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| Birth Name(s) : The Vines |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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| Profession:
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Full The Vines Biography
The Vines are an Australian alternative rock band notable for producing a raw musical hybrid of 60s rock and 90s alternative music. Many critics have branded them as a hybrid of Nirvana and The Beatles.
In July 2001 the band flew to Los Angeles to start recording their debut album, Highly Evolved, with Rob Schnapf who had worked with the Foo Fighters, Beck and Elliott Smith. Recording was put on hold soon after, as funds ran low. David Oliffe decided to leave Los Angeles and return to Australia, due to the fast pace of events and pressure of recording. Recording continued a few months later as a result of increasing record company interest, and band had session drummers fill in including Joey Waronker of R.E.M.. Once back in Australia, they started advertising for a new drummer in late 2001. Soon after, they recruited Hamish Rosser on drums and Nicholls' best friend Ryan Griffiths on acoustic guitar.
In May 2003, the band went into a studio in Woodstock, New York with Rob Schnapf again on production. While Craig Nicholls had talked of having a highly produced album, he told the Australian edition of Rolling Stone in March 2004 that they decided to stick to a less-is-more philosophy. "I wanted it to be - in my head - something grand, with big ideas and that vision sort of thing. But at the same time, that doesn't mean that something can't be special if it's just simple. Because I think that the songs are the main thing".
After the conclusion of the Winning Days tour, the band found itself in harder times. Winning Days had not lived up to the success of Highly Evolved, and had gotten a lukewarm reception from both critics and audiences outside their diehard group of fans. Lead singer Craig Nicholls was becoming increasingly erratic, and had to be barred from doing media interviews after several bad experiences on the American tour.
This came to a head in late May 2004, when bassist Patrick Matthews walked off stage, after Craig shouted at the crowd, calling them sheep, in frustration after repeatedly asking the crowd to stop talking during the first song of a radio promotion performance for national station Triple M at the Annandale Hotel in Sydney. In the aftermath, Nicholls assaulted a photographer, and charges were pressed. Triple M also permanently banned The Vines from airplay on their network (ironically they hardly ever played music by The Vines and the following week the song "Ride" appeared on the Planet Rock countdown aired through the Triple M network). After the incident the band's management stated that the Vines would cease touring in support of Winning Days, but would record another album.
In mid 2005, the group announced they were working on their third album with producer Wayne Connolly. Andy Kent of fellow Australians You Am I filled in on bass playing duties. In November, the band's management announced they had finished recording all the songs that will appear on the album. Mixing and mastering of the tracks commenced January 2006. In mid December 2005, it was discovered that one of the songs from the album had been leaked. Although the song was as-of-yet untitled and unfinished, it contained guide vocals and instruments. The band's manager asked for the song to be taken down from the blog it was found on, and drummer Hamish Rosser also issued a statement on the band's fan club forum asking fans not to post or distribute the song on the internet.
On 19 November 2004 it was revealed that Craig Nicholls has Asperger's Syndrome, a pervasive developmental disorder related to autism. His diagnosis was revealed at a court appearance at Balmain Local Court in Sydney where assault charges stemming from the incident at the Annandale Hotel were dropped. It was suggested the band would never undertake a major tour again because of Nicholls' condition but they planned to perform occasional shows.
Since his diagnosis, Nicholls has had to give up smoking marijuana, due to it enhancing the dangerous side-effects of the medication he has been prescribed to calm his Asperger's Syndrome. Nicholls has spoken about his condition in various interviews when asked about it.
On July 19, 2006 The Vines played a gig at the Annandale Hotel under the name "Joe Dirt" with a new bassist, Brad Heald. Former bassist Patrick Matthews now plays for Australian alternative band Youth Group. They announced to their official fan club website, Dreamin The Insane, that they are ready to perform again and are going to schedule shows "any day now."
On the 23rd of July the band appeared as a mystery guest at the Splendour in the Grass festival, Byron Bay. September 2006 saw The Vines perform at their own shows for the first time in two years. The Vines played in two venues in Sydney and Melbourne. All shows at both venues sold out.
Over the Easter weekend in April 2007, The Vines made three festival appearances over three nights (at Blackjack in Perth, The Great Escape in Sydney and Southern Roots in Hobart). The following weekend they played headline shows in Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane, again on consecutive nights.
The Vines will be headlining a small series of gigs at the Metro Theatre in November. These will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Ivy League Records, and will also see a number of the company's new and upcoming talents such as Josh Pyke, The Red Riders and Hoolahan. |
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