Show 37 – Warren Ellis of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

The Quietus Radio

On this week’s Quietus Hour Special it’s Luke Turner’s great pleasure to take the hirsute and sharp Bad Seeds violinist, multi-instrumentalist and arranger down into a dark and concrete Soho basement for a chat about Nick Cave & his band’s life and work. This week The Bad Seeds release Lovely Creatures, a new career-spanning anthology of classics and lesser-known tracks, and we take Warren through a choice selection of songs. Starting with the time that Ellis managed to miss seeing the Birthday Party’s final tour because he fell asleep pissed outside the gig, we discuss Ellis’ gradual progression from fan through his joining in the mid-1990s right up until the present day via Grinderman and his soundtrack work – discover how a pair of shorts made from flour bags and an early cheeky musical suggestion to Nick Cave cemented his position in one of our very favourite bands. Subscribe to The Quietus Hour podcast here. Thanks to our producer Seb White, The Social for the use of their basement bar and Natalie Quesnel for sorting it all out.