Steve Kilbey & The Winged Heels
A magnificent journey through the exotic, magical and mysterious
-
About
-
Listen / Watch
-
What People Say
<
>
Name
|
Steve Kilbey & The Winged Heels
|
Genre(s)
|
Indie, Rock, World
|
Content
|
Originals Only
|
Taking Bookings
|
Australia Wide
|
About Us
|
Steve Kilbey & the Winged Heels take us on a magnificent journey through the exotic, magical and mysterious: a mystical fertile land that is psychedelic, multi-textured and mind-expanding. This is a diverse coterie of musicians - masters of their craft, blending Gareth Koch's inherent classicism with the pop sensibilities of Barton Price and Roger Mason.
Their double album, ‘The Hall of Counterfeits’, represents perhaps the most eclectic of Kilbey’s output. The Hall of Counterfeits looks inwards and across the globe: tales of history and adventure with touches of world music intruding gracefully throughout. There are fewer indie pop tunes in this collection – although they do surface and when they surface they have the class and stature of anything Kilbey has released before. Kilbey says of the album’s themes: "…time has enabled me to give voice to those same preoccupations: past lives, Indian and Middle Eastern music, religion, ancient history, the Beatles and the many implications of their work". Mysticism and magic, ancient histories and strange foreign lands, deities and fortune tellers: they all roam throughout the landscapes of the vast double album and the live shows. Steve Kilbey & the Winged Heels are poetic shamans leading us through differing textures – binding ancient & modern worlds into a cohesive whole. The songs have an ascendant ethereal tone so it is no surprise that multi-instrumentalist and composer Gareth Koch is a member of The Winged Heels. His medieval-influenced approach to guitars provides delicacy and a hint of exoticism. Other members – Barton Price on drums and Roger Mason on keys – spent time with Australian legends Models – so expertise and innovation is a given genetic constant of the band, providing the indie sensibilities and driving rhythms. The Winged Heels also present more surreal and challenging numbers that are opaque, discordant and with unexpected structures - a shuddering melange of sounds and textures that have the anarchy of something from The Birthday Party. Other songs move to a melodic jingle jangle sound – crystalline strumming and an ethereal, magical pace with mysterious lyrics. Kilbey’s ear for melodic mastery is on display, infused with an air of melancholy highlighted by a harmonica wailing in the distance. Indian mysticism infuses some instrumentation and a dreamy pace that evokes strange and ancient worlds - an atmosphere, a movement conjuring up visions and colours. Many songs swing us back to earth, to the here and now, with inner city indie rock pace and structure: Kilbey’s inherent ear for pop tunes resurfaces with a song that would fit in the church’s catalogue. Shimmering guitars, Himalayan Mountain-sized choruses and a spark, complete with the odd whoop. Dream like fugues emanate from Kilbey’s reverberated, distant vocals in ‘I’ve Been Here Before’ – an insistent drone and ethereal strings: an epic and statuesque track with a ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ vibe. Psychedelic and slightly ominous with a killer melody. ‘Euphoric Recall’ and ‘Amorous Plethora’ have the slight ethnic and exotic feel (the latter with that touch of arch humour Kilbey does so well) while ‘Anglesea’ is filled with the pop sensibilities in a blistering roller coaster of a track. 'Everything’s For Sale’ is a bouncy bar room jaunt, exuberant and joyous with its rippling piano and knee slapping pace and arch lyrics. ‘Tantric Hammer’ is Kilbey at his most indie pop best: celestial melodies and a jingle jangle guitars ringing out loud with arch, humorous lyrics. |
What We Bring
|
All our band members are ARIA Award winners. Steve Kilbey & Roger Mason are inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
The music of the Winged Heels is organic and granular – filled with real and exotic instruments and built with live musicians playing earthy, tangible music. Production trickery is minimised and subtle: this lends the music as a whole a fresh, sharp vibrancy. You can hear the picks scraping, the bows scratching and the crack of the drum sticks on rims. Some songs are mystical and sparkle with an air of melancholy - acoustic, shimmering and hypnotic, strange exotic sounds that filter in and out like a psychedelic dream. By contrast other songs set out with a blistering wall of sound – melodic, thumping – before segueing into a psychedelic ballad: a fuller shimmering melodic texture before blasting back. However many contrast and textures, the anthemic stature remains. Haunting strings, chattering voices, hand claps and other exotic instruments such as hurdy gurdys & dulcimers lend an air of exoticism. The shows often end with the magnificent pop melodies of ‘Love Song Yet to be Named’ where Kilbey’s baritone voice thunders and croons. The anthemic chorus and driving finish make this a perfect ending and confirm Kilbey’s position as the emperor of all he surveys. |
Members
|
Steve Kilbey (vocals, guitar & bass)
Gareth Koch (vocals, guitar & bass) Roger Mason (keyboards, dulcimer, hurdy gurdy, mandolin) Barton Price (drums & percussion) |
Country
|
Australia
|
State / Region
|
New South Wales (NSW)
|
Home town
|
Sydney
|
"STEVE KILBEY & THE WINGED HEELS SOAR INTO ANOTHER CELESTIAL SPHERE WITH DOUBLE ALBUM ‘THE HALL OF COUNTERFEITS’"
Read More...
Arun Kendall, Backseat Mafia
Read More...
Arun Kendall, Backseat Mafia