The Churchills

The Churchills are exploding onto the East Coast pop/rock scene. Before releasing their debut CD You Are Here (Abrupt/Universal), they’ve already been hailed as “one of New York’s best unsigned bands” by Billboard magazine.

The band’s resume is bursting with screen credits. They’ve appeared and performed their music twice on the Michael J. Fox sitcom “Spin City.” Their music also appears in the Ben Gazzara/Mira Sorvino movie “Too Tired To Die,” and in “Surrender Dorothy” which won the Grand Prize at 1998’s Slamdance film festival. And recently, the Meadow Soprano character on the HBO blockbuster “The Sopranos” has been wearing the band’s t-shirts on the show.

Heady attention for a lesser band, but the Churchills’ music warrants such attention. As their first single “Beautiful” begins, the listener will know that something special is going on. The band’s music results from a tremendous personal and professional chemistry. They infuse any number of different styles into their music, becoming the proverbial melting pot; but it’s all very subtle and comes out as wonderful power pop.

Initially, for instance, Ron Haney’s abilities on guitar are very apparent; but, repeated listenings will reveal his love of heavier music. Kim Henry is far from the token girl in the group ably countering Haney on guitar. Bassist Bart Schoudel’s technical precision is constant, while drummer Phil Bloom’s solid framework and energy grounds it all. Haney, Schoudel and Henry, the core songwriters of the group, trade lead vocals while their cohorts sing backup. The result is a rich blend of voices that seem tailor-made for each other.

Haney and Schoudel met working on the sets of various movies. “It all sounds pretty ideal,” laughs Schoudel. “We’re basically best friends. You wait your whole life to find a situation like this. When I met Ron I was in four bands at the time, hating all of them, but doing it because I love music so much. If we weren’t doing music though, we’d be doing something together, and still hanging out.”

Haney remembers what it was like when storyboard artist Henry joined the band. “She started coming up with guitar parts and writing her own songs, and we started writing songs for her. It ended up being a really nice three-way dynamic. We could bounce things off each other, and I had the same feeling with Kim that I did when I met Bart. I knew that we could do it together and there was none of the antagonism that so often creeps into those situations.” Henry laughs. “I went to see the band after a friend told me about them. From the first time I saw them I knew they were the best songwriters I’d ever heard. They had their songs down, and I just fit in where I could. Since then my parts have grown, and I’ve just added a lot of vocals. Our voices ended up blending so well we just went nuts with the harmonies.”

As you move through You Are Here, it becomes obvious that The Churchills aren’t content with only one or two dimensions to their music. Each song introduces something new that adds to their very recognizable sound. The band embraces many different elements, making seeming conflicts sound complementary.

Each of them was weaned on Smart Pop like Jellyfish, Badfinger, Weezer, and Crowded House. “We try not to wear it too heavily on our sleeves,” says Haney. “A lot of people say they hear certain influences, but we never let that overwhelm the song.” They incorporate what they love into the collective that is the band, and it comes out sounding like something new. The opening track, “Beautiful” is wonderful pop music complete with soaring vocal harmonies and a relentless guitar riff. Here Haney sings of could of beens in his relationship while Henry’s backing vocals evoke the would be suitor who “should’ve tried.” In “Headstrong,” Henry delivers a new anthem for strong-willed women. In verses ripe with ear candy the band sets up the listener for a driving chorus that would make Gloria Gaynor proud. Throughout You Are Here, The Churchills combine thoughtful lyrics with keen musical ability to create an album that is not only great initially, but which grows to become an entire experience as few bands ever master.

“We chose to avoid the trends that might date the music and stayed true to ourselves with it,” Haney explains. “Exactly,” says Schoudel. “There’s no substitute for a good song, regardless of where the mainstream goes. That’s why we tried to stick with a sound that isn’t going to sound too much like this moment.”

For You Are Here, The Churchills used two producers: Mark Hart of Crowded House, the band that had inspired Schoudel to learn music in the first place, and Steve Dudas, a guitarist in Ringo Starr’s band who’s also written for Starr, Aerosmith and Ozzy Osbourne. “We’ve always been about learning all we can, writing our own songs, and are very self-sufficient,” says Haney. “The trick was finding this combination of people that would allow us to put it all to use successfully.”

The Churchills have crafted an album that will sound as great in thirty years as it does right now. The band feels that everything has happened for a reason, and are paying attention to all the details. “I totally believe none of this could’ve happened until we found each other,” says Schoudel introspectively. “I know I’d be doing music, but it wouldn’t hold the same place. Once a song filters through all of us, and passes all our tests, hopefully it’ll find its audience on its own after that.”