The everything you ever wanted to know about The Church but were afraid to ask thread

[blueeyedgirl]

I'll include that cover when I get the bootleg for you.




I like them too. I like seeing the normal human side, and it doesn't really get much more normal than those photos. I mean just about everyone has similar photos when they were young. Kid sitting in his room playing his guitar, little kid standing there for a snapshot.

I still really like getting the human side. About SK, I find it interesting knowing that his mum still tells him what to do (lately it's been "do the nostalgia tours" ), and that he still ignores her. That his brother comes over and looks at a group of paintings he's just done and is really pleased with and says "you should change your signature" and that's it (siblings! ). That he worries that his teenaged daugthers will run into "guys like me!" That he was thrilled to see a baby octopus in the kiddie pool where he goes to swim every day. That when a small group of us fans sent him some gifts for his birthday he was so excited and happy. He said it was like Christmas when he was little -- when you'd get fun, exciting gifts, "not just socks and undies," which for some reason made me laugh really hard.

All things that are so completely normal... And yet, I can't even imagine being able to come up with the songs and poetry he does. Makes for a fascinating dichotomy.

You mentioned SK's brother. That's a blast from the past. His brother had a band too, the Crystal Set. I can't seem to remember his name, though.

 

[indra]

You mentioned SK's brother. That's a blast from the past. His brother had a band too, the Crystal Set. I can't seem to remember his name, though.

Yeah! Russell. He has two brothers -- Russell and John. Russell is the who made the comment though.

I really enjoy the Crystal Set stuff I've heard. I think some is supposed to be rereleased sometime (just on the tiny Karmic Hit label John runs, but I'd like that anyway).

John also had a band, The Bhagavad Guitars. I like some of their work as well. But I like the Crystal Set better.

 

[indra]

Sometimes, I like to know where a musician is coming from when I listen to the music, particularly when someone is not straight rock and roll. (Like, I don't really need to know where the Stones are coming from. I like their music, I just don't feel the need to go much beyond that--although some background on their slower stuff was interesting).

Sometimes the worst person to explain the music is the musician. I've loved a song, heard a musician explain it and could never listen to it the same way again. But when you can pick up on references in songs because you know something of the musician's background, that's pretty cool. I love finding the pieces of the puzzle.

So anything you can dig up on "Box of Birds" would be appreciated.

The Church very rarely put the lyrics on their albums (a few of the early ones have them, but none of the later ones). And part of it, at least according to SK (who is the main lyrics guy) is that he found he found he enjoyed albums he had to work out the lyrics for himself more than ones where they were just given to him. And he rarely tells what a song is supposed to be about either, for much the same reason. So many Church songs have as many meanings as there are fans.

And part of the reason the lyrics don't get put on the albums is that he's a lazy sod.


In looking for info on BOB, I found an interview where SK mentions Neil Young (and a few others). He was talking about being an older musician. (I put up the link to this interview early in the thread, but the interview was really long -- they talked for nearly two hours -- so I doubt anyone read very much of it, if any.) I though you might find it interesting.

SK: And I think that the only gimmick I really have now is to be one of the few guys, and there are some others, but to be one of the very few guys who actually is getting better as he gets older, as you would expect someone to do at any given profession. I think I probably said this in another interview but if I was a doctor or an architect, I would expect at fifty I would be right at the peak of my powers. And I don't see any reason as a musician, or a songwriter, or a lyricist, or a singer that that shouldn't apply in the same way. The only strange thing is that people are kind of noticing it, and kind of talking about it, and that just shows how weak the other people were who got worse as they got older, and what suckers they were, and that they weren't real to start with. It was all just an act. And only the real guys -- the Dylans, and the Cohens, and the Neil Youngs, and hopefully I can move into this as I get older...it would be the genuine article. The people who are doing it for the love of what they do, and because they felt they had something to give, not because they were like -- I don't know, the Psychedelic Furs, or fucking Howard Jones, and Culture Club, sort of trotting around endlessly doing a show of their moment in the sun.

HS: Right.

SK: That was never my idea. It was probably never their idea, but after a while, I don't know, a funny thing seems to happen in rock n' roll with people -- they run out of ideas. [Heather laughs] They do! And I read your [review] today, and you said I sang it better now than I would have ten years ago, and that's absolutely true. But there's not a lot of people you can say that for. If you took Rod Stewart and you go no, no, no, the further you go back [both laugh] the better and better he was singing. But why is that? Why does that happen? Why do they lose their...verve? I don't know.

HS: There's a memory I have from the tour for After Everything Now This, watching sound check in Philadelphia. One of your girls was very upset, because her dad had to go up on stage and do sound check, and I remember you singing to her from the stage. It was this cute little song for her, and then you promptly went into "I Wanna Be Your Dog." [Steve laughs] And I remember thinking it was the perfect example of balancing that contrast -- because I think that is where a lot of people do get in trouble with rock music, as far as performers go; being the Rolling Stones and trotting around acting like you're still twenty-five when you're --

SK: Sixty!

HS: -- you're past that, yeah.

SK: There's nothing wrong with being sixty, as long as -- like, the other night I was watching that movie Troy, which is a terrible movie, but there's a few of the old kings in it, [and] I'm starting to check out old guys and thinking 'How do you get old?' And there were some old guys in that, sixty-odd type dudes, and they were totally cool, you know, they had white thinning hair and white thinning beards, but they had the bearing and experience that is just as important, and is a counterpoint to the glowing beauty of youth. And it's unnatural when you're sixty not to be sixty, but sixty doesn't have to be entertainment, and it doesn't have to be some washed-out, bloated old parody. I can't see why -- and as I say, Dylan or Neil Young, you don't see those guys -- they still fucking got their bite, if they want to have it, and they've still got their edge, and I don't see why you couldn't have it at ninety. I don't see why it has to be a thing that can only be connected with youth. I mean, actors can be good when they're old.

HS: Right.

SK: I don't know, I guess I'm... [Laughs] Why am I going on and on about this?

HS: Well, obviously, you have a milestone coming up this year, and it's on your mind because you've been talking about it for twenty minutes, referencing it -- how do you feel about turning fifty this year?

SK: You know, I'm kind of welcoming it because I like I said, now I've got a real gimmick. [Heather laughs] No, it's a real gimmick -- I'm fifty, but I rock! I fucking rock, baby! Give me a guitar and a band, and I'll go on stage and I'll rock. And I still can. But it's not stupid. I've figured out a way to do it. It doesn't have to be, "Oh, little mama!--" [Heather laughs] " -- with your tight jeans on!" That's silly, when you see a guy at fifty doing that. But when you see a guy at fifty come on like you see Dylan or Neil -- I mean, they're way past that now. Nick Cave, he's a little bit younger than me -- he's pushing fifty, though -- and when he sings his songs it isn't ridiculous because they can come from a twenty-year old man, or they can come from a fifty-year old man, do you know what I mean? And Leonard Cohen, and...There's a few, I guess. I think John Lennon maybe could have been one as well, you know, sort of resisting the bullshit of it all. Kind of staying where you always were: independent, and not believing the imbeciles around you, telling you to do this and do that.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

Yeah, that's it! Indra, is there nothing you don't know???

 

[indra]

Yeah, that's it! Indra, is there nothing you don't know???

Well... I did title this the "everything you ever wanted to know" thread....

And all my useless information has to go somewhere....

I don't think I know either Russell's or John's birthdays....

 

[indra]

Ooohh... if you think SK comes off as a cranky old bastard, you need to read this from MWP...cranky not-quite-as-old bastard. But I do agree with him...and it is certainly what The Church has done.

VR: How has the Church evolved since the popularity explosion of "Under the Milky Way"?

MW-P: Well, as with any good band, you evolve away from it. Most of the bad groups stay with it and then split up because of their lack of an imagination. I think more of the interesting groups usually jump away from the commercial aspects and get into a more experimenting or interesting place. I think that is what we do. Some people say that we are mad because we could have cashed in more on our success. But we can’t because we are not those people – we are just the confused idiots that we are. That’s all that we can be. And if people don’t like us as confused idiots then they should get on with liking the controlled, pretend-to-be-confused idiots like Limp Bizkit, who run around like they are completely out of control, but they are really rich and sitting around really planning their f@#$%ing world takeover. We have never done that. We are not here to take over the world, we are here for people to come to us on our level, uncommerciably and like what we do. If they don’t like it, then we don’t care and they can go. We are not here to impress the world about how successful we are and how many people we can play to. We are here to make the music that we want to make. We are lucky enough to be able to have done that. I wouldn’t be Poison for all the tea in China.

 

[blueeyedgirl]

 

[BonosSaint]

Thanks for the interview.

 

[VertigoGal]

Thanks for the files indra!

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I'll include that cover when I get the bootleg for you.

Oh, cool ! Thanks .

Mike Nesmith was my fave, he went on to write some pretty cool songs on his own, very funny guy.

My mom loves his solo work. When we were visiting Iowa last month, we went to a used CD store, and she found some CD of his there and got it. I've heard a few of his solo songs...yeah, they're not too bad .

Originally posted by reptile
And of course his mother invented liquid paper

Yep. Needless to say, I don't think he's really hurting for cash nowadays.

indra, my mom and I used to watch the Monkees' shows together when I was little, too-they'd be showing reruns on TV or we'd rent the videos or something (and now my mom has a box set of their episodes, so we watch them that way. Told ya she's a fan).

Angela

 

[indra]

Thanks for the files indra!

I just sent a few I already had ripped to my pc. I'll send you a few more over the next day or two -- it took a lot longer to upload than I expected.

 

[indra]

So anything you can dig up on "Box of Birds" would be appreciated.

Found a couple of interviews where the making of BOB was discussed a bit. They aren't exactly calculating in their methods of album making...

This one was with Tim, the drummer/producer.

HD: When choosing songs to be on the cover album Box Of Birds, what songs didn't make it on the album and why?

Tim: It was a bit of hit and miss accidental sort of thing with the band. In some ways, it was the first ten they could learn are the ones they picked out. You have to try and steer the ones you think are right into that first batch. If someone starts playing a song just off the cuff, and it's not a song you think should be in the pool -- you have to stop and discuss it immediately -- otherwise chances are that it will be in there. It's a bit like doing the live show actually.

HD: I've noticed that. Sometimes the songs are right on the money and sometimes you're almost negotiating on stage as you're getting ready to do songs.

Tim: When most of our negotiating is being done, it's not always happy.

HD: There's so much material to chose from (The Church songs and otherwise)...

Tim: Yes, too much...

HD: Maybe that's why the song All Too Much is on A Box Of Birds then...

Tim: We're not playing it live, because we feel that on the record it works with all the percussions and overdubs and things -- but live it's just a big dirge. (On Box Of Birds) we were trying to find a balance of songs they had done before -- it really wasn't suppose to be a cover album, just songs that they had done before. [ indra note: I'm not quite sure what the hell he means with that very last bit... ]

Still Tim, but from a different interview:

Powles, who has been with The Church since 1994, has emerged as a creative visionary force who backs the band in roles of production and mixing. He said the band had tinkered around with Mott The Hoople’s “All The Young Dudes” on last year’s tour and planned to record it as a single for fan club members. Covering songs such as Neil Young’s “Cortez The Killer” and the ’70s punk band Television’s “Friction” is something the band had thought about doing for years, but it didn’t happen until the band came together for recording sessions for “Box of Birds,” Powles said.

“After recording these, suddenly it didn’t seem like an album by The Church at all,” he said. “From a distance, I suppose it sounds more like us more than we think.”

And an interview with MWP (who goes off on a lot of tangents....):

VR: Why did you guys decide to do an album full of cover tunes?

MW-P: Originally, we were going to record a live album and we then were going to put out a covers record through the fanzine. But we decided not to release the live album because we didn’t like it. So the record company said you have to release a record then……..because they were expecting a record from us. We said, "OK, why don’t we do another eight songs for the covers records and turn it into an album."

VR: There are a lot of interesting cuts on the album, one being Hawkwind’s "Silver Machine." Did you grow up listening to Hawkwind?

MW-P: Oh yeah, I was at the concert – the famous Space Ritual concert which was recorded in Liverpool and London (Space Ritual was Hawkwind’s breakthrough 1973 live album). I was actually at that concert as a teenager.

....... and a bit later in the interview:

VR: You play Neil Young’s "Cortez the Killer" on Box of Birds. Do you think Young is the Godfather/Grandfather of Grunge?

MW-P: It’s not fair to label him with that. He is the grandfather of folk as well, then. Just because he rocks and he is over 50 doesn’t make him cooler than the fact that he plays beautiful acoustic songs. The kids want to like someone over 50 because he rocks. That is just stupid. Why does it matter if he rrrrrrrrooooooccccccccckkkkkks? We can rock after we turn 50 but so what. The big test is not winning the race but starting competing in it and surviving. It is doing what you feel like doing .

I particularly like it "it was the first ten songs they could learn" comment.... That's very Church-like.

 

[BonosSaint]

I particularly like it "it was the first ten songs they could learn" comment.... That's very Church-like.

The perfect garage band.

They sound like a lot of fun.

 

[BonosSaint]

OK, dumb basic questions.

How long have they been together? (May have been answered earlier but I couldn't find it)
Are they an extensive touring/live performance band?

 

[indra]

OK, dumb basic questions.

How long have they been together? (May have been answered earlier but I couldn't find it)
Are they an extensive touring/live performance band?

The formed in 1980. Three of the guys -- Steve, Peter and Marty -- are original members (although Peter took a break from 1992 to 1997 even though he did play on and helped write several songs on their 1996 album). Tim (the drummer/producer) did some drumming for them in 1994, and pretty much joined the band shortly thereafter.

They've been touring all through those years. I've seen five of their shows and really enjoyed them (despite the dreaded "technical difficulties" on a couple nights). And I actually like some of their songs (especially some early ones like "You Took" and most MWP vocalled songs) better live than studio. You get more of a feel of how they play off each other when they play live. When Peter wasn't a member the tours simply consisted of MWP and SK on acoustic guitars though. Steve has said he didn't want to play Church songs with a full electric band wirhout Peter.

 

[BonosSaint]

Ah, but don't the technical difficulties make you feel you were really there?

 

[indra]

Ah, but don't the technical difficulties make you feel you were really there?

I don't really mind them. I mean I realize they are on a tight schedule with not much time to set up and sort everything out. On at least one night I saw them they had no soundcheck at all as they had to drive through a nasty snowstorm to get there (I drove through the same storm). It was a little rough at first, but they muddled through and it was an enjoyable show.

And the show I saw where they had the worst problems (mostly MWP, who actually walked off the stage and out of the venue) is the bootleg I listen to the most. Everyone except MWP was in a good mood and that really helped make for a fun show. I really enjoyed the banter and stories SK (with some comments by PK) told during downtime. The girl with the glass eye was classic....

The only sad thing is it could have been a hell of a cool show if MWP just didn't let the problems get to him that much (hell, it didn't sound bad at all really) and had showed the grace and humour the others did that night. But when you like a band full of cranky old bastards, you have to realize they are going to act like cranky old bastards once in a while.

 

[BonosSaint]

Went to a few "classic" concerts myself. David Crosby was performing solo at a little club in my town. This was before the liver transplant and apparently he was doing a little freebasing backstage. Well, the poor opening act had to keep on performing to an audience who was crowded in tightly and had nothing better to do than to drink. The opening act apparently thought a proper tribute to Crosby would be to play a Neil Young song he thought was Crosby's. Crosby finally came out to a hostile audience, played a little while, walked off stage when he wasn't getting the proper response after berating the audience. Came back, did a few more songs then left again, I assume to pick up where the freebasing left off.

(which reminds me of Neil's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where Led Zeppelin decided to play Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth" as the jam song with Neil. Neil jammed away, apparently getting a kick out of it. (It is a great song)

 

[indra]

LOL at the comment about his daughter, too.

Angela

Actually it's daughters. Very pretty, Swedish, twin daughters. Many men's fantasy, but a papa's nightmare.

Shortly after the original comment he added "I'm gonna send them to a convent!"

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Actually it's daughters. Very pretty, Swedish, twin daughters.

Ah, I stand corrected .

Originally posted by indra
Many men's fantasy, but a papa's nightmare.

Shortly after the original comment he added "I'm gonna send them to a convent!"

LOL. Sweet that he's looking out for them, though . Just hope he isn't too overprotective...kids generally don't like that .

Interesting bits about the covers album, too. Liked hearing how they kinda came up with the whole thing and their thoughts on the artists whose songs they covered .

Also...

He said the band had tinkered around with Mott The Hoople’s “All The Young Dudes” on last year’s tour and planned to record it as a single for fan club members.

There's a guy I know at another board who's a HUGE Mott The Hoople fan. I wonder how familiar he is with the Church, if he knows they covered one of their songs? ...

Angela

 

[indra]

For the 200 th post in this thread (I told you at the beginning of the thread I could discuss this band incessantly, didn't I? ) I found a more detailed telling of how SK writes lyrics and some record company (had to be Arista) exces responded to it. These comments were taken from a question and answer session at a songwriters workshop he was part of. After the Q&A session he played an acoustic set which was released and Acoustic & Intimate.

Yeah spur of the moment's how I write them all. That's a funny thing too because I remember we were making this album in America and we had all these backing tracks, and these American guys were going, "Well, where are the fucking lyrics man?" and I was saying "I don't know. I'm just going to write them." "What do you mean, you haven't fucking written them yet." And it's like, does it matter if I write them now or? it's going to take me five minutes to write them and it's just as likely I'll write them tomorrow as a week ago and they're like, "What are you just going to make 'em up?" and it's like "Well what do you think..?

[makes you wonder where they thought lyrics came from, doesn't it? Maybe they believe in the lyrics fairy. ]

And for your reading pleasure, MWP talking about Britney Spears.

"Really, who would want to have sex with Britney Spears?" Willson-Piper asks. "She's a young, silly girl with too much money. You want somebody with a bit of experience and depth. When I see Britney Spears, I just want to buy her an ice cream and pat her on the head."

 

[reptile]

From 'The Australian review' Aug. 20-21
Band: The Panics
Album: Sleeps like a curse
Perth-born The Panics weave an enduring, timeless web of music, with threads that link 1960's pop such as that of The beatles and The Byrds...........Atop it all is singer Jae Laffers deadpan purr, sounding much like The Churches Steve Kilby..........

 

[indra]

Hmmm... no surprise then that The Panics were the opening band for several of The Church's 2003 shows on their Australia tour.

Just looking over Church fan reviews of the shows they opened and they seemed well received (except at one show where most people missed the opening acts to watch rugby on the TV in the foyer -- about which SK said to Tim, "don't mention that VILE game on stage." ).

 

[indra]

Interesting bits about the covers album, too. Liked hearing how they kinda came up with the whole thing and their thoughts on the artists whose songs they covered .

Angela

Speaking of covers....Rick Springfield recently did a covers album (said the songs were one's he wished he'd written). One of those songs is Under the Milky Way. I've neve much cared for Rick Springfield, but at least he showed good taste there.

 

[indra]

Went to a few "classic" concerts myself. David Crosby was performing solo at a little club in my town. This was before the liver transplant and apparently he was doing a little freebasing backstage. Well, the poor opening act had to keep on performing to an audience who was crowded in tightly and had nothing better to do than to drink. The opening act apparently thought a proper tribute to Crosby would be to play a Neil Young song he thought was Crosby's. Crosby finally came out to a hostile audience, played a little while, walked off stage when he wasn't getting the proper response after berating the audience. Came back, did a few more songs then left again, I assume to pick up where the freebasing left off.

(which reminds me of Neil's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where Led Zeppelin decided to play Stephen Stills' "For What It's Worth" as the jam song with Neil. Neil jammed away, apparently getting a kick out of it. (It is a great song)

Now that sounds like an interesting show! Certainly makes for a great story to tell. What I always wonder is do people enjoy those shows -- I mean it's most likely not quite what you expected, but was it still fun? Do you still think you got your money's worth? And would you consider seeing him again?

The show I got where MWP was such a prick wasn't all that bad -- really they only dropped two songs and the others were in really great moods so they kept it fun. But if MWP had been on I really think it could have been a corker of a show, and that's a bit sad.

A Church show I didn't get to see (but do have the bootleg of) is one in NYC in 1999. When they came out on stage there are only three of them (actually it's possible only MWP came out at first...), and MWP tells the crowd "We have a bit of a problem. We have no Steve." And they would not be having any Steve at all that night as Steve was otherwise occupied (see below). Well they blundered through a fairly short show, with lots of solo MWP stuff/Church songs with MWP on vocals -- I think only MWP really wanted to play -- with their tour manager/roadie playing bass on a few songs. Lots of Marty talking to the crowd too. The crowd did seem to enjoy it though.

I know I would have enjoyed the show, but would still have been disappointed too. I do notice that I can't find anything online from fans really complaining about the show. Either the ones that were very unhappy weren't in any online forums, or the band has very understanding fans (I've seen some pretty whiny reviews of show where they all were there though. )


Stevie's little adventure.

STEVE Kilbey emerged from room 103 of the Manhattan Criminal Court slightly dishevelled but otherwise unfazed over his experience with the US legal system.

Kilbey, lead singer of veteran Australian rock band The Church, had been arrested by police the day before attempting to buy three small packets of heroin from a street dealer.

After spending a night locked in a cell at "Central Booking" with about 30 other prisoners and having missed the band's second and last New York concert, Kilbey still managed a joke.

He said being picked up for drugs in New York was a rite of passage for Australian musicians.

"A drug bust is something every ageing rock star should have under his belt," he said.

"(Australian singer) Nick Cave and I are in great company."

Kilbey said he was "popped" by police while walking near the corner of E6 St and Avenue D in the Alphabet City district of lower Manhattan about 2.40pm on Tuesday.

"Five years ago you would have had no problem down there," Kilbey said outside court. "Now things are different."

The 45-year-old singer/bass guitarist felt the full sting of New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's zero-tolerance crime policies.

NYPD officer William Post arrested Kilbey as he bought three "glassines" of heroin, neatly packed with a "Red Devil" trademark.

He was handcuffed and made to wait in the back of a police wagon for two hours, watching police arrest eight more men. After being strip searched, photographed and finger-printed at the local precinct, he was sent to the police lock-up at Centre St.

Not sleeping a wink in the crowded cell (he said one inmate propositioned him, another tried to sell him crack that had been smuggled in), Kilbey went before Judge Gregory Carro the following morning at 11.30am.

John Kerins (representing Kilbey) asked that his client, who had no record in New York, be allowed to go free, without any conviction.

Police prosecutor Jeff Chabrowe said the "people" demanded some form of punishment.

Judge Carro ordered Kilbey to report for community service for one day later this month.

He will spend a day cleaning A-Train subway carriages running from Manhattan to JFK Airport.

Kilbey's fellow band members – unhappy at being left without a lead singer the night before – did not show up at the court to retrieve him.

The band had already flown to North Carolina where they were to perform a concert at the Cat's Cradle nightclub in Carrboro.

Kilbey managed to get a later flight, making last night's gig.

Apparently they called around to various hospitals and police precincts until someone finally said, "unhuh, we have a Mr. Kilbey here." That was just before they started the show. Needless to say, they were delighted.

I can't help but laugh at them just leaving without him. Serves him right.

 

[indra]

And I found one more interview with info on the making of Box of Birds. This one's from SK. Here's part of it.

Q: Tell me a little about your new record, "Box of Birds." It's a covers record. When did you have time to record it with all the touring you've done in the last year?
A: Um, we recorded it in Sweden again because we got a good rate at a studio there. I think it was about May, June, July. We also started working on our next real album which we didn't get finished. Originally someone wrote to us a long time ago and said, "Could you do two cover versions" or something. They wanted to put it on a fanzine single and that idea grew into an album of cover versions. I guess sooner or later every hack rock star has to go out and do that - their album of cover versions.
Q: How did you decide which covers you were going to do?
A: Just like the Church always does - completely erratically. All the ones we really wanted to do we never got done. We got side tracked. One day we had a day around Marty's (Willson-Piper, guitarist) house who has the hugest record collection of anyone I've ever met. Suddenly, people were just pulling out records, "Why don't we do this?" "Why don't we do this?" Suddenly we were doing all these ones we never planned to do and never got around to the ones that we were really going to do.
Q: What were some of the songs that you planned on doing?
A: I don't want to say now. (Laughs)
Q: On "Box of Birds," you cover "It's All Too Much," a George Harrison song off "The Yellow Submarine" album. Was it intimidating doing a cover of a Beatles song, considering the competition?
A: Nah. I don't care about all that stuff. That's the only reason we did it - it only has one chord. Why bother to learn one with lots of chords when we can do George's song that's all in (the key of) G? We haven't done it for a long time but we used to do it back in 1986, sometimes for an encore. George has always been my favorite.
Q: Why is that?
A: Um, it's funny. I had this old Scottish aunt. When I was about 10 we were watching the Beatles and she said, (copping a Scottish accent) "Who's your favorite Beatle?" And I said, "Paul." And she said, "Sissy." I was about to say John and I could tell she was looking at me, and I said, "George?" And she said, "Good boy." After that I was always afraid to like anyone else.
Q: One thing that I really like in "It's All Too Much" is the Eddy Grant "Electric Avenue" interlude in the middle.
A: You like that? That's another song that's all in G. That's why I did that. Some people had (problems) with us doing that. They thought it was stupid. Some people don't like The Church to be funny. If ever we do anything funny, people don't like it. I guess you're going to (the show) for something serious, and we sort of painted ourselves into a bit of a corner. A review in an L.A. thing used a word I hadn't read for a long time in awhile, "mope rock." What a stupid term that is. You don't want your mope rockers making you laugh, do you? You're damned either way. If you're funny, half of them like it and they do have a sense of humor, and the other half don't. You know what I mean?
Q: It's like the Barenaked Ladies' popularity. Either you love 'em or you hate 'em.
A: I actually do hate them and I would cheerfully machine-gun them to death. I don't like them funny, serious or otherwise. The only time I would like to see them is in an airline disaster. The first time I saw that video, I thought, "Who is that? It's some group that is really f------ band." Every time I said that to someone, they were like "God, you hate them too?" I'd like to give them the bubonic plague. I haven't ever met one person who likes them. Now you're going to tell me that you're engaged to the conga player or something.
Q: Oh, no I'm not. You must really hate them.
A: I do, but I hate lots of people. I hate Rachel Hunter. I hate Elle MacPherson.
Q: I'm surprised about that.
A: I don't know. They're sort of Australian models who speak with American accents. I don't know. Strange people get my goat.
Q: Back to the album, it's pretty timely that you covered "It's All Too Much," considering the 30th anniversary of the "Yellow Submarine" album.
A: Yeah, a lot of people say that. That was a complete coincidence.
Q: In the liner notes, you thank "everybody who responded to the band's invitation to submit their cover art for this CD." Did you have a cover art contest?
A: We just, The Church being what it is, no one can ever decide on anything. What we did was we got a few really great internet sites. There's one called Seance, which is kind of a mailing list one. Then there's one in Australia called Shadow Cabinet which somebody outside the band runs. He's got lots of information, reviews and anything he can get his hands on. Those two sites pulled their resources for people to start sending in ideas for covers. We got like hundreds of them. I think everyone in the band picked their two favorite ones to put on there, which was the most democratic way we could pick the cover. (Runners-up are inside the fold-out CD booklet.) And you don't have to have the cover that's actually turned out to be the cover. You can change it around and pick anyone you like. I actually like one of the other ones better than the one that actually became the cover.
Q: Which one is that?
A: I like the gray, sort of eagle carved into the stone. That would have been a good cover.

 

[BonosSaint]

Still waiting for my delivery of "Box of Birds" Apparently, they're flying a detour route.

Re: Crosby. By the end of the night, I was tired, hostile, cramped in, too drunk. The ticket prices weren't too bad, so I did feel like a part of a spectacle. Kind of like audience participation performance art and it was a show for the annals of freebasing history.

I felt really sorry for the opening act, who had to play off and on for a couple of hours when he had about half an hour of material. PS, Did not buy opening act's CD. Never wanted to hear him again! Ever.

My friend and I have pretty good senses of humor which remained intact throughout, so I'm sure that helped. It helped that the show was only fifteen minutes from my house.

That's not the first time he's berated an audience . Sometimes I've felt like a misbehaving child even when I was just standing there. Luckily, the shows would end with a great deal of energy that would make me forget that I was part of a "bad" collective audience. I so love being scolded.

I do like a lot of his music, but I don't own much of his solo stuff or his Crosby-Nash stuff. And none of his CPR stuff.

I've seen him play since then, both with CSN and his other band (which I don't really like) He is better behaved off drugs, somewhat Buddha serene and playful, but I don't know how much of that is choreographed.

From what I understand, CSN once said they would never play on the same stage again since they don't always get along so well. So to get around that little lapse, since touring is a pretty good source of their revenue, they each stand on a different type of flooring when they perform. Sure enough, when I went to see them a couple of weeks ago, each of them had their own separate squares of flooring.

A couple of years ago, I intereracted with Crosby on the internet. because he used to participate on a forum. Hard to gauge him because almost everybody on the board was such a freaking synchopant. Oh, isn't David wonderful, this. Oh, isn't David wonderful that. I can't stand that for anybody. So I got into a theoretical discussion with him about Menage a Trois's (because of his song Triad) and argued on a few other issues. But my computer crashed a short while later and it took me years to get another one. By the time I got a new one, he was no longer on board.

I still go to see CSN often enough, but mostly for S. I've met Stephen Stills a few times and he's never been nasty, and oftentimes really nice. Bright man. (not that he hasn't had his drug moments.) And to give Nash credit, he has always been friendly.

Always said I wanted to fuck Stephen Stills and be Neil Young.
Haven't done either.

RE: Box of Birds interview. Pretty funny stuff. They sound a little surreal. You got to love self deprecating humor. Laughed out loud when I got to the part about only one chord. "Why bother to learn one with lots of chords?"



Almost spit out my coffee. OK, it's a given. I'll like their music.
They captured my imagination.

 

[BonosSaint]

The Birds finally came home to roost.

Just got done listening to it. They are wonderfully dark. Loved the cover of Cortez. Really loved that cover.

 

[indra]

The Birds finally came home to roost.

Just got done listening to it. They are wonderfully dark. Loved the cover of Cortez. Really loved that cover.

Yay! Glad you like it. Cortez The Killer was the first song that really grabbed me off the album, and it is still the one I am most likely to put on repeat. But I've come to enjoy the whole thing too.

I think as a band their more recent music (since 1992 I'd say) is more dark than their earlier work. They've always had a healthy dose of melancholy in their work, but it's much darker now. Although I like most of their work, I really like their more recent stuff the best.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

George has always been my favorite.
Q: Why is that?
A: Um, it's funny. I had this old Scottish aunt. When I was about 10 we were watching the Beatles and she said, (copping a Scottish accent) "Who's your favorite Beatle?" And I said, "Paul." And she said, "Sissy." I was about to say John and I could tell she was looking at me, and I said, "George?" And she said, "Good boy." After that I was always afraid to like anyone else.

LOL!

*Likes George's music, too (at least, all the stuff I've heard, both from his time in the Beatles and solo) *

Q: One thing that I really like in "It's All Too Much" is the Eddy Grant "Electric Avenue" interlude in the middle.
A: You like that? That's another song that's all in G. That's why I did that. Some people had (problems) with us doing that. They thought it was stupid. Some people don't like The Church to be funny. If ever we do anything funny, people don't like it. I guess you're going to (the show) for something serious, and we sort of painted ourselves into a bit of a corner. A review in an L.A. thing used a word I hadn't read for a long time in awhile, "mope rock." What a stupid term that is. You don't want your mope rockers making you laugh, do you? You're damned either way. If you're funny, half of them like it and they do have a sense of humor, and the other half don't. You know what I mean?

This is true. They want these people to lighten up and have a sense of humor, and when they do, people will whine that they should go back to moping, as they do that best. Go figure the public sometimes-musicians can't please everyone, I guess. We're just too damn fickle .

I'd personally like to hear that interlude with that song.

Also, uh...I don't mind the Barenaked Ladies, personally . I'm not a big fan or anything, but I can hear a song of theirs on the radio every so often without harboring some of the feelings Steve does, LOL .

Interesting story about Steve being arrested and not being able to be with the other band members at that show. Has anything else like that happened since then? Or has he been a good boy ?

Also funky to know Rick Springfield did a cover of "Under The Milky Way". Of all the people, huh?

By the way, I was listening to "After Everything" again yesterday...that really is a pretty song. Doesn't hurt that musically it kinda sounds like something I could've heard another artist I like doing around the time of some of his work he'd done in the late 90s . And while listening to some of the songs from the non-Church related CD you sent me, I noticed that when you mentioned Steve worked with one of the artists on there, it definitely showed (that CD had some good stuff on it, too ).

Angela