1988. The world was mid-spin in a neon-soaked fever dream, but deep in the underground, one band seemed perfectly attuned to both their era and something far beyond. The Church, those jangly Australian psych-rockers, dropped Starfish—and with it, a star was born. “Under the Milky Way,” the record’s most successful offering, felt like a cosmic lullaby, ushering the band into the hearts of a generation and onto MTV playlists. In a moment when most records were being drenched in gaudy digital production, Starfish felt pure, untethered to any particular moment. And for Steve Kilbey, that was by design.
Kyle Meredith dives into this heady time with Steve Kilbey, The Church's enigmatic frontman, the guy whose voice floats somewhere between cynical dreamer and jaded oracle. For Kilbey, the record’s charm lies in what it avoided: namely, the overblown, drum-machine-heavy pitfalls of its contemporaries. “There were no big, obnoxious snares destroying the tracks,” he says. “We stayed away from the sounds that ruined so many ‘80s records.”
Kilbey wasn’t interested in making an ‘80s record—he wanted to make something timeless. “Starfish,” he explains, “could have been recorded in 1978 or 2018. It doesn’t belong to a specific time.” And listening to it now, he’s right. The guitars shimmer and echo like the best post-punk dream pop of the era, but the vibe is more enduring—a blend of psychedelia, melancholy, and melodic abstraction. At the center of it is Kilbey’s voice, a weary drawl that hints at both profound wisdom and lingering sadness.
It’s not surprising, then, that Kilbey talks about Starfish as a kind of rebellion against the trappings of its era. In the late ‘80s, many artists fell victim to what Kilbey calls the “zeitgeist”—a cultural phenomenon he says swallowed musicians whole. “So many bands in the ‘80s just sounded like everything else because they were following trends,” Kilbey remarks. “But we weren’t interested in that. We weren’t trying to make a record that sounded like it was from the ‘80s; we were trying to make a classic record, one that could stand on its own.”
Starfish became The Church’s breakthrough, mostly thanks to “Under the Milky Way,” a song that practically drips with nocturnal atmosphere. It was a perfect marriage of sound and mystery—and somehow, despite the band’s aversion to commercialism, it became a mainstream hit. "We never really expected that,” Kilbey laughs, “but hey, it happens sometimes.”
Kilbey has always been more interested in the mysterious space between clarity and abstraction, a space where a song’s meaning becomes malleable, fluid. “I’ve never been interested in telling a story in a straightforward way,” Kilbey explains. “What I want to do is create an atmosphere, a mood, something ambiguous that listeners can interpret in their own way. The words are like clues—they don’t give you the full picture, but they suggest something.”
This approach, Kilbey says, is what has given The Church’s music such lasting appeal. Songs like “Reptile,” “Antenna,” and “Hotel Womb” feel less like stories and more like hazy memories. You don’t listen to them for the narrative—you listen for the feeling they give you. “It’s like perfume,” Kilbey says. “Everyone smells it differently.”
Even now, more than 30 years after Starfish was released, Kilbey remains a towering figure in the alt-rock world. The Church’s influence can be seen in bands like Smashing Pumpkins, The Killers, and Green Day—all of whom have cited the band as an inspiration. “I’ve heard some of those guys talk about us,” Kilbey says, sounding both flattered and amused. “Mike Dirnt from Green Day said the best show he ever saw was The Church, and Billy Joe Armstrong was blown away by our two-guitar attack. It’s nice to hear that we’ve had that impact, but I don’t think about it too much. I’m still just trying to make music that I like.”
But while Starfish might be seen as the band’s high-water mark, Kilbey is quick to downplay its importance in his own life. The success of the album came at a cost. “It wasn’t a fun time for me,” he admits. “I was dealing with a lot of personal stuff—a nervous breakdown, jet lag, and tension within the band. We were flying around the world, playing these huge shows, but I felt disconnected from it all. There was a lot of substance abuse, a lot of negativity. I wasn’t handling success well.”
Kilbey describes the experience of being on the Starfish tour as both exhilarating and exhausting. “We were on this crazy schedule, flying from Helsinki to Rome to Minneapolis, back to England, down to Australia, and then back to the States. It was non-stop. I remember being so tired, just crying from exhaustion, and then having to go meet people at record depots. It was surreal.”
That pressure, combined with the growing internal conflicts within the band, created a perfect storm. “We weren’t getting along,” Kilbey says. “There was this underlying tension all the time. We weren’t very nice to each other. But that’s just part of being in a band, I guess. It’s not always easy.”
Even so, Kilbey is proud of what The Church accomplished with Starfish. “It’s a great record,” he says. “I think it holds up. And I think part of the reason it holds up is because we weren’t trying to follow trends. We were making the music we wanted to make, and that’s why it still sounds fresh today.”
Reflecting on those tumultuous years, Kilbey is philosophical. “Success is strange,” he muses. “You spend years trying to get it, and then when it comes, it’s not what you thought it would be. But in the end, all that matters is the music. That’s the only thing that lasts.”
And with Starfish, The Church crafted something that, like the stars in the night sky, will continue to shine long after the noise of the world has faded away.
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