Steve Kilbey talks about The Smiths

Steve Kilbey of The Church talks about The Smiths backstage Factory Theatre, Sydney 2016.

[@joechiro]

It dont matter none, just the way Kilbey expresses it is gold 😂

[@dommccaffry3802]

Steve kilbey is hard work

[@sampledude8846]

This guy is brilliant!

[@Abandoned_Brane]

Steve kilbey will always be cool.

[@intothecountry74]

The Smiths never been shy about their influences

[@user-pi7ui6sq2v]

I was at that Sheffield Leadmill gig at the end of November 1982 and I didn't see Marr, Rourke or Joyce either! Oho, etc. Mind you, another version of the story has it that Marr and co. actually saw the church in Preston, the following night. Truth is, the Smiths had already played live by August '82 and had made a demo by that October. Good legend, though. Dunno about 'psychedelic glory', either - they'd had their stage wear nicked and Steve wore a grey polo neck at the Leadmill, while Marty wore a plain white shirt. There wasn't any light show either - a lot of it was pretty dark, with most of the lights at the sides and some on the floor.

[@thaumaston]

To the contrary, the Smith's 1982 music reinforces Steve Kilbey's point. Listen to The Hand that Rocks the Cradle or I Want a Boy for My Birthday. Not the layered jingle-jangle that would come to define the Smith's guitar style. All of a sudden, it appears all over their 1983 Hacienda performance and their breakthrough performances of This Charming Man. Contrary to your implications that the story is fabricated, Mike Joyce himself said he was inspired to join The Smith's after watching The Church with Marr. He joined in 1982 (Reference: "The Church - A Psychedelic Symphony"). Lots of objective support for the basic facts.

[@user-pi7ui6sq2v]

@@thaumaston There's two main flaws in that, though. One of them is that The Smiths had already played gigs and done a demo before the church played in the UK and before Unguarded Moment had been shown on OGWT. The other is Johnny Marr's reply to a direct question on Twitter, asking if they copied the church after seeing them in late '82: 'Never happened', said Marr. Take your pick, I guess.

[@thaumaston]

@@user-pi7ui6sq2v apparently you didn’t bother to read my comment or hear Steve Kilbey’s. My point is the Smith’s sound significantly changed between 1982 and 1983, not that they never played before. Secondly, of course Marr is going to say they did not “copy” the Church, and I don’t think anyone here claimed they did. The point was that they were influenced. None of the points you raised undercut what was actually claimed.

[@revelogic]

Steve really needs to do a podcast

[@jbb483]

f that. Enough with the podcast bs already.

[@OnceWasRStrathfield]

Johnny Marr quote: ''There's not a lot of great bands in Australia.. except The Birthday Party''. The Go-Betweens were his label mates on Rough Trade and they got to be great. Now I hear this.

[@lavitroladeldiablo]

Ok, my favourite bass player all time is (still) Andy Rourke, and after he left this world, me and the rest of Smiths fans were a little bit nervy about standing bad or rare comments about them. But, lets be honest, Steve is maybe right here. Despite he would never tell what was on Marr´s head by those time, those quoted similarities couldn´t be just coincidences, innit?

[@renmusical]

Maybe someone should ask Johnny Marr himself, I'm quite curious as I love both bands

[@jamesgretsch4894]

Marr was trying to be like Paul Weller also. Steve Jones said he was trying to be like Johnny Thunders, how he held and played his guitar and all the stage moves and facial expressions. He now, years later is pretty embarrassed by the whole thing but when you are young and impressionable like Marr and Jones those things easily happen.

[@LukasMatejka-du5hb]

yes, these days The Church is more oriented on that "dream pop" side of their songwriting more...... but back in the 80's, their sound was much more "indie rock" oriented and they were doing that "dream pop" stuff additionally in the background...... so, back then, they sounded A LOT like The Smiths..... people think The Smiths came up with that sound first, because they got more famous, but I can totally see The Church influencing THEM

[@JaCapella]

Are the Smiths more popular than The Church? I wonder what he thinks then about The Cure whom I could be mistaken but I’m pretty sure Morrissey said the Cure nixed the Smiths sound

[@kelvincanda6617]

Joy Division The Cure The Smiths Echo & The Bunnymen Siouxsie & The Banshees The Pretenders R.E.M The Church U2 Just perfect stuff...

[@josemozgonzales187]

THE SMITHS ABOVE ALL OF THEM !!!!!!

[@JackSlider-hf1jb]

world's dumbest question! i was there that night, great gig

[@TheHedgehogsDelimma]

Having liked both bands for decades, I never saw a real comparison between them. I think he's totally off key to think this.

[@decades5643]

Both bands were associated with jangle pop/rock. Especially The Church's earlier stuff (first three albums) which seems to predate The Smiths. So it's possible The Smiths had heard The Church and were influenced by them.

[@TheHedgehogsDelimma]

@@decades5643 It's possible but to take credit seems like a stretch is all and I love both bands !

[@josepharmand6117]

The Church were right up there in 'jangly' bands of the early 80s alongside Smiths, REM etc so maybe it did happen. But perhaps these bands just came from the same roots and influences of 'jangly' bands that went before...Byrds, Beatles, Velvets

[@Gonzax]

I don't see the similarities at all and I've never heard anyone in The Smiths citing The Church as an influence but it was fin to watch.

[@ST-xg3gy]

Strong ego.

[@mini_mozzer]

not really. any sort of ego kilbey puts off is him playing it up. and in this video hes not being egotistical, hes right. johnny marr wouldve been 15 or 16 seeing The Church perform their incredible songs. he 100 percent was influenced by that performance.

[@montys8th]

Total narcissist over inflating his importance and relevance but then Steve Kilby has made a career out of that.

[@bradswanson6788]

Enjoy your one popular song (that sounds nothing like the Smiths) and otherwise zip it.

[@Vicente-qs8mc]

Feliz cumpleaños 🎂🎉😊