Posts : 623 Join date : 2011-10-24 Age : 32 Location : Australia
Subject: Re: Vines magazine and newspaper articles (from the old forum) Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:38 pm
The Vines Beat Magazine (Melbourne Street zine) Jaymz Clements sits down to shoot the shit with the three Vines September 2006
In terms of Australian music, it's harder to find a bad more continuously polarising of opinion, more fantastically sensationalised in their reputation, than The Vines. From their incredibly succesful debut Highly Evolved, that saw them popular overseas before anyone in Australia knew anything of them, to frontman Craig Nicholls' well documented onstage breakdown in Sydney and his subsequent diagnosis as having Aspergers Sydrome, they're known their share of highs and lows.
With the release of their career defining third record, the wonderfully 'fuck you' Vision Valley, they managed to take people by surprise. After the criminally lukewarm reception to Highly Evolved sucessor, Winning Days, few expected a third Vines album, especially after Nicholls' public meltdown. But with the recognition of his medical problem, Nicholls quit smoking weed, stopped eating junkfood and found himself in fine songwriting form - even if the idea of touring as The Vines again was remote, he found himself wanting to record music again, and the result is some of their best work to date.
Its because of the success following Vision Valley that The Vines decided to tentatively rejoin the live circuit; first with a slot as a secret act at Splendour in The Grass and then hitting the mid-sized venues along the East Coast, which promptly sold out. It's safe in the knowledge that people are willing to give them another chance that the band have decamped to their manager's house where they've grabbed a couple of beers, settling down raucously on a couch to chat.
Nicholls is in fine form. Living up to his reputation as a somewhat difficult media subject, there are touches of baiting and sarcasm flies thickly from each side, whilst drummer Hamish Rosser and guitarist Ryan Griffiths laugh and try to find a healthy middle ground of actual answers. The most interesting facet of Nicholls' responses is his curiously affected stoner So-Cal via North Hampshire via British Columbia accent as he tries his uttermost to not give a strait-faced reply, when asked about getting back on stage.
"It's off the chain" he cackles. "Yeah, yeah we're stoked to be back. It was really cool to do Splendour for one of our first whos back; it was a lot better than we could have hoped really." he laughs, with Rosser and Griffiths in chorus. "We're definately not scared though," he drawls slowly in response to a query about fears letting of letting loose on stage, his elongated vowels prompting snorts of laughter from the others.
"With the tour and everything, we're now more looking forward to getting out there again, and playing the new songs - we want to play them loud! And at the same time, we're fresh, recharged."
"We've been dying to go play gigs" adds the gruff voiced Rosser, "we just didn't have a regular bass player (Nicholls' childhood friend and co-founder of the Vines Patrick Matthews walked off the stage at the Annandale when Nichols kicked a photographer, and never returned). "We've used Andy Kent (You Am I) for a couple of TV shows but he obviously couldn't be out full time guy, so we've got a new bass player and now we're back and finally doing it."
Helpfully, Nicholls adds, "Not playing, feels not so great." There's some vaguely hysterical laughter. "Playing, on the other hand, does feel great."
Nicholls then riffs on the idea of cliches when talking about moving on from the troubles of the last two years, saying "it's going to feel great. Yeah, um, we're just going to go and get up there on stage, play our songs and hopefully it all goes well. We're feeling pretty confident and we've just got to try to put the ball over the hoop as many times as we can. Give it 110%, you know?" And he says he's kicked the weed. Cue more hysterical laughter.
Obviously the output of The Vines basically hinges on Nicholls' state of mind at any given moment, and paramount to that is the fact he's gven ganja the boot. It's meant a lot of unnecessary attention has been foisted onto a band that's had to deal with elitist backlash from the word go. Firstly the UK popularity versus a non-existent Australian profile, then the hate directed at the second album, but for all that they've kind of come out on top.
"I think we've dealt with it pretty well, seeing as though we planned it all," Nicholls laughs sarcastically, with an echo from his band mates. "Nah, it's kinda funny how we've gone from being like a music story to a news story. Hopefully we can get back into being more of a music sort of story."
"Yeah it was weird - people started writing about our behaviour and we never wanted that; we wanted them to write about our hair," quips Griffiths, setting the other two off. And they say they've only had a couple of beers. Fark.
But when Nicholls quietly adds "We kinda lost our minds for a while, me in particular. Umm, there was some crazy stuff," you actually feel for this guy who's been thrust into one of the most extreme and isolating situations society can throw at you - that of a young rockstar. "So we took some time off, reassessed and revaluated, and thought "we're gonna get back on stage, but in about two years - that should be enough time off."
And how' it going? "Pretty good, I've been off the wagon. That means I've stopped smoking," He giggles. "for about a year and a half, at least that long. And umm, it's changed my life because I'm not crazy any more." His voice is plaintive and surpursingly childlike as he says this, before finishing quietly "I'm more focused on the band now - not that I wan't before, but I can get things done better. "
"There's definitely a huge improvement, you know?" adds Griffiths. "He's put it all together and that's why we're going back out and touring. It's all good now, which is a relief for us, and it means we get to keep this band rolling."
The Vines play the Corner on Saturday Spetember 9 and Sunday September 10. Vision Valley is out now through EMI.
Kitty
Posts : 623 Join date : 2011-10-24 Age : 32 Location : Australia
Subject: Re: Vines magazine and newspaper articles (from the old forum) Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:38 pm
Walking past the excited line of Vines’ fans twisting around the corner of the Annandale Hotel, I have no idea that the following interview is going to take place. This was the third and final night of sold out shows at the famous venue, which has almost been acting as a ‘home base’ for the band since they relaunched their status as a touring act.
It had been arranged earlier that the interview would be with Hamish Rosser, the long time drummer for the group. But when I meet the tour manager, Sean, I am told that Rosser isn’t on the premises yet, as it is his girlfriend’s birthday and they are still out dining. I was actually pretty relieved to hear this, and was more than happy to wait around a little longer to go over the prepared questions for Hamish, as well as shake off any last minute ‘interview jitters’ that might have set in.
No more than five minutes pass and Sean heads back into the room and approaches me again. He tells me that Rosser hasn’t yet returned, but that Craig Nicholls is upstairs in one of the dressing rooms and happy to go ahead with a short interview. Though I was really looking forward to having a chat with Hamish, I automatically accepted the offer and slipped the piece of paper with the prepared questions back into my bag, knowing that the opportunity to speak with Craig is nothing short of rare.
Before I can even begin to get my head around what is about to happen, I am being taken backstage past the hotel’s kitchen and am walking up the stairs that lead to the to the band area. I try to formulate a very rough series of new questions for Nicholls in my head, but before I know it we turn and enter a small room with no more than two couches and a table.
Nicholls, who is lying back on one of the couches sits forward upon us entering and politely greets us. While we shake hands I explain to him that this was completely unplanned and apologise for the extremely short notice, and he seems quite happy to go ahead with the interview.
I take a seat next to on the couch next to Nicholls and quickly hit ‘record’ on the dictaphone as we begin talking about his band’s return to the spotlight…
12MC: How did it feel to be able play back at the Annandale Hotel with The Vines again?
I thought it was great, I really enjoyed it. I think Thursday’s (show) was a little bit better. We’re gaining more confidence so we feel as the shows keep getting better and better.
12MC: What’s it like being in The Vines now in 2006, compared to two or three years ago?
It’s a lot more exciting now because we have time off. I mean it was exciting in 2003 – we did an album. 2004 wasn’t our best year because the touring was getting to me and I was a bit unwell, so I didn’t really feel that so well.
12MC: Was it time for a rest?
Yeah. We did the album (Highly Evolved) in 2001 and in the beginning of 2002, we were busy all that year and in 2003. And we went straight from playing shows to going to the studio. So by the time we got to that point we were like “yeah, time to take a break.”
12MC: Was there ever a point where you thought it might be the end for The Vines? Or was there something inside of you saying that the Vines will live long?
I thought we were going keep going, it just was a matter of time before we started again. We didn’t know when that would be.
12MC: So was it hard to convince others that the band was still alive and kicking? Or was it something people didn’t even ask?
Yeah, a lot of people didn’t ask because we were out of the public eye so I think people didn’t really care. ‘Cos we put out two albums but since we stopped doing anything I guess that’s when we don’t get much attention - which is only natural. But I always knew that we were going to do something.
12MC: How was it then to record Vision Valley with virtually no expectations? Did being out of the public eye allow you to go in and record the album under the radar?
Yeah it was cool because there wasn’t that pressure and we just felt like we could do what we wanted. We did it in Australia for the first time with Wayne Connolly and he was great to work with.
12MC: So it was a lot more of a laidback approach?
Yeah, because we were in New York when we did Winning Days and in LA for the first one. So, it was cool to be able to do that. And we got to go home at night.
12MC: And to your own bed – so that’s got to count for something.
Yeah, so it felt a little more relaxed.
12MC: Was Vision Valley like a dark diary for the last two years of your life?
Yeah, it was while I was in a pretty dark space when I wrote it. Some of it’s happy, but a lot of it’s kind of aggressive as well.
12MC: Are you enjoying playing the new material to an audience after having played the same songs from the first two records during your previous shows?
Yeah. Obviously we’ve played a lot of songs from the first and second album, but we still enjoy doing them. But most of the show is based around the new album, which is the way it is with most bands. But I’m not sick of playing the earlier ones because we had some time off, so it’s like they’re new again.
12MC: How did it feel stepping out on stage before the thousands of people at Splendour in the Grass as the surprise act?
That was amazing, it was a great reception.
12MC: Was it completely different walking out there compared to the secret ‘Joe Dirt’ show earlier that week?
I guess it was different because the crowd was a lot smaller when we played here (Annandale Hotel), but it was still a nice reception.
12MC: Since you had no permanent bassist at the time of recording Vision Valley, what was it like having Andy Kent from You Am I taking over the bass duties?
It was cool. We toured with them a couple of times before, so we kind of did know him a bit. But it was pretty amazing - I never thought that we would have a member of You Am I play on our album. And he’s a really cool guy.
12MC: Now you can check that off your to-do list: ‘make record with someone from You Am I’.
Yeah, done that (laughs).
12MC: Is there anything else you’d like to cross off that ‘to-do’ list with the band?
We’re kind of trying to keep the expectations pretty low. Even though we have had a lot of drive now, we want to really get back out there. We just want to keep doing albums. Hopefully the shows will get bigger, and with each album we get across to more people.
12MC: So there are some more albums up your sleeve?
Yeah, I’ve already got ten new songs, and we’re going to put out an album next year.
12MC: After this short Australian tour are there any more shows planned for the near future?
Yeah, we’re going to go to America in October.
12MC: In smaller capacity venues, like the ones you’re playing here now?
Yeah, we’re going to be doing clubs in New York, LA, Chicago and Boston. Just like the major cities.
12MC: When moving around the world with the band, is there a big difference between the fans in other countries compared to the fans back home?
Not really, it’s good everywhere. Like the fans are just into the albums and they come to the shows. All the time they’re very nice, so it’s really great.
Kitty
Posts : 623 Join date : 2011-10-24 Age : 32 Location : Australia
Subject: Re: Vines magazine and newspaper articles (from the old forum) Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:39 pm
Meet Me in the Bathroom - The Vines and the View on Tour Carnage! Alex Miller NME September 30, 2006
The Vines' last tour ended with a court case and three years in recovery. The View are Britain's most riot-prone new rock explosion. So whose ideas was it to put them on tour together?
Welcome to the surprise package of 2006 -- The Vines' comeback tour. Last time it ended in handcuffs, a doctor's note and a three-year holiday, this time they've gone and brought Britain's wildest four-piece along. As far as support acts go, you'd be safer with a bomb full of snakes on a plane than The View, who specialise in turning gigs into riots and making Pete 'n Carl look like Will and Grace. One thing's for sure, they're not star-struck by their tour hosts.
"I don't know much about the Vines," confesses Kyle Falconer, broccoli-headed singer of Dundee's barnstormers. "Could you fill us in?"
So NME re-tells this cautionary tale to an eager audience. In 2002, led by Craig Nicholls, a sexy, rageful stoner with a McDonald's fetish and honours from The Muse School Of Space Cadettery, The Vines' grunge-pop debut 'Highly Evolved', was all-conquering. But live they were about as together as a K-hole full of conga eels. In 2004, a disappointing second record (the spectacularly mistitled 'Winning Days'), nomadic touring schedules and too much dope, appeared to signal the end as Craig was taken to court for assaulting a photographer at one of his gigs and subsequently diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. Their star had not just sunk; it had exploded in a napalm tsunami of skunk psychosis and tragic failure. One face in our audience looks shocked. "What do you mean he smoked too much weed, man?" gawps The View's drummer Steve Morrison. "I smoke loads of that shit, I didn't know it could fuck with you."
Dope habits aside, the two bands share many traits: meteoric hype, unpredictable live shows and trojan digestive systems -- minutes before The View are due onstage they're gobbling pizza at a rate Craig once devoured Big Macs.
"We just watched The Vines soundcheck and they looked wicked," says Kyle through a mouthful of pepperoni and beer. "He was dancing about all over me gear," adds moody, pin-up bassist Kieren Webster. "I left him to it --i t looked like he was in the zone." With tonight being The Vines' first UK show since his diagnosis, Kieren and Kyle's glimpse of Craig Nicholls is as close as anyone in this country has come to seeing them in years. In contrast it'd take a megatronic elephant to derail The View's clattering tour machine of spunk and booze.
"Whenever you're on a tourbus with them it's like The Lord of The Flies meets The Bash Street Kids," says 1965 Records' James Endeacott--who, having discovered them as well as The Libertines, knows a thing or two about bad rock star behaviour.
“They’re the funkiest people in the world, but also the naughtiest. Whatever they do, it always involves things which are illegal.”
Too true. The last time NME saw Kieren, he was being chucked out of the VIP room at a Justin Timberlake gig for upsetting a bouncer, while their single launch party a few weeks ago had to be broken up by the law.
“It was a riot!” Kieren laughs. “Too many people showed up and they wanted to cancel it, but everyone started singing, ‘We shall not be moved’ until we started playing.”
“The police turned up,” lead guitarist Pete Reilly continues “but they fell over in the rush and we managed to steal ourselves two policeman’s hats!”
And where The Vines have one iconic figure, The View have a pair. Kieren and Kyle are a songwriting partnership that’s rooted in shared experience and expressed in punk-rock poetry. Tonight, they take centre stage in Nottingham with incomprehensible charisma (we’re not being colourful, their Dundonean drawl is peanut-butter thick). ‘Wasted Little DJs’ may have cracked the Top 20, but it won’t be on its own for long. ‘Superstar Tradesman’ bounds round the set, with Kyle’s youthful lungs exploding with emotion, while ‘Skag Trendy’ sees Kieren taking centre-point, bouncing his way through its drug story. Unflappable and cocky, they bitch at the crowd. “Smile! It can’t be that bad living in Nottingham,” shrugs Kyle, before flinging himself into ‘Wasteland’’s punk-rock whirl.
If the crowd are hushed, it’s in nervous anticipation over which version of The Vines is going to turn up. The chest-beating rock titans of 2002? Or the braying and unpractised band of 2004? It takes five seconds to figure out.
“Rawareorr!!!” explodes Craig Nicholls, darting onstage like a demon and diving into ‘Dope Train.’ Three minutes of pogoing later, and as the song melts into a fizz, one voice pipes up: “Welcome home!” “Thanks,” replies Craig pulling hair from his eye. “It’s great to be back.” He may be heavier than the whippet we once knew (an effect of his Asperger’s medication), but, squint as he hurls himself into ‘Outtathaway!’, and you can still make out the crazed punk-child performances of old. And gone are Craig’s indecipherable wails, the attacks on his bandmates and the unfinished songs. In their place is a lightening bolt of a show.
“Tonight was OK,” mutters The Vines’ guitarist Ryan Griffiths, post-gig, as both bands mingle backstage, “but we can do better.”
Perhaps he’s right, but for a band playing a 20-song set when five was once an ordeal it was miraculous. Craig is feeling positive too.
“Last time we were here we played some good shows and some bad ones. We’re trying to make up for the bad ones, and tonight it went well, I think…thank God.” “It’s a relief to be back in England,” he continues with a wry smile. “It’s like starting again. It’s all very emotional.”
Out back, The View are toasting life with the gaggle of Scottish support that trails their tours. “They’re really good live, aren’t they?” Pete says of the headline act. “They’ve got the tricks. We just plug in and play.”
In fact The View have just found out they’ll be plugging along side The Vines at the Carling Weekend: Reading and Leeds Festivals on Saturday, after being crow-barred into the line-up at the 11th hour. The coming weekend will also provide the new band with their very first taste of bad press.
Fuck it, that review was wrong”, fumes Kyle over NME’s coverage of their Reading performance, three days later backstage at London’s Forum. “It said we didn’t pack the tent, but it was mobbed both times.”
The Vines are also in a reflective mood tonight. “It’s very weird being the older band,” say Craig. Ryan: “You can’t prepare anyone for a life like this. You’ve got to jump in at the deep end.”
Craig: “Last time we toured things went mad. Since I was a bit mad to begin with, I went totally mad. But now I feel good.” Why not? They’ve dispelled four years’ of shitty vibes in two days. Fast forward two hours, and the Forum’s roof is billowing as every kid inside empties their lungs into grunge-pop choruses. Having spent two hours before the show daubing stars on his face, Craig emerges onstage at rock o’clock in a cape, before setting the venues masonry quivering with bulldozing gonzo smashes like ‘Get Free’ and a climatic ‘Fuck the World.’
“We want to be bigger than we were before,” Craig grins later. “But mostly we just want to put on some amazing rock ‘n’ roll shows.” Against all odds, The Vines and The View have done just that.
Kitty
Posts : 623 Join date : 2011-10-24 Age : 32 Location : Australia
Subject: Re: Vines magazine and newspaper articles (from the old forum) Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:40 pm
Veni, Vines, Vici Guitar (French) April 2004
Devastators riffs, reminiscenses of the grungy Seattle, liverpudliens vocals harmony, 63 great vintage, the Australians from The Vines have with their "Winning Days", exceeded the buzz of "The" which appeared 3 years ago now. Now they're rockers in the noble term, taken along by an uncontrolled Craig Nicholls, who's capable to yell to death while he's throwing his guitar in the drum-kit and then you'll see him carry on with a ballad. A genius finally understood ?
Do you think "Winning Days" is better than "Highly Evolved" ?
C.N: Yeah, I think it's better. People will make their own opinion, some will say that it's worse (laughs), but....We had more time to work on it. For "Highly Evolved" it was the first time that we were working in a studio and with a producer...So we just played our songs. We didn't really have the opportunity to explore the musical universe that we're creating. This time we were able to make the songs that we all imagine.
When have been composed the songs of "Winning Days" ?
C.N: Some of them were already created after we recorded "Highly Evolved". For the others, we created them while we were touring, between two hotels...So half of them could have been on "Highly Evolved".
What's the significance of the title "Winning Days" ?
C.N: It's from the song of the same name. It's illustrating the fact that words can have different meanings, it all depends of the context. The title of the album seems like something positive, like if we're saying :"It's our second album, everything's fine for us..." or you can see it like : "Everything's good for everybody, it's a good time for rock...". But what I'm saying in the song is :"The winning days are gone". It's an idea that I have, I think everything is easier when you're young and your brain still can absorb all the bullshit we're serving you.
Do you make songs because there's an album to record or is it constant?
C.N: Oh! No, we love to write songs. Of course we want to make albums but for that we're only taking the best songs. It doesn't matter if there's some songs who won't be on an album. We had to choose a lot of songs when we made "Highly Evolved". For "Winning Days" too. The songwriting is the essence of the group.
braindead
Posts : 363 Join date : 2011-10-24 Location : .
Subject: the vines :magazines,interviews ,reviews... Tue Oct 25, 2011 7:29 pm
more magazines of the old forum
posted by claudio.alma(now braindead )
cmj new music report 15 july 2002:
spin magazine:backstage pass
spin magazine nov.2002 (craig nicholls)
cmj new music: 2004
spin magazine. march 2004 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- bye!
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Subject: Re: Vines magazine and newspaper articles (from the old forum)
Vines magazine and newspaper articles (from the old forum)
Subject: Re: Vines magazine and newspaper articles (from the old forum) 
Tue Oct 25, 2011 1:38 pm
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