Nicholas Edward Cave, best known under the name of Nick Cave, was born in Victoria (Australia) in 1957. His father was an English teacher and his mother a librarian. They brought him up as an Anglican, which would later have an influence on his works. During his school years he joined several choirs, such as the boys' choir at Wangaratta Cathedral.
At the age of 19 his father died in a car accident. Nick Cave later explained: "the loss of my father created in my life a vacuum, a space in which my words began to float and collect and find their purpose."[1]
At the age of 19 his father died in a car accident. Nick Cave later explained: "the loss of my father created in my life a vacuum, a space in which my words began to float and collect and find their purpose."[1]
His singing career began with a proto-punk group “The Boys Next Door” in the late 1970’s, which coincides with his relationship with Anita Lane. He considered her as his muse exerting a lot of influence on his work. At the beginning of the 1980’s the group had a great success with its provocative and violent concerts in Australia, London and West-Berlin and changed its name to “The Birthday Party”.
Even if their witty and emotional music had a huge influence on the British rock scene, the band dissolved in 1984. At that time Nick Cave was already addicted to drugs and alcohol. Nevertheless that did not prevent him from creating a new band with a simpler and calmer style, “The Bad Seeds”, which is still productive today. Until now they have released 14 albums not counting singles and live albums. Their music presents an eclective hybridity of blues, rock and post-punk and their lyrics often deal with religion, death, love and America. His most famous songs are Where the Wild Roses grow (feat. Kylie Minogue) and Dig, Lazarus, Dig!.
From the 1990’s onwards, Nick Cave has been performing as a solo artist. Moreover he writes movie soundtracks (such as for Shrek 2, Le peuple migrateur, Scream 2 and 3 as well as for Hellboy) and novels. Last but not least he has also made occasional appearences in movies.
In the last 10 years he won several prizes for his music (MTV European Music Awards, ARIA Awards, MOJO Awards) and also got an award for And the Ass Saw the Angel as Book of the Year.
Anne-Sophie and Aurélie
[1] Quoted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Cave; consulted 16 February 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment