Creepy Celestials

The career arcs of UK songwriting institution Robyn Hitchcock and our own inveterate Steve Kilbey contain some quite fascinating parallels – not just timeframe (they were both born in England just one year and 40-odd kilometres apart), but also where and when they delved for musical inspiration, their eclectic approach to songcraft and their indefatigable nature (between them they've released over a hundred albums) – but remarkably they've never actually crossed paths. Until now.
“I've known about his stuff since the early '80s – somebody told me about The Church in about '82. We were both in the American college charts in the late '80s, and our shirts wowed a generation of American youth,” laughs Hitchcock about his partner-in-crime for the impending Insects & Stars tour. “I was going to come to Australia anyway, and the promoter put us together – Steve I guess was happy with it. We haven't spoken yet, we're yet to meet, but I've been playing along to his new single on YouTube so I'm getting prepared.
“You'll get the get the full gamut – you'll get Kilbey and Hitchcock, plus you'll get Kilbey individually and you'll get Hitchcock individually, so you'll probably get at least 50 minutes of me on my own which is more than enough.”
Hitchcock's near four-decade career has seen him tour in many guises – from his revered post-punk outfit The Soft Boys to more recent excursions with backing bands The Egyptians and The Venus 3 – but of late he's more than happy to be entertaining on his lonesome.
“I do enjoy playing solo because the focus is very simple – you don't have to own control of the whole stage,” he ponders. “I love playing with other musicians, but live sometimes it's harder to focus on other people. I like seeing what I can do with just my voice and guitar – playing with bands it's harder to hear the vocals and I lose my voice quite often on tour with a group. It's such a struggle, you have to sing four times as loud and I find myself straining – I see pictures and my neck is bulging, I look like somebody who's lifting weights or having a hard time in the bathroom. It's not a pretty sight.
“I mean it's exciting playing electric music with electric guitars – I think it releases diabolical forces myself. I feel that there's a kind of insanity involved with playing rock'n'roll, which is why people like it – it just sort of throws you into the abyss. And I'm not sure how much I need to be thrown into the abyss at my age. Plus I like to hear what I'm singing – I'd rather be lowered very gently into the abyss with very good reverb. I like harmonies and hearing harmonies, which is why I'm very interested to work with Steve, because I know we're going to be doing a little bit of stuff together. I'm not sure who else will be with us onstage but I know there will be no drums, so it's not going to get into that world.”