laying your world at someones feet

hushed reverential

you can almost smell the holy roman incense

i find  

weird song

a song about a tourist in trouble

hows this for a clever chorus?

“in brazil the eyes of love are on you

imbecile the highs are right above you”

ive done a remix of this one for the double cd

East side West side

a song of philosophy and hedonism

the second song that changes in the middle

martins music taunt threatening

so often reminding me of low/heroes

indeed david bowie is the godfather of much here

eno n berlin and all that

martin n i both revering krautrock its only natural

but this one is the most germanic of all

and then it changes

and the teutonic stuff all comes back in spades

man i wish i was in Cologne

“its so funny

the clowns that surround you

do you proud”

a better day

bewildered lost dislocated song

strings drifting along

a simple poignant song

always melodic always organic

all the world

starts simply strummed

but evolves into a revolving door of sound

strings and whispered voices come in

echoing things and electro spirit voice

then for the third time a song changes into another

and intersects with itself again

the strings bend in a seasick swoop

cymbals clash and drum machine starts up

effortless crossing merging styles

this is every good “adult contemporary” record you (n)ever heard

brother moon sister sun

a commissioned song martin fell in love with and couldnt let go of it

so he decommissioned it n brought it back in the fold

and its a rousing corker too

with anthemic chorus etc

it deserves to be here after all

cant get free

k/k go prince someone has already said

and who am i to disagree

sexy taut and terrific

one of my real faves!

finale

a twisted creepy little ender

scenes of a distant childhood

or some mad person in a garret?

ooh how strange……

so there you go

you are everything

to me and martin kennedy

—————————-

CD purchases are available here http://thetimebeing.com/shop/music/you-are-everything-cd/

Digital downloads here http://stevekilbey.bandcamp.com

gds gibson

you know

one thing i realised

is that you guys want me to write about music

more than anything else

after all thats why youre here

so i’m gonna write about music for a while

i’m gonna write about what i know about

and thats my own music

on that i am at least an expert

lemme see

i first encountered music at an early age

music seemed really important to my father

he constantly sang musics praises to me

we listened to the radio together on drives around town

and he talked to me about what he heard

and of course he could play the piano

its his birthday tomorrow

he woulda been 90 i think

anyway

it was certainly inculcated in me that music was a very good thing

i spent a bit of time thinking about music

when the beatles hit i was 9

and after that i was up and running

i wrote a couple of songs in my head at age 10 or 11

they were ok i guess i was certainly no mozart

i took piano lessons but fell out with my teacher

when she wanted me to play classical stuff only

i wanted to learn something i liked

“march militaire” was the final straw i s’pose

some stiff old boring fussy racket

i wanted to play paperback writer or paint it black

so

me and her parted ways regretfully

she said i had the makings of a good pianist

but my idiot/savant brain was going somewhere it didnt like

it never had, it never has , it never will (good name for a song)

so at age 16 i became obsessed with the bass guitar

(who wouldnt?)

master this plank and youre cool i thought

eventually through much trial n error i learnt to play the bastard thing

the mystery of music revealed itself little by little

how it kinda worked and all that stuff

i learned about chords and keys and riffs and basslines

i learned about amps and guitars and PAs and microphones

i learned about choruses and verses and codas and intros

i learned about timing and majors and minors and sevenths and suspended 4ths

i learned about vibrato and tremolo and muted palm ostinato

speeding up n slowing down and volume and tone and sustain

and haircut and clothes and boots and attitude

and booking gigs and moving gear and being on the road

and all that jazz my friends

in the end i got lucky i guess

at the relatively late age of 25

i formed the church

peter k would be an asset to any musical endeavour

but for the church he was essential

already at 24 a beautifully accomplished guitarist

who already was thinking outside the box

it didnt hurt at all our chances that he was tall n good looking either

i was lucky to know him

the 1st drummer i was not so lucky to know

that was a bad move to have him

marty came along and i knew he was right tho

ploogy came along and the puzzle was solved

and then tim when ploogy was tired of drumming

one would have to consider oneself lucky

to know these characters really

and this kind of luck cant be fabricated

i was furiously writing songs

just going for it!

the initial burst of success made me write even harder

a revolving cast of characters often including russell k

and members of his band were there in the room

i produced songs out of thin air for all to hear

i was lucky to have this gift

altho many watched me do it

few could reproduce it

i could spot a good thing for a song a mile off

the smallest sound sent me off

it still does

i am always on the lookout for a spark for a song

i could spot things no one else ever seemed to hear

some feeding back echo

some drum thing

some chord or some word or some name

i guess i was a born to do this

i used to think this was random

but after so long so many people have assured me of the pleasure

they enjoy upon hearing my songs

i am forced to conclude it was meant to be

ive made some people happy here in this world

just an awkward  skinny oaf from canberra ACT

i was writing stuff that made people happy

i got paid quite well too

i never made a huge fortune

but i did alright considering it was music

defying all odds and predictions

i made money out of my music

of course by the time this was happening

i was embroiled in my soap opera

LSD trips , swedish girlfriends,

getting signed and dropped and signed and dropped

imagine how it feels getting dropped by a label

pretty fucking bad i tell ya like getting sacked from a job

we spent months in studios recording

we were big in london n new york and briefly even europe

gee i lost myself somewhere in there

we had millionaire managers with rocks of coke and swimming pools

malibu here we come

the fragrant bud the burning nostril the free guitar

restaurant on cafe on snort on drink on smoke on girls

interviews and tourbuses man

famous friends and gullible geese

motels and airports and truckstops and bars

then wham

adulation comes

oh steve you are my hero oh steve you are my man

are you serious

fuck yes look they are…!

these people will do anything for you man

how will you handle that then?

will you pass the test?

probably not…i’d say….

still the music

glowing reviews awful scathing ones too

gets confusing to oscillate between best n worse

too bad theres a photo shoot and a interview

youre late for dinner now old boy

youre letting down your friends

youre too thin or putting on weight

wait youre looking old now

wait youre looking ok

wait theyre not opening the curtains for another ten minutes

wait! they need to rewind the tape

all the time producers engineers agents roadies managers girlfriends wives children breakups

steve come n meet the folks from blah blah records

steve come n meet the folks from hoo hah records

arguments by the tons

everything was arguments where we was eating or staying or playing

you can well imagine

the little blips we get on here is nothing

i am immured to it all

cock? cunt? ive been called that in about 23 languages and 7 dialects

poser wanker donkey and ass

they called me good things too

but i refused to believe any of it

i am a lucky bloke

i led a good life and i met some nice people

i played my music without fear or favour

i hardly ever compromised my music for anything

my music isnt like that

you cant really compromise it or it will die or wither or something

ha ha

so theres some insight into my music

i’m not what anybody thought i was really

neither good or bad

i was lucky and persistent

i had some good DNA from my dad in regards to music (and painting)

i knew some good people

i was in the right place right time (sydney 1980)

cos it was just blossoming into something intense

never before had so many bands jammed so many punters

into so many venues

the church were picked up and hurled along with this explosion

we have survived luckily but for how much longer?

who can tell?

theres some more insight

it isnt up to me all the time

i dont cause everything or not cause everything

still here we are 2013

i rock on regardless

i know that idyllist and skins n heart are miles apart

somehow i reckon tho the 25 year old me would have liked it

i’m still carrying the flag for whatever it is

i love music still

my obsession is tempered but my ardour is strong

the songs were all out there

i just perceived em first

love is a good thing

sk bondi march 2

rain i dont mind

putting up a new blog

but nothing much to say

been doing some interesting work

had a few things to sort out which maybe are sorted now

life is bizarre

a slender thread holding us all here

i have much on horizon

some tv some live stuff

some of this n some of that

and a bit extra on the side

greg dulli has been in sydney writing songs with me indeed

we certainly have got some good stuff

it is has been a great productive time

the comments wars rage on :

i write a free blog with no strings attached

the same old couple of complaining blokes..

again i ask: why stay around to complain?

please depart with my blessings !

i guess most of the people here like my stuff

why hang around hammering the point?

it only indicates the intensity of your own obsessions

that you rail against the old geeza you once loved….but now….?

you have been slighted by your former hero…my my how sad it is?

you bought all his records to “support” him too….

so the sensible thing is to go your separate ways, right?

unfortunately this is my blog

you tend to forget that

so you must go off elsewhere i suppose

off to anonymity where no one will read your tawdry predictable vitriol

let me re-iterate again:

you can sign any name you like to your infatuations gone wrong

but i know who you are and where you live by virtue of the IP address

its not like the old blog on gmail

this one can let me see exactly where the stuff originates

handy, huh?

normally i wouldnt bother to check

why would it interest me that someone came from ,say, pensacola FLA?

nonetheless things must be slow down there

even if you drive to atlanta and back (say)

anyway i love my mugs

they are big and impressive and ive heard nothing but good things

whats wrong with bags and mugs merch ?i ask

beatles stones zepplin they all got it

so the mugs stay and the obsessive ninnies go i say

maybe to not print their tiresome twaddle anymore…?

dont give them a place to air their melodramatic imaginary grievances ?

no i shouldnt anymore…

many have written to me privately and asked me to refrain from printing their bilge

yet i have been mindful of always showing the downsides of things

the downsides of drugs? addiction! ruin! the downsides of music? deafness. record company ripoffs.

the downside of fame and adulation?

well here they are

now hopefully departed

not even reading these words they have already gone into that good night, havent they?

havent they?

i bet we aint really seen the end of em tho

(sigh) (yawn)

NO PEEKING NOW BOYS!!!

oh ha ha ha ha ha ha ha HA!!!!!

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=22dc050b415f7b7ab31543d28&id=4beaea5599

Includes : Canberra concert information, SMH article link ‘The Fire & the Fury’, interview with Tim Powles + links to iTunes, ReverbNation etc

the church will headline a concert in Canberra next month, the 11th of March, as part of the capital’s 100th birthday celebrations. This is a free open air event around Lake Burley Griffin on the Regatta Point stage. The concert will commence around 4pm on the Regatta Point stage and continue into the night. This stage will pay tribute to a perhaps unexpected aspect of our nation’s capital: a rich history of original contemporary music. A display of rock history and memorabilia will show that Canberra is home to far more than politics. The program of entertainment will include the church and reformed Canberra bands such as The Gadflys, The Falling Joys, 78 Saab and Machine Translations.

http://www.oneverybigday.com.au/program/regatta-point-stage/

http://www.canberra100.com.au/calendar/view/486/regatta-point-stage/

The George Ellis Centennial Ensemble

http://www.oneverybigday.com.au/program/for-kids/

“In the early afternoon, the audience is invited to participate with a group of professional orchestral musicians on stage by teaching them a simple tune from the Under The Milky Way chorus by the church. Everyone can join in with voice or play their own instruments brought to the concert. Then perform the song in entirety with Steve Kilbey singing – the audience, on cue, play the pre-learned melody at the appropriate place in the choruses”

boom sha la la lo

ok

mystery guest artist may or may not arrive tomorrow

lets hope so

i’m all set to go 1 2 3

have  done a rehearsal for musical reprising in melbourne in march

during the festival of suburbia

am almost finished doing a re-mix of a kil/ken song called “i find”

my first ever re-mix…not as easy as i first thought

you got all the bits n pieces n you can assemble any way you like

so much choice

no responsibility at all

just do whatever you like

you think itd be easy wouldnt you

it is i guess if you just do the usual old thing…

meanwhile my concert with george ellis n orchestra is set for 21 sept.

i will also be doing something with george n ork at canberra gig 11 march

the church will be there too

(cue strains of the last time )

the idyllist should be with you soon

i apologise for the delays

i am very happy with the response so far..believe me…

so next up is the extraordinary “you are everything”

when you hear it you will know what i mean

unlike the hodgepodge nature of idyllism

you are everything is a deep hard blast of seriously “heavy” music

nothing jolly or breezy here

you will  find intensity brilliance darkness and light

from the beginning to the end holding you rapt

it is not anything like what went before with albums one or two

here we emerge as equal masters of our domains

martins music and what he has achieved here is stunning ….

no one saw this coming certainly not me these huge epic songs

epic in their solitary quiet spirituality or their orchestrated grandeur

more low/bowie/eno influence that german sound and feeling

have my words ever been better? my voice more smooth and sometimes more chilling?

the melodies the arrangements the intent

you are everything

in a new league of its own

probably one of the best 3 records i ever worked on

i dont say it lightly!

elegant elegiac modern classic strange

turbulent disturbed and yet so fucking lovely

yeah i know i can blow my own horn

but just wait till you hear this

an album of pop songs yes and much much more than that

an album that charts the struggle of the soul

an album of fragility regret and repentance

an album of top class numbers every single on of em

so thats coming

april i believe with show in melbourne too

and …

yeah…

i’ll keep you all informed as it all starts to pan out

sk