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Nick Cave

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Nicholas Edward Cave (born September 22, 1957) is a musician, songwriter, poet, author, and actor. Cave was born in Warracknabeal, Australia, the son of (librarian) Dawn and (English-teacher) Colin Cave, brother of Tim (b. 1952), Peter (b. 1954) and Julie (b. 1959). In 1989 his first novel, And The Ass Saw The Angel, was published. The themes of the book greatly influenced (and were influenced by) the first few albums of his highly-successful band, The Bad Seeds.

History

In high school at Melbourne's Caulfield Grammar School, Cave met Mick Harvey, Tracy Pew and Phill Calvert with whom he founded his first band, The Boys Next Door. Cave also studied painting at the Caulfield Institute of Technology in 1976, but dropped out in 1977 to pursue music. The band played a role in Melbourne's post-punk music scene of the late 1970s, playing hundreds of live shows, before changing their name to The Birthday Party and moving to London, then West Berlin.

The Birthday Party disbanded in 1984, and Cave and Harvey went on to form the first version of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds with guitarist Blixa Bargeld (from Einstürzende Neubauten), bassist Barry Adamson (formerly of Magazine) and guitarist Hugo Race. Cave's girlfriend Anita Lane was also a creative influence and sometime lyricist. This line-up recorded their debut album, released in 1984, From Her To Eternity,

Several musicians have come and gone; Cave and Harvey have been the only constants. Over the years the line-up would change to at times include:

Cave relocated to West Berlin, Germany in 1984 and started working on what was to become his debut novel And The Ass Saw The Angel. While there, he released few Bad Seeds albums: The Firstborn Is Dead, Kicking Against the Pricks, Your Funeral, My Trial and Tender Prey. In 1988, Cave also released his book King Ink, a collection of lyrics and plays. He also appeared in Wim Wenders' movie Wings of Desire for which he wrote the score and in which he performed few songs.

Cave left West Berlin shortly before the fall of Berlin Wall and moved to São Paulo, Brazil, where he married Viviane Carneiro. The two have a son, Luke, born 1991. In spring of 1993, Cave moved back to London. He now lives in Brighton, and is married to actress Susie Bick, with whom he has twin sons, Arthur and Earl.

Nick Cave's music is featured in several of Wim Wenders' movies, including Wings of Desire (where Cave also appears, doing a live performance), Until the End of the World, and Faraway... So Close. Cave also co-wrote and acted in Ghosts... of the Civil Dead, a 1989 independent movie. Also in 1989, Cave published his novel And the Ass Saw the Angel, to critical acclaim. Cave also starred in the 1991 film, Johnny Suede, with Brad Pitt.

In 1996, Cave and The Bad Seeds released an album, Murder Ballads, which was, as the title suggests an album of songs about murder. A duet with Kylie Minogue, Where The Wild Roses Grow, was a mainstream hit, winning an ARIA Award for "Song of the Year". After The Boatman's Call, Cave took some time rehabilitating from his heroin and alcohol habit, before resurfacing with the dark and gloomy No More Shall We Part in 2001.

In 1998, the same year that Cave issued a 'Best Of' CD, an intriguing compilation surfaced in Australia entitled Original Seeds: songs that inspired Nick Cave featuring Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen, among others (Original Seeds Volume 2 was issued in 2004).

In 2000, one of Cave's heroes, Johnny Cash, covered Cave's song "The Mercy Seat" on the album American III: Solitary Man, seemingly repaying Cave for the compliment he paid by covering Cash's "Long Black Veil" on his Kicking Against The Pricks album. Cave was then invited to be one of many rock and country artists and luminaries to contribute a paragraph or two to the liner notes of the retrospective Johnny Cash double CD The Essential Johnny Cash, released to coincide with Cash's 70th birthday. Subsequently. Cave got to cut a duet with Cash on a version of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" for Cash's American IV: The Man Comes Around album (2002)

After the release of the 2003 album Nocturama Blixa Bargeld announced he was leaving the band to devote more time to Einstürzende Neubauten, leaving Mick Harvey as the only surviving founding member of the band other than Cave himself.

The Proposition, a film written by Cave, directed by John Hillcoat and starring Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, John Hurt, David Wenham and Emily Watson, has recently finished filming in Queensland.

In 2005, Cave and The Bad Seeds released, B-Sides & Rarities a comprehensive three disc 56 track collection of b-sides, rarities, and tracks that appeared on film soundtracks.

Trivia

Discography

His albums produced with the Bad Seeds include:

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