Band Spotlight: Civil Twilight

On March 16th, the audience at a small St. Louis venue was treated to a fantastic show from all four bands in the night’s lineup: local band Peach, Chicago-based AM Taxi and Company of Thieves, and South African natives Civil Twilight.

Without exception, every band fully delivered, making for a show that, from beginning to end, was everything one looks for in a concert experience: fun, intimate, and completely rocking.

For Richard Wouters and brothers Andrew and Steve McKellar of Civil Twilight, this was a far cry from some of the shows the band played when they were first starting out in the U.S. “Our first tour had some of the toughest shows,” said Steve. “We were going into the world as a new band with warped expectations, and then people walked out during our set.”

And sometimes there would barely be an audience to play for at all. The band cites a show in Connecticut where only two people showed up as one of the most disheartening experiences of their career.

But at Tuesday's show, far more than two people graced the audience, with Civil Twilight being one of the main draws for the evening.

Civil Twilight was first formed back in 1996 when Andrew and Richard were in high school, and Steve was only 13. It was “one of those situations where you have a band before you can play instruments,” but the guys quickly worked out the logistics of who would play what, and two weeks later they played their first show. However, it would be a while before they played again since “we didn’t really know that bands gigged,” said Andrew.

What they did know, though, was that they wanted to make something of their music, and that staying in Cape Town, South Africa was not the way to do that. “There’s a very small South African scene, far less bands,” said Andrew. “All your hero bands live here [in the U.S.], and amazing music comes out all the time.”

In what Steve refers to as a move of “youthful ignorance,” Civil Twilight and friend Kevin Mitchell, who serves as band engineer and tour manager, packed their bags and relocated to L.A. “just to see what would happen.”

What ended up happening was years of playing around L.A., learning the business side of things, “just the way it works. You think it’s something like you go to see someone famous, they see you play, and then you just start getting played. But there are a million little things to negotiate,” said Wouters.

With the help of their manager, Michael Carney, in 2007 Civil Twilight got an album made and began touring. Their songs also went on to be featured in several TV shows, including the popular CW drama One Tree Hill.

Since then, things have really started taking off for the band. They moved to Nashville, signed with Wind-Up Records, and have spent the last two years touring, as well as re-releasing their self-titled album Civil Twilight.

From being a band that played to an audience of only two people, Civil Twilight now has a growing fan base, including “Rob, our most hard core fan,” who first saw the band play at a bar in Tennessee where “you expected zombies to come out at any time,” and has continued to follow Civil Twilight on tour. They’ve also had the ultimate rock star experience of witnessing a girl crying because she was scared to come up to them.

The surrealism of their life now doesn’t escape the members of Civil Twilight. According to Wouters, “It’s weird to think of life outside the band,” a sentiment echoed by Steve.

“It’s a really weird lifestyle. I’m not sure what extensive touring teaches you, but it’s what’s really important about what we do.”

And how does the band deal with the constant touring? With “as little communication as possible,” says Steve, as the band acknowledges that one of the most interesting parts of their life is having known each other and their tour manager since they were just kids, and now living and working together as four grownups.

To keep things balanced, “in the last two years we’ve found individual passions,” says Andrew. From writing to painting to woodworking, the members of Civil Twilight each have interests that keep them from being overwhelmed by band life, but at the same time admit that, “I can walk away from music for about ten minutes, but after that I’m always drawn back to it.”

So what’s up next for Civil Twilight?

Aside from touring, “we haven’t really been big on goals,” says Andrew, but the general consensus among the band’s members is to just stay on their current path. “As long as we can keep doing what we’re doing and experience growth, we’ll be happy,” said Wouters.

Civil Twilight hopes to headline a tour in the future, and its members would love the opportunity to someday play with Radiohead or Elbow.

In the meantime, Civil Twilight remains focused on touring, while, as Andrew puts it, also “keeping the dreams and stuff alive. It’s really important remembering those things, like the first time we ever played music.”

As for those who haven’t heard Civil Twilight’s music yet, Steve encourages you to “give it a listen. What we do, we do with love and passion as a service to you. If you like it, or don’t, please tell us.”

Check out Civil Twilight's official website at www.civiltwilightband.com