Folk nomad Kim Churchill brings new light into the world on his eleventh album, 'Dawn Sounds'.
"I'm just really proud of it," Kim says of the album. "I was down in Tassie staying with a friend who I really look up to and I respect his musical tastes and artistic tastes."I was so proud to give him a copy of the album, and that moment to me was like: I wouldn't mind if it was a complete flop commercially or within the industry, I'm just really proud of it. I'm really excited to have done it."
Kim explains that 'Dawn Sounds' is a collection of songs written over one hundred mornings as the sun rose, a concept that came about from his experiences during COVID.
"As for a lot of people, it was a very transformative time," he says. "I really stripped everything away and had a long, hard look at the bare bones of my soul and my life and what I do. I discovered that I really liked writing music in the early hours of the morning.
"I would write from 5am to 8am and before [COVID] I'd always been touring; I'd pretty much been touring for 13 years straight, so it was really nice to have that time to realise that I love being creative as the sun comes up. That led me to the album. . . it is a bunch of songs that were written in those moments."
With 'Dawn Sounds', Kim has tapped into the same vein of creation that has inspired writers, painters, poets, philosophers and musicians for generations.
"[Kurt Vile] said it's like there's less people accessing the creative energy [during the morning], the creative frequencies bouncing around," Kim says.
"It's like fewer people are trying to get at them, so you've got a bit more space to be creative. Mornings go deep, weirdly. Whether it's profound, joyful, reflective or haunting and creepy, it gets you thinking. Dawn gets you thinking."
Recording in the natural beauty of the Byron Hinterland with his close friend and collaborator Chris Collins, Kim says it was essential to imbue the album with the sounds of dawn itself, hanging microphones in trees to capture that special moment when the world wakes up.
"We had all the doors to the recording studio open. Thank God my producer is a good friend and was down with it," he laughs.
"When I was writing the album, I was often in my campervan outdoors, parked on a friend's property or even in a friend's driveway in a suburban area, but there were always trees around and the sounds of birds waking up, the day waking up and the skies filling with blue."
It's been a long journey for Kim over the past few years to reach an album like 'Dawn Sounds'. When last we spoke with Kim, the world was pre-pandemic and he was on tour for the 'Bright Night Sessions' in his purpose-made campervan stage, contending with the ravaging extremes of fires and floods.
Because of his innovative live setup, when COVID hit and the live music industry ground to a halt, Kim was able to pivot and persevere to keep playing shows where artists confined to venues could not. "Fortunately, with my campervan stage I was able to keep playing shows during COVID," he says.
"It was a slog, oh my God. There were some really challenging, highly stressful situations trying to get from state to state, put on shows and fit in with all of the legalities of doing shows during that time.
"But because I have the campervan stage, I was able to do a lot of gigs on people's properties with 40 or 50 people in a massive field sitting down, and in that way it was gorgeous. I had some really stressful times and went into lockdowns for sure, but I sort of battled on and I still played a lot of gigs throughout COVID, which was really nice."
Given his successes with the campervan stage so far, Kim has plans to procure and host similar setups in his key overseas touring markets like North America, Canada and Europe with the idea to partner with fellow musical travellers to minimise their touring expenses.
"It's ridiculous how much money an Australian artist will lose on a European tour, even if it's successful," Kim says. "A lot of that is accommodation, backline, flights, paying crew.
"My mate's dad had a great expression he always said to us: 'Keep it skinny.' No matter how you get around and put on the show, keep it minimal and keep your expenses low."
Kim Churchill has been everywhere, man, but his enduring travels will soon bring him back to Brisbane as part of his biggest (and current) Australian tour yet for the 'Dawn Sounds' album. "Honestly, Brisbane's always been a really beautiful city to me," he says.
"I've bounced around a lot in terms of venues; way back in the day we played a place called The Globe, then there was The Troubadour which became Black Bear Lodge I think; The Triffid has been beautiful to me and The Tivoli I've opened for bands at.
"But I've been hearing beautiful things about Lefty's Music Hall, and I've been waiting to do a show there for ages, so I'm excited to come back.
"I haven't played in Brisbane since before COVID because I steered clear of capital cities and played on farms in tiny towns. It's really nice to be getting back in and re-establishing my friendship with the capital cities. It'll be a real treat to be doing it again."
'Dawn Sounds' will be released 13 January.
Kim Churchill 2023 Tour Dates
Sat 14 Jan - Narrawong Mechanics Hall (Portland)Sun 15 Jan - Kooroona Hotel (Mt Bulla)
Fri 20 Jan - Bridge Hotel (Castlemaine)
Sat 21 Jan - Noodledorf Brewing & Distilling Co. (Koroit)
Thu 26 Jan - Heritage Hotel (Wollongong)
Fri 27 Jan - Drifters Wharf (Central Coast)
Sun 29 Jan - Blacksmith Providore (Yarrawonga)
Thu 2 Feb - Miami Marketta (Gold Coast)
Sat 4 Feb - Festival Of King Island, (King Island)
Fri 10 Feb - Ambleside Distillery (Hahndorf)
Sat 11 Feb - Lion Arts Factory (Adelaide)
Sun 12 Feb - Theatre 44 (Broken Hill)
Thu 16 Feb - No. 5 Church Street (Northern Rivers)
Fri 17 Feb - Lefty's Music Hall (Brisbane)
Sat 18 Feb - Making 40 @ Chiggy's Skateboarding (Sunshine Coast)
Fri 24 Feb - Driftwood Estate (Margaret River)
Sun 26 Feb - Suburban Vibes (Fremantle)
Fri 3 Mar - The Great Club (Sydney)
Sat 4 Mar - Friendly Inn (Kangaroo Valley)
10-12 Mar - Port Fairy Folk Festival
Fri 17 Mar - Haba (Rye)
Sat 18 Mar - The Night Cat (Melbourne)
Sun 19 Mar - Goodness Me Festival @ Riverdell Spiritual Centre (Hillier, SA)
Sat 25 Mar - Moruya Blues & Roots Festival
