Artist Information

The Church began life in 1980 as a three-piece consisting of drummer Nick Ward, guitarist Peter Koppes, and singer, bass player and principal song-writer Steve Kilbey. Kilbey and Koppes had played together since the early '70s in a variety of Canberra glam-rock bands. With the addition of guitarist Marty Wilson-Piper, the band's line-up and name were solidified. The Church recorded a four-track demo which found its way to Australian record label ATV Northern. The person who heard the song, Chris Gilbey, would be responsible for not only the band’s first recording contract but also facilitating their future sound by buying Wilson-Piper a 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and Koppes a tape-delay device.

The band's first single release was She Never Said, released in November 1980 without making much of an impact on the charts. The tracks that would comprise the band’s 1981 debut album Of Skins and Heart were recorded in 1980, and a second single The Unguarded Moment preceded the album’s release in March 1981. The single went reached the tip 20 in the Australian charts and saw the band undertake a national tour. New drummer Richard Ploog was brought into the band, and this line-up of the Church would remain intact for the next eight-years.

The Church’s second album The Blurred Crusade was released in 1982 and established the band globally. Overseas interest saw the band tour Britain and Europe to great response. Upon their return to Australia, the band released the five-track EP Sing Songs. The band’s third album Seance, released in May 1983, saw a shift towards more ethereal song-writing and soundscapes, with some incongruous drumming added by producer Nick Launay.

The band would release two EPs in 1984, Persia and Remote Luxury. This brought them to the attention of Warners in the US, who repackaged the two EPs into the album Remote Luxury. The band embarked on their first US tour in support of the album and received rave reviews and extremely positive crowd reaction.

While writing their next album, dynamics within the band developed and song-writing became a group effort. The band produced what has been labelled their most complete album, Heyday, in 1996. The album briefly occupied a lower rung of the US Billboard chart but did not satisfy the commercial targets of EMI or Warners, and the band became label-less. The same year saw a rift develop between members that lead to Marty Wilson-Piper dramatically quitting the group mid-tour; he re-joined the fold a short time later. Taking advantage of the band’s elevated profile, a double album Hindsight comprising album tracks and B-sides with liner notes by Steve Kilbey was released in 1987.

The band signed a four-album, worldwide deal with Arista Records in 1987, with their Australian interests picked up by Mushroom. The deal allowed the band the freedom to record overseas, and they spent three months in a studio in Los Angeles under the guidance of producers Waddy Wachtel and Greg Ladanyi. The band and producers clashed over many points, and Kilbey was sent for vocal lessons at one stage. The resulting album Starfish proved to be a breakthrough album for the band, with the single Under the Milky Way reaching the top 20 and becoming the band’s most well-known song. The album went on to achieve gold sales and the band toured the globe supporting it.

The follow-up album, 1990’s Gold Afternoon Fix, was recorded with the same producers and saw tensions escalate to a point where drummer Richard Ploog left the band.

The band retreated to Australia to record their next album, and enjoyed the freedom from of the burden of commercial expectations. Recorded in Sydney’s 301 Studios, 1992's Priest = Aura was a sparse epic album with the majority of the tracks ticking in at over six minutes.

Relationships and pressures within the band saw members concentrate on various side projects as The Church was put on hold.

After a couple of years in limbo Wilson-Piper and Kilbey recorded the album Sometime Anywhere in Kilbey’s karmic hit studio. The largely unorthodox and experimental album made little impact in sales but introduced the band to future drummer Tim Powles.

After fulfilling their obligations on their existing deal, the label did not exercise their option for the band. The new line-up of The Church recorded the album Magician Among the Spirits and released it through their own Deep Karma label in 1996.

In 1997 the band announced a farewell tour, with Peter Koppes to rejoin the group for the shows and recording of an album. The combination of the euphoric live shows and the resulting energy was channelled into the album Hologram of Baal. So triumphant was the band’s supposed ‘last-ever’ show at the Metro in Sydney that they were convinced to continue.

The band resurfaced with a covers album, Box of Birds, released in 1999. The tyranny of distance, with band members based on various continents across the globe, saw sporadic recording by the band. It wasn’t until 2002 that the band’s next album After Everything, Now This was released, attaining favourable reviews the world over.

The Church released a double compilation album Parallel Universe later that year and then reconvened in Tim Powles’ Spacejunk Studios to record the 2003 album Forget Yourself. A promotional tour for the album saw the band play the SXSW festival in 2004 as well as touring Europe and the US playing acoustic, stripped-back versions of their better known songs, leading to the release of the largely acoustic album El Momento Descuidado.

The album Jammed, which comprised only two tracks, was released in 2004, shortly followed by the outtakes collection Beside Yourself and ‘jam session’ album Back With Two Beasts in 2005. The band’s importance to Australia was acknowledged when they were chosen to perform their song Under the Milky Way at the opening ceremony of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games. In April 2006, the band released the album Uninvited, Like The Clouds.