| |
The Vines formed in Sydney, AUSTRALIA, in the mid-'90s by two 15-year-old
guys, vocalist + guitarist Craig Nicholls and bass player Patrick Matthews;
the two recruited David Olliffe on drums and began playing together around
their hometown area developing a strong local following.
The band's Alternative-Rock ricochets off of the influences of many artistically
groundbreaking sounds, though the most frequent comparisons are made to
Punk, Grunge and Psychedelia.
In early 2001 the group felt ready for the next stage, in fact Nicholls,
Matthews and Olliffe moved to Los Angeles and entered the studio to record
their long-awaited debut disc, but Olliffe in September decided to leave
L.A. and returned to Australia. During the following two months the remaining
members completed work on their first album and their attention-grabbing
U.K. single, "Factory", shifted the band's career into top gear,
resulting in contracts with Heavenly Records U.K. and Capitol Records
U.S. by the end of that year.
In early 2002, the two longtime friends, recruited in Sydney Hamish Rosser
as their new drummer and acoustic guitarist Ryan Griffiths joined the
line-up.
The Vines' debut full-length album, "Highly Evolved", was released
in July 2002 to wide critical acclaim, earning them recognition in Europe
with a #3 entry on the Official U.K. chart, in their homeland where it
peaked at #5 and in North America where "Highly Evolved" soared
to #11 on The Billboard Top 200 Albums list. The first single, "Get
Free", burned up the Billboard's Modern Rock chart holding at #7
and "Outtathaway" reached the #19 position on the same chart.
In March 2004 the Aussie rockers returned with their second album, "Winning
Days", it debuted at #7 in Australia and weighed in at #23 on the
U.S. Billboard Top 200 chart; "Ride", the first single off the
album, peaked at #13 on The Modern Rock Tracks.
The period following was a transformative time for The Vines, as Nicholls
took time off to gain control of his personal life and Matthews left the
band.
Craig Nicholls continued to compose and in April 2006, their third album,
"Vision Valley" was released with friend Andy Kent on bass;
the 13-track set only reached #136 on The Billboard 200, while the main
single, "Don't Listen To The Radio", missed the U.S. Rock airplay
chart entirely. The band eased back into live performing later that year,
taking the stage with new bassist Brad Heald.
In July 2008 The Vines released its next album, "Melodia",
on their new label Ivy League Records; the disc, which quickly catapulted
into the top 20 in Australia, features 15 new songs, including two singles:
"He's A Rocker" and "Get Out".
In the fall, the group cancelled their live commitments due to a deterioration
in their frontman's mental health. In a disarmingly frank website post,
the band confirmed that they were withdrawing from live and festival appearances
indefinitely. In 2004 Craig Nicholls was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome,
a high-functioning form of autism, after his behaviour became increasingly
erratic. He received treatment and the band were able to continue recording,
even returning to the road; but the situation appears to have deteriorated.
The Vines biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
|
