Steve Kilbey: writing, lyrics & songs about place

Steve Kilbey is the singer and lyricist of legendary Australian rock band The Church.
He's made dozens of albums, and written several volumes of poetry and a memoir called Something Quite Peculiar. He was also the single biggest influence on my own development as a writer.
We discuss lyric writing, songs about place, the disillusionment of success, and how music can recall our most intense experiences with vividness and immediacy.
Here’s an index of some of the things we talked about with approximate times for those who want to jump around:
[5:28] The benefit of owning a single album
[14:00] Learning to listen and take songs apart
[21:20] The money’s in songwriting, not playing
[23:38] Learning to make music on a 4-track tape machine
[34:00] The disillusionment of success
[38:28] Anonymity was better
[46:50] Learning to write lyrics
[54:25] Lyrics that are literate
[1:02:52] Songs can invoke indescribable feelings
[1:10:00] Dealing with the media
[1:14:00] Songs bring back our most vivid memories
[1:22:00] Rapid fire: songs about place
[1:41:00] Steve’s songs about place work on a different level
[1:44:00] The new Church album
[1:51:00] Revising and editing
Show notes and links: ryanmurdock.com/2022/12/steve...

[@absoluteb22]

Enjoyed that very much.

[@RyanMurdockRoadWisdom]

Thank you for checking it out. Glad you enjoyed it.

[@mOoFiShs]

Thanks, a great listen.

[@RyanMurdockRoadWisdom]

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.