Kim Churchill Takes Us Behind The Scenes Of His Berlin Recording Sessions

After The Sun is the first single from an ambitious new project from Australian singer-songwriter Kim Churchill.

The new cut is the first taste of one of four upcoming EPs, each written and recorded in a different country with local artists and producers.

After The Sun came to fruition in Berlin alongside house and hip hop producer Vincent Kottkamp, and Churchill took us behind the scenes of his time there.

One of the very few moments I picked up an electric guitar. I believe we were putting a tasty little riff into the final chorus’ of a song called The Sunroom.

Probably one of the moments where I sat back and watched Vince create absolute gold on a track. Being an electronic producer it was incredible to watch him go. He was like lightning!

Believe it or not, my drink bottle was one my favourite items to lay down percussive beats on. It had a kind of Arabian flavour to it - especially with just the right amount of water. It was freakin’ hard to play in time, though.

Each day would start with Vince firing up his system and me playing a few songs to him fresh. He’d choose one he liked and away we’d go. He’d never heard any of them before.

I really liked the rug in the Berlin studio and wondered whether it wouldn’t make a good backdrop for an EP cover.

At this point, all the blood is rushing to my head and I look a little sleepy. Evidently, it didn’t make it as an EP cover.

Each day I would write a lot of the lyrics on the fly. I had many many demos of me ad libbing the vocals and many had stuck in my mind. But the final creation of the lyrics would happen on the day.

I’m thinking this is probably one of those moments where I’ve worked myself up into an excited tip and am frenetically pacing the room behind Vince and getting excited.

Doing vocals with Vince was wild. We’d normally stop after two or three takes and he’d reckon he had it. I’d ask for a couple more goes and it would shock him, haha. He’d say, “Why do you want to do so many?”. In the past, I would normally sing a song 20/30 times so it was amazing to work so quickly. It forced me to be kinder on myself and allow my voice and the takes I did to be what they were.