THE LORDS
OF THE NEW CHURCH
The Lords Hath Mercy...
Karen Bolin
"The Lords of the New Church are
misrepresented by the media," said my
friend Mike, a greying recording engineer,
none of whose grey hairs have ever been
the result of shock or appall, "You shouldn't
be nervous, Karen. They're just ordinary
people."
I felt one of my hairs suddenly turn grey,
being so young, it had to be shock.
"How can you say that?" With a faint
shudder I handed him a compilation of
articles, reviews, critiques and criticisms.
After leafing through them he looked up,
concerned. "You're right, you should be
nervous."
The Lords of the New Church are undoub-
tedly misrepresented.
BEFORE
Friday, Atlanta, Georgia, 688 Club
Skin crawling, blood running cold, I stepped
into the 688 and slid down what seemed a
longer and darker than usual corridor. I'd read
stories of stonehearted Stiv, I'd seen pictures
of these heckling heathens. The Lords of the
New Church are one of the most controversial
bands of the 80's and I was to be witness as to
why.
Nervously glancing around 688's smoke-
filled chamber, I took in the crowd, an excep-
tionally erratic conglomeration even for the
688. I felt a tap on my shoulder. Startled, I
turned around to find a leather-clad skinhead,
asking for a light. I didn't hesitate. But,
Interrupted in mid-flame by the sudden rapid
pulse of Nicky Turner's drums, I dropped my
lighter and turned toward the stage. Frigid steel
twangs echoed as guitarist Brian James
appeared, quickly joined by bass player, Dave
Tregunna Another hair turned to grey. There he
was, the stranger to subtlety, Stiv Bator,
howling an incantation,...we started a new
religion, now the fun's begun... the lyrics to
"Method To My Madness."
This IS madness, I told myself. Standing
back, quivering slightly. I watched the show...
DURING
Saturday, Somewhere in Midtown Atlanta
I got off the elevator on the fourth floor of the
Best Western Midtown Plaza and walked along
an outdoor corridor. Pausing, or perhaps
stalling, leaned against the rail and examined
the view. A constuction site, how attractive...too
far to jump
Deep breath, I moved closer to room 432.
Trembling, I knocked on the door, I was
answered by a pair of imploring blue eyes. Not
bleary, not bloodshot, just shockingly blue,
harmless, the eyes of Stiv Bator. After brief
introductions, he held out an inviting hand,
took mine and politely asked me in.
Never before have I been so panic-stricken.
Having heard tales of The Lords' twisted
escapades, of their practices of Satanic
rituals...having seen pictures of this eerie
entourage and earlier pictures of battered and
bleeding Dead Boy. Stiv Bator...having seen
their haunting performance, I felt I had every
reason to be a bit daunted.
"Hello, I'm Dave," said a tossled Tregunna.
emerging from the suite's less than elegant
bathroom.
Alone with The Lords of the New Church,
faced with the illustrious building-burning
beasts.
Stiv offered me a cigarette. I took one-I don't
even smoke.
"If you have some change, we can have
some pop."
Eager to be amiable, I handed him some
change and he left in quest of Sunkist Orange.
I turned to Dave.
"So, what can I ask you that you haven't
heard yet?"
"I haven't heard whatever happened to my
grandparents."
Simple enough. "Okay, what happened to
your grandparents?"
They died in a car crash."
"Recently?" I sounded concerned.
He nodded. "I was driving the other car."
A smile spread across his face. He knew I
was uneasy, he was toying with me. After a
moment of mortification, I realized he was
joking and began to relax.
Truth of the matter is, the band was actually
a bit cautious of me.
"We've recently been burgled," confided tour
manager, Simon Watson, in an earlier tele-
phone conversation. I had heard that from
another source and investigated further during
the interview.
"I was told that, while in Austin, you had
$30,000 worth of equipment stolen."
Dave looked up, aghast. "What?!! Did you
hear that Stiv? She heard we had $30,000
worth of equipment stolen!"
Stiv shook his head, not phased, while a
laughing Dave tripped into the door to the
adjoining room, which occupied drummer Nick
Turner and his wife, and swung it open. "Did
you hear that?!!
Turning back, giggling, wide-eyed with
disbelief, he explained, "No, we had some
things stolen from the van...clothes and that.
Then when we came back to the room, it was
completely ransacked. We had some money
and jewlery stolen, about $1,000 among us.
But $30,000...that's amazing!"
So the media misrepresents AND exagger-
ates.
"What's this, anyway" asked Stiv, picking up
the somewhat recent issue of Billboard that
Dave had been observing earlier. It was
conveniently opened to a page which con-
tained a rather unfavorable review of a Lords
Los Angeles performance. Apparently the
writer felt that the band had become slack in
their outrageous rock 'n roll onslaughts.
"Isn't it fucking ridiculous?" remarked an
exasperated Tregunna.
"For ages and ages you get slacked off for
thrashing yourself, doing nothing but swearing
and that, and just 'cos that one night you didn't
trash yourself or perhaps you only said one
swear word, they slay you for it."
Stiv looked intrigued.
I tried to explain, "What she said, basically..."
"You can't please everyone all the time,
basically," Dave interjected, "but the rest of the
Palace loved it, didn't they? I think it's fucking
ridiculous, I really do."
Deep sigh. Aggravated, he continued, "It's
like, when we first arrived here, from England,
at the record company in L.A., they showed us
some reviews of the new album, Maybe four or
five of the reviews said, 'Oh, it wasn't as good
as the first album, which was an absolute
classic masterpiece'. And yet, when we
brought out the first album the same people
were saying, This is rubbish'. It just takes them
three years to realize what it really is. They're
so dense."
"Well, what do you think?" I directed my
question to Dave, "Do you think this one's as
good as the others?"
"Well, we used a producer on it. The other
two we produced ourselves. But I like them all
for different reasons. I think this one's different
than the last ones. I don't think it's better or
worse, necessarily."
Different it certainly is. Produced by Chris
Tsangrides, the new album, The Method To Our
Madness, is undoubtedly an unusual approach
to the tords music with its chilling, metal-
laced, guitar dominated sounds. Songs like
"Murder Style" and "Seducer take on new
dimensions by incorporating the use of
prevalent female vocals in conjunction with
Stiv's always agonized tones. Furthermore, the
addition of European pianist, Jacques Lous-
sier, to the line-up on songs such as "When
Blood Runs Cold" and "Do What Thou wilt,"
provides an appealing jazz-flavoured feel,
warming the cold hands of rawness that has
gripped their past material. Of course,
(damned if I should forget...) the almost title
track, "Method To My Madness," was blessed
with a personal touch...verbal abuse, provided
by manager, Miles Copeland:
"Well, boy you better shut your mouth, you
can't afford the bail. Now don't go tellings
secrets. this records gotta sell
How did you get Miles to sing on that?"
questioned.
"We asked him, was the indepth reply 1
received.
Did it take a while to convince him to do it?"
Lasked, pursuing it further.
No.
Stiv threw me an apparently-you-don't-
know-Miles-very-well look, Then he laughed.
It took him a while to get it right, though. We
had to go into the vocal booth and say to him,
Femember the time we burned the hotel in
Finland2 And remember this and remember
thet? After a while ho started to sound real
pissed off and it came out really well.
The building burning episode. Stiv had just
alluded to it.
Functioning better now than I had been
earlier, I acted quickly upon this opportunity to
inquire about the band's most scandalous
Blasco, the aforementioned burning of a hotel
in Finland. Thad read previous accounts of the
event, had heard tales, but nothing had ever
quite explained it to my satisfaction. So explain
to me, Lords...
Looking boned. Stiv tell back on his worn
hotel bed, stared at the ceiling and kicked off
his shoes
"We were just having a party," he said.
"What did we do? Dave cackled, "We did
nothing, we just burnt the hotel down."
It could happen to anyone, you know?"
inserted Stiv "What happened was, we were
on tour with Hanoi Rocks and we were having
this tour party and got this moonshine vodka
See Russian vodka's 200 proot and Dave was
throwing glasses into the fireplace- drinking
Russian style. Then he started throwing
bottles:
I glanced over at Dave who was beaming at
the rememberanco, snickering at Stiv's every
point,
Then the firewood ran out. Stiv con-
tinued, "so furniture went in. The couch was
just too much. It ought the door, which caught
the roof, which caught the whole place."
He smiled at me, probably laughing to
himself at my horrified response.
"Oh God, I uttered, envisioning the "Marriot
Finland fame, red lights flashing, hundreds
of injuries...
But you've got to remember, it wasn't s
hotel, actually, said Dave. They had put us in
tho annex of a hotel which was out in these
woods in the middle of nowhere. It was really
more of a small, secluded ski chalet than
anything else."
My detailed visions wore shattered I should
have guessed it. The Lords were the apparent
victims of the media's proportioning and once
again, they had been misconstrued.
At that point, baving quenched that segment
of curiousity and having decided I was not
Interviewing a group of circus fiame-throwers,
I reverted the conversation back to the new
album.
"Where was Method recorded?" I asked.
"All the groundwork," responded Dave, was
recorded in a place called Chateau Miravel, in
the south of France. It's an amazing place, a
really old historic site."
"It was a Templar's fortress between the 11th
and 13th centuries." Stiv interpreted.
This is very coincidental because the song.
"Seducer," on the new album, was based on
the controversial 1982 best seller, Holy Blood
Holy Grail, which not only challenges the
traditional beliefs of Christianity but expounds
also on the piative Knight's Templar
We had written the lyrics and the idea to
Seducer in London elaborated Bator, and
when we got the Chateau Mirável, wo realized.
It was a Templar's fortress, so... perhaps to
achieve the proper effect.we took a mobile
unit from the studio itself into the chapel. And I
sang inside the chapel
Stiv's eyes suddenly shadowed and his
voice lowered "You know, when we mixed it.
ater on, we heard screams on it, right aftersho
first verse, that no one did. It sorta freaked
everyone out."
I could attest to that. Fascinated, I kept my
eyes glued to his.
"It was really crazy," he said
The word "crazy seems rather appropriate
to associate The Lords of the New Church Not
psychotic as I was finally beginning to
realize just "crazy" in regard to their chaotic
rock'n roll lifestyle and attitude which is so
rately adopted by current musicians. Who else,
through such playful endeavors as releasing
a cover version of Madonna's "Like A Virgin
would dare make an absolute mockery of
today's too lucrative trends in bubble gum pop?
The difference between us and bands like
Duran Duran is, we're more than just in it for
money. Stiv told me. "There's two types of
bands you either get into it for the money or
you get into it because you love the music. We
love the music, and we love the certain
Sfestyle. We perpetuate that lifestyle and we
have a rock 'n roll attitude. Not many bands do."
"Well, where did this rock 'n roll attitude
come from? I demanded. "What made you
decide you wanted to become a musician?"
"Really?" he asked, apparently stalling to
search for a polite way to answer
When I was fourteen years old..uh....
couldn't get laid and all these highschool jacks
were getting taid. I was too little to be an
athlete, so one day I picked up a guitar and
about ton girls came running around me. Also,
the first time my parents ever saw the Rolling
Stones or Alice Cooper they hated them, and
that's why...
He began to philosophize.
See, rock 'n roll should be used to make
social statements, to break down all the
barriers."
Religious barriers? I asked.
"No. just social taboos, he replied, "novor
religion.
But a lot of people think that, through their
music, The Lords of the New Church are
making religious statements that 'pave the way
for the Ant-Christ, claimed
"It's because they're ignorent
(Or perhaps it's because they've been
listening to what the media has to say.)
"Religion is personal. It's the same as
podics, he said
Okay then, personally speaking, what are
your views on God?"
"God," he repeated, stunned, yet seemingly
delighted.
Dave Tregunna, who had already quietod
considerably, flashed me a 'now-you've-done-
it look. Sensing an intense religious colloquy.
he silently vacated the room. Religion is
obviously Stiv's department.
Stiv Bator attended Catholic schools
throughout his highschool caroor. Today
theology is a favorite hobby and Biblical
studies are fan/from alien to him.
All these other religions are slave religions.
They make you worship a God and make you
feel guilty. My religionis, I believe man is God,
and man can become God, just by different
ovolutions of the soul. You work toward either
good or ovil and you can become God by just
working toward good and eventually you
become totally good. That's what God is, it's
just that lorpe
"Is that what you're working towards? I
asked.
1 think everyone is," he smiled. "Some just
don't realize it yet."
I shook my head in disbelief. Not at his
concession, but at the fact that only hours
before, I had been terrified of this man. His
ideas were interesting, certainly not Satanic.
Confused, vontured down that avenue.
"What about people who worship Satan?
Rapid response. "Most people don't know
what they're doing"
Dead and Obviously. The Lords are paving
nothing of the sort
"Why did you choose to call yourselves The
Lords of the New Church? Does that have any
significanco to your religious bellels?"
Stiv pondered a moment. "We had different
names floating around. We put a few together
and it fit the concept. New Church being that
rock 'n roll has replaced religion in today's
society. And also that rock 'n roll is western
civilization's voodoo, which is religion of living.
and also, 'New Church when I went over to
England, there were all these different cuits
lighting each other: skinheads and heavy-
metals, punks and mods. In the late 60's music
brought everybody together and then became
a political force. If people would stop Eghting
each other and get together, it could change
society 1
"So, I recounted, "What you're saying is that
a New Church is everyone pulling together"
That's exactly the idea. And when you look
01 cur audiences, we have skinheads and
hippies standing right next to each other and
they're not fighting."
He looked at me wistfully, so it's working"
AFTER
Saturday night, Atlanta, Georgia, 688 Club
Alone in a comer at the 688, crouched on a
crate by the stage, I silently observed my
surroundings. The atmosphere was hardly
threatening on this occasion, and the horde of
people, waiting to see The Lords not trash
themselves, were the same faces I had soon
the night before, only this time they didn't wear
the tightening masks that my mind had
created Further scrunity of the audience led to
the acknowledgement of a familiar smite.
belonging to A&M Record's Bryan Adams
whose tour was in town an wal
A lap on my shoulder this time came from a
timid, young girl who had seen me scribbling
ximost incoherently, in my notebook and had
asked me what I was writing.
"It's a different kind of representation,"
replied. "And it's a favorable review.