Kim Churchill, who will tour Australia in June showcasing his new EP 'I Am', gives us the low-down on his next show: “It's gonna be busking on 'roids.”
Currently exploring the Great Ocean Road and “catching a few waves”, Kim is getting inspired before he kicks off his next touring season.
Churchill is everything you want an Australian indie-folk artist to be. Down to earth, loves a whiskey or two, always down for an adventure, oh and rocks a head of shaggy, blonde hair, which is natural by the way. “It goes blonde from the sun and salt water,” he admits.
“I actually used to be teased a lot when I was a kid and first started surfing because everyone was certain I had dyed my hair,” Kim says.
Before his run of Australian shows, Kim will tour Europe. “I've been lucky enough to tour Europe a lot over the past few years and it's becoming a really beautiful part of my year,” he says.
Kim will also be taking the opportunity to catch up with all of his mates over there. “I'm getting to a stage where a lot of my dearest loved ones are scattered across Europe, so my absolute must do is [to] go see them,” he laughs.
While in Europe he will perform in Berlin, which is where his latest music video for his single 'After The Sun' was filmed. His film clip philosophy is to create a visual diary of the creation of the song. “Basically, just documenting my travels and specifically my travel to the place where the music was recorded... more of a visual snapshot of the world that the song grew from and was the soundtrack at the time,” Kim says.
With all of this touring, Kim has his travel essentials pretty well prioritised. “This sounds so lame but it's true. I have these specific headphone earbuds that I can sleep with that block-out sound and an eye mask... that's probably on par with my toothbrush in terms of needing.
“I could say something cool like my guitar or my favourite vinyl record or something but yeah, headphones and an eye mask [are my essential travel items],” Kim laughs.
A performer on stage since he was 16, Kim has his nerves pretty well under control when he plays live. “These days, I sort of like being nervous; it means there is this energy inside of me that is jittery and has a bit of life to it, and if I can harness it it's actually a pretty handy tool.”
However, it wasn't always that easy for him. “When I was younger, I would have pretty severe anxiety before I went on and I kind of counteracted that with drinking a few beers.
“Some of the venues I would literally just go buy a beer or ask for one and they just presumed I was 18 'cause I was in there.“Or I would sneak out to the car and have some older dude buy me booze and I would literally just down two or three beers in the car park on my own so I wouldn’t get too anxious about playing.”
Kim believes his upcoming tour has captured the energy and spontaneity of his busking years. “I think it's like a busking show taken to the next level with production... I will be preforming solo once again, but it is a souped-up version of the old, solo show.”
'I Am' EP is released 3 May.
Kim Churchill Australia Tour 2019
Fri 7 Jun - Oxford Art Factory (Sydney)Sat 8 Jun - Woolly Mammoth (Brisbane)
Sat 15 Jun - Howler (Melbourne)
Fri 21 Jun - Lion Arts Factory (Adelaide)
Sat 22 Jun - Jack Rabbit Slims (Perth)
