Grinderman

Grinderman
A rock band performing live on-stage. The stage is brightly lit on the left, a man plays bass behind a keyboard. In the centre, a man plays guitar and behind him a man plays drums. On the right, a man plays an electric mandolin.
Grinderman performing live in Athens, Greece, in 2011. Left to right: Martyn P. Casey, Nick Cave, Jim Sclavunos and Warren Ellis.
Background information
OriginLondon, England
GenresAlternative rock, garage rock, noise rock, punk blues, psychedelic rock
Years active2006–2011, 2013
LabelsMute
Spinoff ofNick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Past membersNick Cave
Warren Ellis
Martyn P. Casey
Jim Sclavunos
Websitegrinderman.com

Grinderman was an Australian-American rock band that formed in London, England, in 2006. The band included Nick Cave (vocals, guitar, organ, piano), Warren Ellis (tenor guitar, electric mandolin, violin, viola, guitar, backing vocals), Martyn P. Casey (bass, guitar, backing vocals) and Jim Sclavunos (drums, percussion, backing vocals).

Formed as a side project to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the band was originally known as Mini Seeds and was formed by Cave as "a way to escape the weight of The Bad Seeds."[1] The band's name was inspired by a Memphis Slim song, "Grinder Man Blues," which Cave is noted to have started singing during one of the band's early rehearsal sessions. The band's eponymous debut studio album, Grinderman, was released in 2007 to highly positive reviews and the band's second and final studio album, Grinderman 2, was released in 2010 to a similar reception.

Following extensive touring after the release of Grinderman 2, Grinderman disbanded after a performance at the Meredith Music Festival in Victoria, Australia in December 2011.[2] The band split up in order to focus on The Bad Seeds' upcoming material. However, Jim Sclavunos later said: "I can't predict what the future of Grinderman is – if there is a future."[3] The band reunited to perform both weekends at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California in April 2013.[4][5] In July 2019, while answering a fan on his Red Hand Files, Nick Cave hinted that a third album in a "yet to be completed trilogy" was in the works.[6]

  1. ^ Cave, Nick (2010). "And Now It's Cave's Other Deranged Blues Band!". Uncut (September 2010): 55.
  2. ^ Turner, Luke (11 December 2011). "News | Grinderman Split". The Quietus. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  3. ^ "Grinderman Exclusive: "There's always the prospect of the dreaded come back tour!" on FasterLouder.com.au". FasterLouder. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Watch Grinderman Perform at Coachella". Pitchfork.com. 14 April 2013.
  5. ^ Fricke, David (11 April 2013). "Q&A: Nick Cave on Coachella and Denying Himself 'Sacred Moments'". Rollingstone.com.
  6. ^ "Nick Cave - The Red Hand Files - Issue #53 - We know who your favourite singers are but who are your favourite guitarists?". The Red Hand Files. 31 July 2019.