The Driving Thing of It: A Conversation with Mick Harvey
Mick Harvey discusses his decades-long music career, working on cover songs written in another language, and finding longevity in the music business.
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Posts by: Tony DuShane
The Rumpus Interview with Rich Ferguson
Rich Ferguson discusses his debut novel New Jersey Me, moving to the Garden State from the South as a kid, and how music has influenced his writing.
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Nick Cave Monday #53: The Sick Bag Song
In a special edition of Nick Cave Monday, Tony DuShane attends a launch event for Cave’s new book, The Sick Bag Song.
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The Rumpus Interview with Jeff Campbell
San Francisco-based musician Jeff Campbell talks about what it’s like to perform on TV in front of a national audience, the rising popularity of singing competitions, and working alongside your significant other.
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Nick Cave Monday #52: The Bad Seeds
In our last installment of Nick Cave Monday, it is time to pay tribute to the music mafia who are The Bad Seeds. As you would expect, The Bad Seeds are kind of a supergroup unto themselves. Though not in an awful Chickenfoot type way. Their longevity with the group proves that something definitely works, […]
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Nick Cave Monday #51: “Your Funeral, My Trial”
I loved you babe, but I had to kill you. Nick once said that he kills people in his songs so he doesn’t have to kill them in real life.
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Nick Cave Monday #50: “As I Sat Sadly By Her Side”
Earth is a bleak planet and the majority of humanity is selfish, each following the compulsion of their id. All you need to do is look out the window to be disgusted at the theater of the human race. Yet, leave it to Nick to create a beautiful, romantic ballad to capture the essence of […]
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Nick Cave Monday #49: “Fears of Gun”
Heartbreak drives a man to drink. Especially when he’s in love and his lady has booted him out of the house. And he drinks and he drinks, until days later, when the hangover kicks in. Then he waits, because only time can heal a morning of sickness after a night of woe.
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Nick Cave Monday #48: “Red Right Hand”
When the bell chimes a man emerges from the shadows. Or it’s a ghost who wants to haunt your soul. Or it’s a guru to give you enlightenment for your path. Or it’s a god. There’s really no salvation with this murky character spoken of in “Red Right Hand”, only the journey that Nick takes […]
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Nick Cave Monday #47: “More News From Nowhere”
Have you ever approached an attractive girl and said something clever but it turns out to be totally obvious? Yeah, me neither.
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Nick Cave Monday #46: “Loverman”
There is a sexy beast waiting to rip your clothes off. He’s dealing with a Devil inside because he’s a man with sexual urges. “Loverman” was released on the 1994 record “Let Love In.” We’re Devils in the sack and you’ll enjoy it, deal with it, love it. L is for LOVE:
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Nick Cave Monday #45: “Do You Love Me?”
Falling in love is a putrid, vile mind space filled with demons. It’s also an angel glowing in white light luring you into her. Let’s explore love, Bad Seeder style. One quick announcement, Nick Cave Monday ends at #52, so there are eight Nick Cave Mondays left to enjoy.
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Nick Cave Monday #44: “These Boots are Made for Walkin'”
Punk rock had exploded in New York City and the U.K., but kids in the Southern Hemisphere probably had to pay a lot of money to buy imports or have records shipped from the north.
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Nick Cave Monday #43: “Stranger Than Kindness”
Anita Lane was one of Nick’s early lovers. When Nick Cave and The Birthday Party left Australia for London, Anita was right by his side. She’s credited for co-writing other songs by The Birthday Party as well as “From Her To Eternity” from The Bad Seeds first record.
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Nick Cave Monday #42: “We Call Upon the Author”
Many songs by Nick have a way of throwing you down for a good tickling and then, when everything is happy times, he’ll lyrically smack you upside the head. Pay attention, he’s going deeper than that. He’ll sing you a lullaby before dropping you to the floor and sticking his boot on your throat. As […]
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Nick Cave Monday #41: “Momma’s Boy”
Nick Cave was a singer named Freak Storm in the 1991 film Johnny Suede. Tom DiCillo wrote and directed the film. It was his directorial debut. Before this film he paid his dues as cinematographer for Jim Jarmusch. One day, Nick was at DiCillo’s friend’s place in London and saw the script for Johnny Suede […]
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Nick Cave Monday #40: “City of Refuge”
If you commit manslaughter, you better run to the City of Refuge. It’s what the Old Testament tells us to do because under biblical law the family of the victim can kill you even if it was an accident. We learned about an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth in Nick […]
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Nick Cave Monday #39: “Fifteen Feet Of Pure White Snow”
In a dreary, isolated town stands a building. Throughout the bland hallways are rooms that have been deserted for years. Old computer equipment, basically just a bunch of shit around. That doesn’t stop Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds from cleaning it up, bringing in some gear and throwing a moderately attended party.
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Nick Cave Monday #38: “Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!”
Rest in peace. RIP. That’s what we say when someone dies. So this Jesus dude in the Bible resurrects some people according to the gospels. One of the privileged to come back from the dead was Lazarus. Lazarus was in his tomb and all of his family wept. Jesus asked them to pull the stone […]
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Nick Cave Monday #37: “The Singer”
What does it all mean? Does it even matter that we are all Bad Seeders in this existence? Is the journey worth it? When we suck our last breath and the only good we end up doing for planet Earth is decaying in the soil, will anyone care? Sure, some will care, some will guffaw, […]
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Nick Cave Monday #36: “Dead Joe”
Even though we’re in the month of May, we can always use a little bit of Christmas spirit. The Birthday Party, Nick Cave’s pre–Bad Seeds band, gave us a song that we can sing anytime of year. There was this dude named Joe. Well, he’s dead, totally mangled in a car wreck. It’s such a bloody […]
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Nick Cave Monday #35: “The Lyre of Orpheus”
Happy Mother’s Day. And a big hug to Dawn Cave, the mother who gave us the King of The Bad Seeds. Thank you, Dawn, and thank you, Calliope. Calli-a-who? Calliope was the mother of the greatest musician of all time, Orpheus. So it’s quite proper that Nick would turn some Greek mythology on its head […]
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Nick Cave Monday #34: “The Ship Song”
“The Ship Song” can induce emotions of love, lust and affection. It’s a sexy and soft ballad. If you listen to the song and no one is around to kiss or fondle, there is no shame in showing your affection to a soft pillow. Many children were conceived while listening to “The Ship Song” when […]
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Nick Cave Monday #33: “I’m Gonna Kill That Woman”
Have you ever been harassed by a bully? Someone who comes up to you on the school playground. And all you’re trying to do is eat your ice cream cone in peace. So the bully comes up to you and first asks why you’re wearing a fitted suit and have your hair slicked back. You […]
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Nick Cave Monday #32: “West Country Girl”
What do you do when you think a girl is hot and you really want to get with her? You write her a song. Nick Cave did that for PJ Harvey and “West Country Girl” was released on “The Boatman’s Call” in 1997. Thus kindled the romance between Nick and Polly.
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Nick Cave Monday #31: “Deanna”
Deanna was a girl from Melbourne, Australia. She meant so much to Nick she got her own song on the 1988 album, “Tender Prey.” If you have ever seen The Bad Seeds live in the last 25 years there is a very good chance “Deanna” was on the set list. The Bad Seeds even performed […]
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Nick Cave Monday #30: “Heathen Child”
Grinderman announced their breakup about a year ago. But guess what Bad Seeders? Grinderman is performing two sets at Coachella in the coming days. Let’s revisit the first single from Grinderman 2, “Heathen Child.” At the core of this humorous song is a message…In the end, we are all alone on this giant explosion that […]
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Nick Cave Monday #29: “Avalanche”
Around the year of our Lord 1984, there were fans of The Birthday Party wandering aimless through the streets. Their post-punk gods vanished. But, just like a dude named Jesus, there would soon come a resurrection, into a different body of sorts.
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Nick Cave Monday #28: “Jack The Ripper”
Jack the Ripper killed women in real life. He is known as Jack the Ripper, and was never caught for his violent crimes. Nick Cave kills people in his music. He is known as the greatest singer in the world, and is in a band called The Bad Seeds. He has been caught by video […]
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Nick Cave Monday #27: “Tupelo”
It was a dark and stormy night in April 1936. The city of Tupelo, Mississippi was ravaged by a tornado that killed more than 230 people. It is ranked as the fourth deadliest tornado in U.S. history. Tupelo is also the birthplace of Elvis Presley. But the real reason we’re here is because “Tupelo” is […]
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