1999-Craig NichollsGuitar, vocals1999-
Patrick MatthewsBass1999-
David OlliffeDrums1999-2001
Hamish RosserDrums2002-
Ryan GriffithsGuitar2002-
The Vines are led by Craig Nicholls, who formed the band with bass player Patrick Matthews after they met while working at a McDonald's in Sydney, Australia during their high school years. They had one thing in common: an obsession with Nirvana.
They are named after Nicholls' father's band from the 1960s - the Vynes.
Their first gig was at the Hurstville RSL Memorial Bowling Club. Hurstville is a suburb of Sydney.
The Vines got loads of attention in 2002 when they released their debut album, Highly Evolved, part of a rock music revival that included The White Stripes, The Strokes, and their fellow Aussies, The Hives. Rock music never returned to its former glory and The Vines declined in popularity pretty quickly, but they stayed active and found a loyal audience, mostly in their native Australia but also in the UK.
Craig Nicholls is the undisputed leader of the band - he writes just about all their songs. By 2005, he was the last original member. He's kept the band going with various lineups.
Drummers Joey Waronker and Pete Thomas filled in for David Olliffe after he quit during the recording of their debut album, Highly Evolved. Waronker has played with R.E.M. and Beck. Thomas was in the Attractions, Elvis Costello's backing band.
They have been known to cover Outkast's "
Ms. Jackson" in concert, bringing an Australian rock flavor to the Atlanta hip-hop classic. When The Vines play it, there's a lot of audience participation and it always goes over very well.
Craig Nicholls quickly built a reputation for being a little weird and a lot volatile. He would lock himself in a bathroom for three hours before a show, openly talk about suicide in interviews, and lash out at his bandmates - he once kicked Matthews on the set of a UK TV show.
In 2004, he was diagnosed with the neurobiologcal disorder Asperger syndrome, which causes autistic-like episodes and severe communication difficulties. This explained why he had such a hard time dealing with social interactions and performances.
They don't like touring. Between 1994 and 1998, they played only a handful of shows. Craig Nicholls made it clear that he far prefers the studio to the stage. He points out that Brian Wilson and The Beatles didn't have to tour, so why should The Vines?
Matthews was hoping to be a medical doctor, but chose the Vines instead. Although, he does read medical textbooks while on tour.
The Vines started off as a Nirvana cover band before signing with Rex Records and recording their single "Factory," which was included on
Highly Evolved (2002), their debut album.
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Suggestion credit:
Mariah - Monroe, NY
Hamish Rosser, the longtime drummer in the band, is a fellow Australian who was in a Kinks tribute band in Nevada when he answered an ad placed by the Vines looking for a new stickman.
The Vines got some breathless press when they released their debut album, Highly Evolved, in 2002. In America, Rolling Stone hyped them with a cover story proclaiming "Rock Is Back!" In the UK, NME had them on the cover with the headline, "The Best Band Since Nirvana."
This created some lofty expectations and a bit of backlash as reviews in other publications pointed out that they weren't really the second coming of Nirvana.
Nicholls eats a lot of fast food, especially McDonald's and KFC. "I'm very much like a kid," he told The Guardian. "I don't like anything that's like grown-up food."
Almost all of their original songs were written solo by Nicholls. He had this to say about his creative process in a Guitar One interview: "Songwriting is mystical. It's a chance to communicate all my weird ideas and to try to explain my dumb behavior. But the songs are more serious that what I actually say. I'm communicating best when I'm singing ideas, and at times I'm so off in that musical world that I feel like I am not even here."
Craig Nicholls' Asperger's diagnosis was revealed in November 2004 when his lawyer used it in his defense against assault charges filed by a photographer. At a radio station concert that May, Nicholls excoriated the audience, telling them, "You're all a bunch of sheep." He then kicked at the photographer, breaking her camera. Nicholls was cleared of the charges and ordered to continue getting treatment for his condition.
It was Nicholls' guitar tech, Tony Bateman, who suggested he get checked for Asperger's.
