Steve Kilbey

Steve Kilbey rose to prominence chiefly through his duties as lead singer and bassist in the Australian dream rock group the Church, though he has simultaneously forged a separate path as a solo musician and author. Incorporating touches of psychedelic rock, glam rock, and post-punk, he surfaced alongside the Church at the start of the 1980s before securing international renown via the outfit’s sixth studio album, Starfish from 1988, which contained the enduring hit single “Under the Milky Way.” Parallel to his enduring tenure with the Church, Kilbey has released solo projects at regular intervals, among them Unearthed in 1987, Remindlessness in 1990, and Sydney Rococo in 2018. Electronic collaborations with Martin Kennedy of All India Radio have produced several albums, such as White Magic in 2011 and Glow and Fade in 2017. In addition to issuing the 2014 autobiography Something Quite Peculiar, he has published volumes of poetry and sustained the blog The Time Being.

Steven John Kilbey entered the world in 1954 in Welwyn Garden City, England, before relocating with his family to Australia at the age of three. Settling in Wollongong, where his father served as a foreman and his mother held a position at an insurance office, the young Kilbey first became captivated by Frank Sinatra’s late-’50s recordings and subsequently encountered the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the glam stylings of Marc Bolan and David Bowie. During his teenage years the household shifted to Canberra, the site of his initial exposure to a live band at a school dance. Galvanized by the experience, he acquired a bass and promptly entered a local covers ensemble that performed regularly and imparted knowledge of hundreds of songs. He next joined the rock unit Precious Little, whose membership included future Church guitarist Peter Koppes on drums. Around 1974, while employed days as a computer programmer, Kilbey assembled his first band, Baby Grande, alongside Koppes, who soon departed for Limazine. Baby Grande cut several demos for EMI Australia without securing a contract, and Kilbey also spent a brief period in the new wave outfit the Tactics.

In March 1980, Kilbey reunited with Koppes and Limazine drummer Nick Ward to establish the Church, a name said to derive from “The Church of Man.” One month afterward, they encountered Liverpool-born guitarist Marty Willson-Piper, recently arrived from abroad, following a performance and extended an invitation to join. A demo captured in Kilbey’s bedroom attracted the notice of manager Chris Gilbey, who placed the band with his production company linked to EMI and Parlophone Records. The Church issued their debut album, Of Skins and Heart, produced by Gilbey and mixed by Bob Clearmountain, in 1981. Ward exited shortly after release and was succeeded by drummer Richard Ploog. Propelled by the hit single “The Unguarded Moment,” the record climbed to number 22 in Australia and attained gold status.

After extensive touring the ensemble returned in 1982 with The Blurred Crusade. During this span they began attracting comparisons to the Byrds, particularly through Willson-Piper’s command of a 12-string Rickenbacker guitar reminiscent of Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn. Even so, the Church’s dual-lead-guitar approach also evoked ’60s psychedelia and atmospheric post-punk while allowing Kilbey to infuse his lyrics with poetic mysticism, a signature the group maintained across four further albums—Seance in 1983, Remote Luxury in 1984, and Heyday in 1986—all of which reached the Australian Top 20 and cultivated a dedicated American following.

Kilbey launched his solo career in 1986 with Unearthed. Captured at his Sydney residence, the album adopted a comparatively relaxed stance relative to his contemporaneous band work and incorporated a drum machine along with layered guitar and keyboard contributions from then-girlfriend Karin Jansson of Pink Champagne and Curious (Yellow) as well as his brother Russell Kilbey. Nevertheless, it possessed a folkie, surrealistic appeal that anticipated much of his later output. Additional solo releases ensued, including the proggy instrumental Earthed in 1987, issued with a book of Kilbey’s poetry, and the gothy, psych-rock-infused The Slow Crack that same year.

Worldwide breakthrough arrived for Kilbey and the Church with their seventh album, Starfish, in 1988. Recorded in Los Angeles under producer Waddy Wachtel of Fleetwood Mac, Randy Newman, and James Taylor renown, the sessions proved challenging amid the band’s sense of alienation. The standout track “Under the Milky Way,” co-written by Kilbey and Karin Jansson, nevertheless emerged, reaching the Top 25 in Australia, New Zealand, and the United States while securing the ARIA Award for Single of the Year. The success propelled Starfish to gold certification, placing it in the Australian Top Ten and the American Top 50. Widely regarded as the group’s signature achievement, “Under the Milky Way” later featured on the 2001 Donnie Darko soundtrack and has been covered by artists including Sia in 2009.

Kilbey extended his four-track home experiments on the fourth solo album, Remindlessness, released in 1990. Appearing the same year as the Church’s Gold Afternoon Fix, it presented a more polished and expansive sonic palette than earlier solo efforts. After touring with the Church, he formed the side project Jack Frost with fellow Australian singer/songwriter and Go-Betweens leader Grant McLennan. During those sessions Kilbey reportedly began using heroin, an addiction that intensified over the following decade and culminated in a 1999 drug-related arrest in New York City. Despite the dependency he continued recording, issuing solo works such as Gilt Trip in 1997. Church activity persisted with increasingly ambitious releases including Priest = Aura in 1992, Magician Among the Spirits in 1996, and Hologram of Baal in 1998. He also became a father when Jansson gave birth to twin daughters Elektra and Miranda, who subsequently formed the Swedish dream pop duo Say Lou Lou.

Following multiple interventions, Kilbey overcame his heroin dependence in the early 2000s through methadone treatment. He resumed recording energetically, delivering After Everything Now This with the Church in 2002 and the solo album Freaky Conclusions in 2003. Further Church releases included Parallel Universe in 2002, Forget Yourself in 2003, the acoustic El Momento Descuidado in 2005, and Uninvited, Like the Clouds in 2006. The 2008 solo effort Painkiller featured longtime Church drummer Tim Powles, steel guitarist Graham Lee, and Grammy Award-winning engineer William Bowden. He rejoined the Church for Untitled #23 in 2009.

A royalty disagreement with the Church’s North American label, Second Motion Records, prompted Kilbey’s brief departure in 2012. He had already established the creative partnership Kilbey Kennedy with All India Radio’s Martin Kennedy, yielding expansive electro-psychedelic albums such as White Magic in 2011, Inside We Are the Same in 2015, and Glow and Fade in 2017. Returning to the Church, he contributed to Further/Deeper in 2014, the band’s first release without Willson-Piper, who had been replaced in 2013 by former Powderfinger guitarist Ian Haug. Kilbey also published the autobiography Something Quite Peculiar that year. The Church’s 25th studio album, Man Woman Life Death Infinity, appeared in 2017. The following year he released the lushly produced solo album Sydney Rococo. As a trio with singer/songwriters Sean Sennett and Kate Ceberano, he recorded the collaborative album The Dangerous Age in 2020. Later that year he issued the home-recorded solo set Eleven Women, captured over three days.