Interview: Steve Kilbey and Peter Koppes

The Church was founded in 1980 in Sydney, Australia. Their first album, 1981’s Of Skins and Heart, included the song “The Unguarded Moment” which enjoyed some success as a single in Australia and New Zealand. Other early Australian hits included “Almost With You” and “Electric Lash”.

Things really took off for The Church with the 1988 album Starfish, featuring “Under The Milky Way” which became a hit in the US and elsewhere, plus other notable songs like “Reptile” and “Destination”. With this, their sixth album, their lush, neo-psychedelic sound finally resonated with the worldwide masses.

Other albums followed, and while they didn’t enjoy the commercial success of Starfish, The Church stayed true to its musical vision. Their latest release was 2017’s Man Woman Life Death Infinity.

The following interview with Church co-founders Steve Kilbey (singer/bassist/primary songwriter) and Peter Koppes (guitarist/multi-instrumentalist) was done by email, with answers received on 4/23/19 and 4/24/19, respectively. This was for a preview article for noozhawk.com for their concert at SOhO in Santa Barbara on 5/4/19.

Interview: Bob Cowsill

The Cowsills were the family band who served as the real-life inspiration for The Partridge Family. Their hit songs included “The Rain, The Park & Other Things” (think “I love the flower girl”), “Indian Lake”, and “Hair”, and they made multiple appearances on TV shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show and The Johnny Cash Show. Today’s Cowsills consist of siblings Bob, Paul, and Susan.

This interview was for a preview article for the Happy Together Tour concert at the Chumash Casino on 7/23/15, which also includes The Turtles featuring Flo & Eddie, The Buckinghams, The Association, The Grass Roots, and Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders. It was done by phone on 7/10/15.