the story behind the photos: the church

Marty Willson-Piper, 1984
Malibu, CA



I don’t know if it is a good thing, a bad thing, or simply just the way things are – when I am interested in something, I have to immerse myself in it.


me, Steve Kilbey, Roxanne Fontana
NYC, 1984
(photo by Martina Stanek, taken with my camera)


In 1981, I met Roseann Fontana (she now goes by Roxanne because over the years, so many people just called her “Roxanne” by mistake that she simply changed her name. Legally.) She was the friend of a friend, and unbeknownst to both Roseann (and I have always called her by her proper name, so I can’t switch now!) and I dated the same guy in the recent past. That’s how we met.

When she came to Los Angeles, we started to hang out and found we had the same taste in music. We were both listening to a new release by the Australian band called The Church. She was crazy about the single, “The Unguarded Moment,” a jangly Rickenbacker number, dark under its seeming brightness. Because I booked shows at the Whisky, I suggested that we bring them to the States.

It was that simple idea that started a 20-year relationship with the band that bore all the marks of a sibling relationship, with all the love, hate, roses and thorns that come with it.

The portrait of Marty Willson-Piper, above is an enduring artifact of the early, halcyon days of being in world of The Church. Also, a group photo I took from the same day is included in the Rhino Records box set, Children of Nuggets – perhaps an artifact with greater distribution than my portrait of Marty, and one that will keep people asking me, “what did you do with The Church?”


The Church at Stage Door Rehearsal Studios in Sydney, Australia, March 2000


Stage Door

Twenty years is a long time to cover in just a blog post on a blog that's really meant to highlight the photos. We were like family, all of us, and families know how to push each other's buttons.


Steve Kilbey, 1984
Malibu, CA

We lived and worked with each other through several changes of management, record labels and booking agents, investors, friends, lovers, wives, children, deaths, arrests, band break ups, band reunions...we traveled the world together and found great solace, comfort, support in friendship with one another. We bonded over music, art and literature; we debated philosophy and vegetarianism. I learned all their eating idiosyncracies and we all stayed in one another's homes in various parts of the world over 20 years. They thanked me publicly, and I have thanked them. We have also fought publicly.

Just like family.


Tim Powles Hands

In 1999/2000, I went to Sydney as the band tried to start recording a new album. Like Dickens wrote, "It was the best of times; it was the worst of time." Sydney was delightful, and there were great times, but I guess that's where the seeds of the immediate near future were sown.



We're estranged now to say the least. Marty and I did see each other in 2005 however. NYC, he was playing in The Saints, who I booked to play the intimate Ding Dong Lounge. I think we both feared the worst, but it was OK. In an "just like old times" moment, I drove him from 106th Street to St. Mark's Place in between the sound check and the show. There were awkward moments, however, nothing with Marty, though...nothing worth discussing in public, that's for sure!

the story behind the photos: iggy pop 1977

In 1977, there was only one other person in my dorm at UCLA who was into punk rock, and when Iggy Pop went on tour and David Bowie was in his band, we decided we would see as many shows as we could get to. We drove up to San Francisco from Los Angeles on Interstate 5, the route favored by truck drivers as it is the fastest land route between the two cities.

In 1977, there was nothing but cows and gas stations along most of the route. Take a certain exit, and you'll end up where James Dean wrecked his Porsche… that kind of empty, deserted road… the only other traffic was semi trucks and local good ole boys in pick-up trucks.

Half way up the state, in the literal cow-town of Button Willow, the clutch cable in my roommate's VW Beetle snapped. In a time before the existence and ubiquity of cel phones, we somehow got someone to call a tow truck to our rescue. The tow truck hitched up the car, but then the tow truck broke down before it moved even a foot. Another tow truck was radio'd and saved the day.

How many tow trucks does it take to move The People's Car?

The second tow truck driver gave us a ride to the service station that dispatched him, and there we learned that no mechanic in California's Central Valley really knew how to fix "that Commie car," or even had the parts to do so. But from there, we were able to convince a local good ole boy to give us a ride to a nearby municipal airport where I happily whipped out my Dad's credit card and we hopped on the next tiny plane bound for San Francisco.

At the show, we were both pretty wiped out from our travels and related snafu, but we tried hard to have a good time. Our seats were in the back half of the auditorium, and I was happy that I brought a telephoto lens with me.

Standing on a folding theatre seat is never a good idea, but standing on a folding theatre seat during an Iggy Pop show and trying to handle a camera is a worse idea. Half way through the show, the focusing ring on my lens just refused to function. Since I couldn't take any more photos, I took it as a sign to enjoy the show.

We had to fly home, so the return trip would be a little faster, meaning we could sleep in. I slept like a rock, then the next morning, still somewhat groggy, with Dad's credit card in hand, I went to buy another telephoto lens. After all, it was my birthday.

the story behind the photos, part 1

how i bet all my friends are tired of billy idol these past couple months. i've been hustling (successfully, thank goodness!) a couple of my vintage photos of him in my current process of raising the funds to mount my next exhibit.

idol will actually have a lot of face time in the next exhibit too.

while he's a platinum selling superstar looking for a comeback right now, back in 1978, he was one of the bromly contingent, some rabid punk fans from london's east end who followed the sex pistols. billy's not the only one of them to have forged a successful career in music. siouxsie sioux, budgie and other members of the banshees were among that "contingent."

throughout 1977, pleasant and i made some very good strategic chess type moves (did we know it?) that positioned us to be billy's tour guides and local friends when he finally arrived in los angeles in april 1978 to promote generation x's signing to chrysalis records and release of their second album.

people who've read my blog, punkturns30.com are familiar with the story...

my friend, brendan bourke worked at chrysalis, and was in charge of billy during that promotional trip to the USA. because we were trustworthy, and because we did publish lobotomy, giving us street cred... brendan let us tag along with him and billy where ever they went, and also left billy in our care many nights.

in this photo, we all took billy to the airport to say goodbye. you could still accompany passengers all the way to the departure lounge back then. and you could take pictures of anything and everything. you can't do that now.

we were stopped by the mystery woman who pinned a carnation on billy. you can see it in the top buttonhole of his jacket. i don't remember what she had to tell him. she probably didn't know what punk rock was, who billy specifically was... but there's no denying he was someone different and perhaps special.

my favorite thing about this photo is looking at everyone's eyes. billy's looking right at the woman who just pinned a flower on him. pleasant is looking at billy. brendan is looking analytically at the stranger... and no one is looking at the camera.

that's my idea of a successful shot.

Back In LA

Los Angeles Sidewalk
Originally uploaded by Theresa K.

it doesn't really matter what the temperature is where you go; if its cold for that place, its cold and you feel cold. even if its 54 degrees when the place you came from was 31 degrees... you're still cold in 54 degrees.

my ears have not yet popped from my second flight.

The Annual LA Power Failure

Metal Shop
Originally uploaded by Theresa K.

In 2004-->2005, there was a power outtage that affected large portions of LA during its usual rainy winter. Over the Christmas holidays, 2004, Betsy and I entertained ourselves by singing campfire versions of punk rock songs like "Sheena is a Punk Rocker." Be fore-warned that "Sonic Reducer" does not really work as a campfire song.

This year was no different. The day after New Years, 2006, there was a power outtage over huge portions of Los Angeles (and the Dept of Water and Power offered no explanation - I guess we were to blame the rain? Ha ha. Milli Vanilli already tried that. They failed). Anyway... it lasted 12 hours for me. I was able to entertain myself by watching "Magical Mystery Tour" on my laptop. I still think "Death cab for cutie" makes a better avant-garde cabaret song than band name, I'm just sayin'....