Sounds Of Silence
Touring in support of his new album, Silence/Win, Kim Churchill performs at the Indi Bar next Wednesday, June 4; Mojo’s on Thursday, June 5, and the Prince Of Wales, Bunbury, on Friday, June 6. AARON BRYANS reports.
Now well-known for his unbreakable attitude and incredible talent, Kim Churchill is somewhat infamous for the manner in which he wooed fans at the Byron Bay Bluesfest three years ago where he showed off his outstanding multi-tasking abilities to provide the most layered and groovy acoustic tunes of the festival.
However it was in the years prior that Churchill’s musical commitment was inked in when he first went out touring internationally.
“I was fortunate because I got lucky,” Churchill explains. “I was at an age where I didn’t have anything else in my life other than music and I made it that way specifically. So travelling overseas with my music was one of the number one things I wanted to do; and I think as well being young, there’s a certain energy to a young performer when they’re on stage.
“Especially in that first year of touring where there’s this appreciation to your job being very young and vulnerable and excitable and that quality comes out in the live show.”
Churchill made a big impression in Canada, signing to Indica Records. It was there that he began to settle down and deeply analyse his musical direction, deciding to re-record eight tracks from his independent release The Sword And The Shield for the release of his official self-titled debut LP.
“I felt that they were the first bunch of songs that I’d written; they’d been coming for a long time. There was a big chunk of time that the material covers because you’ve built up so much to get there and you’ve been writing since the beginning of writing. It was time for me to release Sword And Shield when I did, but a year down the track I felt the material was too much a part of me to not go back and maybe give it the credit that it was due. Because at the beginning we recorded them the best we could, but there was that desire to give them a polish up. That was the whole purpose was to repackage it to make it up-to-date.”
Churchill’s highly anticipated new album, Silence/Win, was recorded in Vancouver. Produced by Warne Livesey (Midnight Oil, Matthew Good), it’s Churchill’s first release through a major label in Australia, Warner Music.
Alongside the release of Silence/Win, Churchill will finally be able to get back on the road after a large amount of time off sorting out his new record deal.
“I get to play at Glastonbury music festival in England which is a bit of a dream come true and the line-up is incredible. We’re starting to do a lot more in Europe and we’re playing at a bunch of the surf competitions on the coast of France and the board masters in England. But I think more then anything I’m excited to tour hard again. Last year I didn’t tour as much because we were making the album and then I had odd amounts of time off in Australia because we were trying to sign a record deal with Warner and there were legal issues with prior people I’d been working with. So all of a sudden I had to sit there and wait for things to work out naturally.
“Now that the album’s out I feel like I can get back to what I was doing.”
