Nick Cave

Description

Iconic drug-rock frontman, brutally poetic songwriter, cult novelist, and critically acclaimed screenwriter - Nick Cave is one of the most revered and singular artistic talents of the past three decades. This collection of interviews tells the story of Cave's thirty-year career in his own words. Having initially risen through the music industry's ranks as leader of 1970s Australian punk outfit the Birthday Party, with whom he produced feedback-drenched, lo-fi rock and gained a reputation for searing live performances, Nick Cave went on to achieve global recognition with his band the Bad Seeds, whose panoramic hybrid of blues, rock, gospel and post-punk provided the discordant backdrop for their frontman's lyrical dissections of religion, love, sex and death. Recorded in the midst of long-term drug addiction and frequently violent inter-band conflict, albums such as 1984's "From Her to Eternity" and 1997's "The Boatman's Call" cemented his status as an unrivalled lyricist with a profound depth of vision. Cave's 1989 novel "And the Ass Saw the Angel", steeped in the same barbed southern gothic mythology that suffused so many of the Bad Seeds' songs, confirmed the versatility of his talents, while 2005 film "The Proposition", a brutal Australian western scripted and scored by Cave, further emphasized his diligence and diversity. It is because of his songs, however, which alternately stare into the blackest human abysses or praise the power of love and redemption, that Nick Cave's status as a reluctant rock icon endures. This career-spanning collection of interviews illuminates Cave's provocative intelligence and enigmatic vision, and offers valuable insight into the risks and gains of surrendering oneself to the rock 'n' roll myth.

Mat Snow is a veteran music journalist and former editor of Mojo magazine whose work has appeared in the Guardian, the Times and the Sunday Times. He lives in London.