Destination - by Robert Dean Lurie (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The definitive story of iconic Australian band The Church ("Under the Milky Way") and its creative fulcrum, Steve Kilbey.

For over forty years the Church have pushed at the experimental edge of rock music while simultaneously lodging themselves in the public consciousness via unforgettable singles "Under the Milky Way" and "The Unguarded Moment." Carrying on in the face of many obstacles--drug addiction, business disasters, internal power struggles, lineup changes, and stretches of public indifference--the band has endured long enough to have earned its place in the ARIA Hall of Fame, seen its music featured in movie soundtracks and car commercials, won and lost major record deals, sold out the Sydney Opera House with a full symphony orchestra, recorded a groundbreaking new album, and packed venues across Australia and the USA on their acclaimed "Singles 1980-2025" tour.

Through it all, singer, lyricist, bassist, and founding member Steve Kilbey has maintained his singular creative vision--one that finds its most finely tuned outlet in the Church but also spills over into a staggering array of solo projects, collaborations, and forays into other media. And for the past quarter century, biographer Robert Dean Lurie has served as Kilbey's on-again-off-again chronicler, sounding board, and confidant. His new book is the result of years of observation, the distillation of countless hours of interviews with Kilbey and other past and present members of the band. It's a story of creativity, friendship, love, loss, self-destruction, redemption, and, above all, perseverance. And it's culminated in their forthcoming album, Lacuna, which may be their greatest achievement yet.

Review Quotes

"The music of the Church helped to enrich my life in many ways. It certainly changed the life of Robert Lurie, who has written the definitive account of the Church and the life of its main protagonist, the ever creative and artistically complex Steve Kilbey. This is more than just a band biography; it's also the personal journey of one Church fanatic, a journey to which we can all relate." - Ian McFarlane, author of The Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop