The Vines biography
The Vines are an Australian alternative rock band originally formed as Rishikesh in 1994 in Sydney. They play a musical hybrid of 1960s garage rock and 1990s alternative music. Until 2011, their line-up consisted of vocalist and lead guitarist Craig Nicholls, rhythm guitarist Ryan Griffiths, bass guitarist Brad Heald, and drummer Hamish Rosser. In December 2011, Channel V presenter Jane Gazzo confirmed via Twitter that Griffiths and Rosser had been "sacked" from the band.
The Vines' success in the Australian recording industry resulted in winning an ARIA Award in 2002 for 'Breakthrough Artist - Single' for "Get Free", and receiving five other nominations for their debut album Highly Evolved, plus two further nominations in subsequent years. In 2003, the album went double platinum in Australia, and since then the band has released four albums and a best-of compilation from their time at Capitol Records. Their fifth album and newest release titled Future Primitive was released on 3 June 2011 in Australia with worldwide release dates to be announced.
History
Formation and early years (1994-2000)
The original line-up of Rishikesh formed in Sydney in 1994 when vocalist and lead guitarist Craig Nicholls and bass guitarist Patrick Matthews met whilst working at their local McDonald's in the suburb of South Hurstville, New South Wales. They were soon joined by Matthews' school friend David Olliffe on drums. The name "Rishikesh", suggested by Olliffe, refers to the Indian city where The Beatles visited an ashram in 1968. The local newspapers regularly misprinted the name as "Rishi Chasms", so Nicholls suggested a new name, "The Vines", as a homage to his father, who fronted a local Elvis cover-band called The Vynes. The group started performing Nirvana and You Am I covers at backyard parties while developing their sound on Nicholls' four-track recorder.
Over the next few years, The Vines gigged infrequently and remained relatively unknown, even in their hometown, yet by the beginning of 2001 they had amassed a repertoire of over thirty songs.
In July 2001, the band flew to Los Angeles to start recording their debut album, Highly Evolved, with Rob Schnapf. Recording was put on hold soon after, as funds ran low. David Olliffe decided to leave Los Angeles and return to Australia, due to the fast pace of events and pressure of recording. Recording continued a few months later as a result of increasing record company interest, and band had session drummers fill in, including Joey Waronker of R.E.M. Once back in Australia, they started advertising for a new drummer in late 2001. Soon after, they recruited Hamish Rosser on drums and Nicholls' friend Ryan Griffiths on acoustic guitar.
Their first single, "Factory", released in November 2001, attracted little interest in Australia. It gained a good response in the United Kingdom, with the NME describing their garage rock sound as "of the oldest school". Record companies were still only considering the release of another EP, however, Nicholls was adamant about making a full-length album, and went seeking record companies overseas. The Vines were eventually signed to Heavenly Records in the UK in December 2001 and EMI in Australia in April 2002. The single "Highly Evolved" earned them more critical acclaim as NME made it a single of the week in March 2002. The single charted in the UK at number 32 on the singles chart and on Australia's ARIAnet top 100 singles chart.
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