Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds at Barclays Center
photo by Ester Segretto

Nick Cave on Kanye: "at this point in time, he is our greatest artist"

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds at Barclays Center
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds at Barclays Center (more by Ester Segretto)

Nick Cave‘s “Red Hand Files,” where he thoughtfully answers fan questions, remains a wonderful and surprising window into Nick’s mind and creative process. Each new entry answers two questions that Nick thematically links with his answer, and the latest tackles “With your new sound, you don’t fear losing old fans?” and “Do you like Kanye?”

This time, Nick’s answers are a little less intertwined. Second part first, as to Kanye, he writes, “Making art is a form of madness – we slip deep within our own singular vision and become lost to it. There is no musician on Earth that is as committed to their own derangement as Kanye, and in this respect, at this point in time, he is our greatest artist.”

As for worrying about losing fans with the new sound heard on last year’s Ghosteen (our #7 Album of 2019), Nick writes “Losing fans is the collateral damage that comes from engaging in music from an artistic perspective, rather than a commercial one. Making music specifically to please fans can be patronising and exploitative. Challenging music, by its very nature, alienates some fans whilst inspiring others, but without that dissonance, there is no conversation, there is no risk, there are no tears and there are no smiles, and nobody is moved and nobody is affected!” He finishes with “With each new record, almost inevitably some fans will move on. I can only say that I am truly grateful to have been a part of their journey, and that they have been part of ours. In the end, to challenge our fans is to love them, even if it means losing them.”

Read the whole thing at The Red Hand Files. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are on tour in Europe this spring, but so far no North American dates have been announced.

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