Nick Cave and Warren Ellis are two of the world’s most iconic, influential, and inspiring musicians working today. Originally from Australia, Nick Cave has altered the course of rock ‘n’ roll and invented a new kind of leading man in bands like the Birthday Party and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. His countryman Warren Ellis is a gifted and daring multi-instrumentalist, renowned for his work in Dirty Three and he joined Cave, as a member of the Bad Seeds, in the mid-1990s. The pair have become close collaborators in the Bad Seeds, they worked together in a a now defunct band called Grinderman, and together they’ve also composed riveting and acclaimed scores and soundtracks for theatrical productions and films like The Proposition, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Road, Hell or High Water, and most recently, the feature films War Machine and Django. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds dispatched a well-received album called Skeleton Tree in the fall of 2016 and in May of 2017, Mute Records released a comprehensive retrospective called Lovely Creatures: The Best of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (1984-2014), and they’ve been touring behind these efforts lately. Captured in a hotel restaurant on the afternoon of their second sold out show at Massey Hall in Toronto, here Warren and Nick discuss their history as friends and colleagues, how Warren wound up in the Bad Seeds, how they work together and their relationships to melody and noise, Nick’s unique relationship with his audience and why he needs them now, recording Skeleton Tree, upcoming plans, and much more. Sponsored by Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, and Planet Bean Coffee.
