Nick Cave is a talented Australian rock musician, poet, writer, screenwriter, and frontman of the popular band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. To understand what genre Nick Cave works in, you should read an excerpt from the star's interview:
"I love Rock and Roll. This is one of the revolutionary forms of self-expression. Music can change a person beyond recognition…”.
Childhood and youth of Nick Cave
Little is known about the musician's childhood and youth. Nicholas Edward Cave (real name of the singer) was born in September 1957 in the small Australian town of Warraknabile.
The boy's mother, Dawn Treadwell, worked as a library assistant, and the head of the family, Colin Frank Cave, taught English. In addition to Nick, three more children grew up in the house - sons Tim and Peter and daughter Julie.
Nick Cave had an early interest in music. After leaving school, he became an art student, where he met like-minded Mick Harvey. Without this musician, not a single Cave project went through in the future.
The creative path of Nick Cave
In the 1970s, Cave and Harvey decided to create their own project. The brainchild of the musicians was called Boys Next Door. The group lasted only a few years and broke up.
Nick and Mick did not sit idle for long. Soon a new project of talented guys appeared on the musical arena. We are talking about the group The Birthday Party. However, the new group was unsuccessful. After a European tour, The Birthday Party ceased to exist.
In the early 1980s, the musicians met the frontman of the popular German band Blixa Bargeld. Nick Cave was so delighted with the work of the musician that he invited him to create a joint band. Bargeld agreed. This collaboration lasted for 20 years.
Creation of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
The new brainchild was named Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The group was formed in 1984. The most interesting thing is that the team still pleases fans with live performances, the release of clips and albums.
Almost immediately after the creation of the group, the guys presented their debut album From Her to Eternity. The record was warmly received by fans and music critics, which motivated the musicians to continue working in the given direction.
After 8 years, the band presented the top album of their discography. The record was called Henry's Dream.
The authoritative British tabloid Melody Maker recognized the album as the best work in Nick Cave's discography. The tabloid gave the disc an honorable 7th position in the list of the best discs of the early 1990s.
Soon, Nick Cave and his team added several more worthy albums to the band's discography. Considerable attention deserved the collection Let Love In. It includes the legendary compositions of Nick Cave's repertoire.
The 2000s were marked by the release of several more albums. We are talking about the collection The Boatman's Call, which took the honorable 26th position in the list of the top 100 best Australian albums. And also about the live record Live at the Royal Albert Hall.
In 2001, the group's discography was replenished with the compilation No More Shall We Part. A few years later, Nick Cave released the Bring It On video, which gained millions of views on the popular YouTube video hosting.
This was followed by several years of hiatus. Fans heard the new album only in 2013. The 13th studio album was called Push the Sky Awa. Shortly before the presentation of the collection, the band left Mick Harvey, with whom Nick Cave went hand in hand for 30 years.
In 2015, All the Gold in California was featured on the soundtrack of the second season of the American TV series True Detective.
Literary activity of Nick Cave
Nick Cave has also established himself as a poet. His pen belongs to the book "And the donkey saw the angel of God", which was published in 1989. Soon he released several more collections, which were liked not only by fans of his work, but also by book lovers. "King Ink. Volume 1" and "King Ink. Volume 2 "were popular with lovers of the poetic word.
Nick Cave in cinema
The star has written many tracks for popular movies. The music of Nick Cave can be heard in the films: "Love and Cigarettes", "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", "The Drunkest District in the World", etc.
Nick also showed himself as an actor. In the film "Dandy" directed by Peter Sempel, he played on the same set with Blixa Bargeld. His debut was so successful that in 2005 he appeared in the western The Proposal. A few years later, with the participation of Nick, the crime film “The How the Cowardly Robert Ford Killed Jesse James” was released.
The musician continued to write compositions for films. Among the most striking works of Nick is the documentary film "The English Surgeon", the film "The Road". As well as the memorable crime drama The Drunkest County in the World.
2014 was remembered by fans of Nick Cave with the release of a new author's project. We are talking about the movie "20 days on Earth." The artist played himself in this film, and was also responsible for the musical component. In the next biopic, The Shepherd's Sacrifice, Cave again played the main role and also wrote the music.
Nick Cave proved himself as an actor and composer of soundtracks. But he managed to try himself as a screenwriter. According to the plots of the celebrity, several films were shot. However, it cannot be said that they were very popular with critics.
Personal life of Nick Cave
For a long time, Nick Cave was associated not only with working, but also with personal relationships with Anita Lane (a member of the Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds group). It was this girl that journalists called the main muse of a man. The couple had a strong relationship that lasted over 10 years. Soon, journalists became aware that the lovers broke up.
In 1991, Nick Cave became a dad, twice. Brazilian journalist Vivien Carneiro gave birth to one son of a celebrity, and compatriot Bo Lazenby gave birth to the second. The birth of children did not make Nick say goodbye to his bachelor life. Cave did not take any of the women down the aisle.
Nick then dated English model Susie Beek. Young people met in 1997, and a few years later they got married. Bick gave birth to twins to Nick, who were named Arthur and Earl.
In 2015, it became known that one of the twins had died. It was all due to an accident. Arthur fell off a cliff. He died on the spot from multiple injuries. Susie and Cave experienced a strong emotional upheaval. For a long time they did not appear in public.
Nick Cave has a passion that is not related to music and cinema. He creates designer stage outfits called Soundsuits (“Sound Suits”). Things are created from a wide variety of materials, while they are incredibly comfortable and completely hide the person inside. The basis of the material of such things is garbage. Most often these are branches, feathers, wire, leaves.
Nick Cave: interesting facts
- Nick Cave opened a virtual museum and called it the "Important Bullshit Museum". Each Twitter user can post any photo of a trinket with an interesting, in his opinion, history.
- The musician refers to himself as an "office plankton". He is not an adherent of the endless search for inspiration, therefore he believes that even creative work must be done mechanically.
- Cave is a Ph.D. Surprisingly, the musician has three honorary degrees from UK universities. Moreover, he is also a doctor of jurisprudence.
- The musician dyes his hair black and admits to reporters that he does not know what his real hair color is.
- Interestingly, Nick Cave's first novel, And the Ass Beheld the Angel of God, has been translated into over 30 languages.
Nick Cave today
In 2016, the discography of the Nick Cave band was replenished with the next album Skeleton Tree. The concert, which featured new tracks, was recorded by director David Barnard. Soon bright video clips were released for the songs Jesus Alone and Red Right Hand (Angel Heart).
Three years later, the musicians pleased the fans of their work with the release of the disc Ghosteen. The album was warmly received by fans and music critics. The collection material was recorded in 2018-2019. at the studios of America, England and Germany. The producers were Cave himself, Warren Ellis, Lance Powell and Andrew Dominic.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds shows have been canceled or rescheduled. But 2020 has not been without news.
In 2020, Nick Cave announced to the "fans" that he would soon be releasing an Idiot Prayer concert. The release will take place this autumn. The show aired on July 23, 2020. In it, the musician performed 22 compositions to the accompaniment of the piano.
At the end of February 2021, the Australian singer, together with his musical group, presented a new LP to fans. The record was called Carnage. Note that his longtime friend and colleague Warren Ellis took part in the recording of the collection. The record was topped by only 8 works.
The musician dedicated the LP to self-isolation and social distance, characteristic of lockdown and drug addiction. The record is already available on streaming services, and will be released on CD and vinyl at the end of May 2021.
