Interview with Craig Nicholls 2014 (audio with transcription)

I dug around a bit in the forum and found that Craig did an interview on Double J. It seems it was the only interview about Wicked Nature in which we can actually hear Craig's voice.

It was a 7-8 minutes long interview, very pleasing to listen to. I just love listening to Craig talking about music. He always sounds so serious about it. I really like that he said:

"when I hear people or if I get a letter from someone saying, you know, it really means a lot this song or this album you did. And, uh, that's really cool."

It's good to know that he cares when people appreciate his music. I wish he had done some interviews for In Miracle Land. I can't find any.... I hope he knows that fans are still here, still loving his music and always looking forward to his new songs. I wish I could let him know that his music means so much to me and I want to say thank you, Craig.

The original link of the interview (http://doublej.net.au/programs/lunch-myf/the-vines) is broken. But lucky enough, some Russian sites kept the mp3! So I downloaded it, uploaded to YouTube (hope there won't be any copyright infringement) and transcribed it. I used an auto-transcribing tool and English is not my language so there may be a few mistakes.

You can listen to it here: https://youtu.be/SyxYHFLiy9M

Transcription:

Myf:
Short and sharp as always, that is The Vines highly evolved from an earlier record of this. That was the title Highly Evolved. The Vines have just released a brand new double album, which is good news for fans, and it's called Wicked Nature. And joining me in the studio is Craig Nicholls, frontman and singer from The Vines. Well, Craig, congratulations. The album is out today.


Craig:
Yes, thanks a lot.


Myf:
Yeah. How does it feel to finally get it there?


Craig:
It feels great. Yeah, we're very proud of this double album. And yeah, I'm just glad people can hear it now.


Myf:
All right. Why would you release a double album? No one's releasing double albums at the moment. Why did you decide "I've got so much stuff and it's all great. It's gotta go on."? Was that the reason?


Craig:
Well, yeah, we had a lot of songs and I was really happy with them. We did the first album. And then we just had, still had more songs and we just yeah, did more. And so we just ended up a double album. Yeah, so...


Myf:
Is there a different feel to each album?


Craig:
Yeah, there is. That the first one is, uh, kind of wanting to be a rock and roll album. There's only really one or two ballads on there. And the second album, uh, second part is more 60's. It's kind of less distortion, cleaner guitars and more ballads.


Myf:
Yeah, I like that. I like that sense on the second album. Those are really great sounds in there. Do you think you're writing different kind of music compared to, say, what you used to write and what people know of The Vines?


Craig:
Well, I don't think so. I think, I like to think I'm getting better. I think with the lyrics, there's more lyrics in these songs and I'm singing about things, the environment and whatever frustrations I have with technology.


Myf:
So tell me about those frustrations with technology, because we all have them.


Craig:
Yeah, well, it's called Wicked Nature, the album. And, uh, well, the thing is with technology is that I don't like it at all. And I have a phone. I don't drive a car. I don't use a computer or anything like that.


Myf:
No!


Craig:
So, yeah, I'm kind of like really back in the Stone Age.


Myf:
Is there a reason for that? Why why do you do that?


Craig:
I'm not sure. I think I'm pretty strange and I just very much like things that I can touch. And like I like CDs and DVDs, and that's about as far as I'll go. iPods and all that stuff. I just like actually having CDs. And, uh, it goes against my instinct. I think the kids should be using their hands more and, uh. Yeah, I just don't relate, but I guess I never really have, so...


Myf:
What do you mean by you never really have a view, always felt this way that you kind of wanna touch things, you wanna make music with real instruments?


Craig:
Yeah. Yeah. Look, I just I've never been good at technology. Well we've used Pro Tools before, which is good. But it's something which I know nothing about. With this album that we recorded it very quickly. We did one album in 12 days, 12 tracks, and the other one we did 10 tracks in five days, so that two complete songs a day. And, uh, yeah. And it was done live and we wanted to be fun, which it was. And, uh, I've talked to a lot of people. They asked me about songwriting and I think people can get caught up when they do have the ability to use Pro Tools and stuff. It kind of takes away from the other side of it. Yeah...


Myf:
Yeah, you might be right. It may be when you have to kind of get it all on tape and just get it done.


Craig:
Yeah.


Myf:
There's a real raw energy there, isn't?


Craig:
Yeah. It's very just much about the songs and the lyrics and not really much about productions and kind of collaborations and all the kind of circus that goes along with most of the kind of stuff you see today.


Myf:
And you wanna...You said you wanted to have fun. Has there been other times when maybe it wasn't as much fun? And what did you do to make sure that then this experience was better?


Craig:
Well, we partied and we had a good time. We had a good work ethic as well. So, yeah, well, it's been fun before doing all the albums. I guess there's been a high level of production on some of them, which takes more time doing drums separately, bass, and that's good. But for this one, we just I just want to do it really simple. And just like a garage band.


Myf:
Yeah.


Craig:
Yeah.


Myf:
Pair it right back.


Craig:
Yeah. Just just just accepting that we are a guitar band and kind of embracing it and. Yeah.


Myf:
Did you battle with that, accepting that you were a guitar band for a while? Did you, you know, I mean, you obviously, with the previous album you sort of tried a few other angles.


Craig:
Yeah, it was good. We worked with a different kind of producer, um, Chris from the bumblebees, which was good to do.


Myf:
Ah, okay.


Craig:
Yeah, he did, he could, got sounds which I could never get. Yeah. It was interesting. Yeah. But I just think it speaks for itself I guess.


Craig:
Do you have good memories of those earlier days when it all just blew up?


Craig:
Yeah.


Myf:
You guys.. What was that like?


Craig:
We have a lot of crazy memories. Yeah. A lot of kind of things happening quickly and yeah I mean, I've always been obsessive about music and the band and so it's been great. Yeah. To be able to get opportunities to go to America to record or go and play in Europe. And it's all very good. And I still... I'm very thankful at this point that I still love music and I'm still doing it and I get to record and... yeah...


Myf:
Yeah, yeah. Well you have experienced some extreme ups and downs haven't you, since then you were diagnosed with Asperger's? And you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.


Craig:
That's alright. And I...


Myf:
But did that help in terms of your music making once you had a diagnosis to then focus on what you knew was like, did it give you an understanding of what was really going on? And did it help you with your creative process once you knew?


Craig:
Yeah, it did give me... It kind of let me know that there was an explanation for some of this kind of antisocial behavior. I was just very... I think most people, most singers or songwriters are self-absorbed. And...


Myf:
What are you saying?


Craig:
No, I don't think... That's, that's the nature of it. I mean, if you've got to...


Myf:
You're right.


Craig:
You've got to have a kind of a big head or a big ego to do anything these days.


Myf:
Yeah, it's tough. You do. You've got to have a big ego to survive.


Craig:
Yeah...


Myf:
...I think.


Craig:
It's true. I've got... I feel __ guilty about it that it is such a self-absorbed thing. But yeah, I'm glad that... It's the only thing I really feel, you know, connected with and I think it's good. And when I hear people or if I get a letter from someone saying, you know, it really means a lot this song or this album you did. And, uh, that's really cool.


Myf:
You write this song Funny Thing, which is, you know, very very kind of deep and revealing for you. Can you talk about what you, you know, experiencing when you wrote that song? What sort of feelings that... that you thought you were expressing through this song?


Craig:
Um, well, yeah, it comes from where a lot of the songs come from in the music, from isolation and desperation. It sounds kind of sad. I mean, it's good and it is sad in a way, but it is good for the artistic side. And that is just kind of just sing... That song is... kind of ends the double album and it's kind of triumphant feel, but also kind of depressing. But the music's uplifting, but the lyrics are, uh, yeah, it's kind of like saying, well, I've made these decisions, there's no sympathy for the devil and yeah, I just make the best of it from here on out.


Myf:
Well, it's been lovely to talk to you, Craig. Good to see you again. And best of luck with this. Right. Thanks a lot. Thank you very much.