The Vines are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1994. Their sound has been described as a musical hybrid of 1960s garage rock and 1990s alternative rock. The band has been through several line-up changes, with vocalist/guitarist Craig Nicholls serving as the sole constant throughout the band's history.
The Vines' success in the Australian recording industry resulted in winning the ARIA Award 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 platinum in Australia, and since then the band has released four albums and a best-of compilation from their time at Capitol Records. The Vines have released seven studio albums.
History
Formation and early years (1994–2001) In 1991, Craig Nicholls met Patrick Matthews while working at their local McDonald's in the suburb of South Hurstville, New South Wales. Bonded over a shared love of rock music, they began playing together at Matthews' home, with Nicholls on guitar and vocals and Matthews on bass. They were later joined by Matthews' school friend David Olliffe on drums.
Band name
Originally called "Rishikesh", a name suggested by Olliffe, which refers to the Indian city where the Beatles visited an ashram in 1968, they played a couple of small gigs in pubs. The local newspapers regularly misprinted the name as "Rishi Chasms", so Nicholls suggested a new name, "the Vines", as an homage to his father, who fronted a local band called the Vynes.
Early demo recordings and live shows
In October 1994, Patrick, Craig and David played their first gig as The Vines at an 18th birthday party at Hurtville RSL Memorial Bowling Club. They covered songs by Nirvana, You Am I, and others. Back in the shed, meanwhile, the three had started developing their own sound on a four-track recorder, with Nicholls soon emerging as the band's primary songwriter.
By late 1998, The Vines only played a handful of gigs over the course of six years. One of them was at The Iron Duke pub in Sydney. Supporting local band Starky, it was the first time they were called back onstage for an encore.
In April 1999, The Vines entered a studio for the first time to record their debut demos with high-school friend Glenn Santry as the engineer. In two quick sessions at A# Studios in Riverwood, they recorded six tracks, including early versions of "In the Jungle" and "Winning Days".
Increased exposure and early releases
In 2000, the "In the Jungle" demo was played on FBi Radio Sydney, catching the ear of Ivy League Records' Andy Cassell. Ivy League's management company soon signed The Vines and encouraged them to record further demos and play more shows.
In early 2001, The Vines embarked on their first national tour of Australia as supporting act for You Am I and Eskimo Joe. During their gigs, the band gave away 5-track demo CDs featuring early recordings of songs like "Highly Evolved" and "Mary Jane". In the same year, their Australia debut single "Hot Leather/Sunchild" was released through independent label Illustrious Artists, run by Russell Hopkinson from You Am I.
Meanwhile, Rex Records put out what was to be their UK debut single, "Factory", as a limited seven-inch single. The release became NME's Single of the Week in November 2001.
Highly Evolved (2001–2003)
In July 2001, the band flew to Los Angeles to start recording their debut album, Highly Evolved, with Rob Schnapf. David Olliffe was replaced a few months later as a result of increasing record company interest, and the band had sessions with drummers such as Joey Waronker.
Their debut single, "Factory" was released in November 2001 in the UK and gained a good response in the press, with the NME describing their garage rock sound as "of the oldest school". The band then 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.
The band appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in October 2002 (the first Australian band to do so since Men at Work in 1983) with the words "Rock is Back: Meet the Vines" boldly emblazoned underneath. Referred to as the 'The' bands, the Strokes, the Hives, the White Stripes, and the Vines combined "old fashioned punk and adrenaline fuelled riffs" to be ushered in at the beginning of 2002 as the "saviors of rock".