Feeling innovation: Australia-based The Church brings tour to Lensic on Oct. 7

Oct. 6—Steven Kilbey is ready to travel to the United States and begin to tour.

He's also ready to head to New Mexico to perform.

"I have my T-shirt with the New Mexico zia on it," he says during a recent interview. "It's one of my favorite places to visit."

Kilbey is a member of the psychedelic band The Church. The band is touring in support of its 26th album, "The Hypnogogue," which came out in early 2023.

They are slated to perform on Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Lensic Performing Arts Center in Santa Fe.

Kilbey says the band's last show in New Mexico sticks out for the wrong reasons. The band performed at Meow Wolf for the first time and Kilby felt like he had a bad show.

"It was one of the worst of my life," he says. "It was strange. All of the band had an argument on stage and we walked around angry. The room didn't hold our sound right. The set-up was impressive. I walked out of that show not feeling the best that I could. It will be different this time."

The Church formed in 1980 in Australia by Kilbey. The current line up is rounded out with Tim Powles, Ian Haug, Jeffrey Cain and Ashley Naylor.

The band is known for its atmospheric blend of indie rock, shimmering post-punk, icy dreampop and psychedelic post-rock.

Their expansive music career yielded a string of hit songs, including "Under the Milky Way," "Reptile," "The Unguarded Moment" and "Almost With You" amongst others.

Kilbey says with 26 albums in its catalog, putting together a proper show can be intimidating.

He says the band is brand new in many ways, including the addition of new members.

"Against all odds, we're improving," he says. "This rock and roll world is a strange thing. With the new players, I feel like we're a revitalized band. Everyone is enthusiastic. Jeffrey came to us from Remy Zero. Ash is one of our guitarists, and he's brought a lot of enthusiasm and got the band on a whole new level."

Kilbey says there was a time he stopped loving performing music for a time.

He feels with the new members, there's less fighting and each musician makes each other better.

"The band has been through so many mental incarnations," he says. "After the success of 'Starfish,' that's when the arguments started. Then players started leaving. It's definitely been a journey with this band. The fans have kept us going because they show up and support us. That's what I'm also grateful for."

The Church began the album in 2019.

"It took us a few years because we had setbacks with COVID and then the fires here in Australia," he says. "Those events also allowed us to step back and really see the big picture."

In the more than 40 years since its inception, Kilbey says despite the band's troubles, there has been some great music.

"It's what I envisioned since the beginning," he says. "We have always delivered the best we could do every night. I think as new fans discover us, they can see the dedication we've had to this purpose."