After heavy touring throughout 2005 with The Bad Seeds in support of Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus, Cave began writing songs on guitar, an instrument he’d rarely played. His rudimentary playing gave the new material a rawer feel than much of the Bad Seeds’ output. The group entered the Metropolis Studios in London to record the original Grinderman demos and it was this material that would eventually become the basis for the band’s debut album Grinderman. The album was recorded with long-time friend, producer Nick Launay in April at the RAK studios, London and mixed in October at the Metropolis Studios. Grinderman was released in March 2007 and was applauded by critics for its raw power, similar to that of Cave’s celebrated post-punk project The Birthday Party. The band made their live debut at the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in Somerset the following month. This was followed by a one-off show at The Forum in London on 20 June. “No Pussy Blues”, was released as a single on 19 February, “Get It On” was released as a single on 8 January 2007. On 30 April 2007, the band released their final single from their debut album, “(I Don’t Need You To) Set Me Free”. Grinderman opened for The White Stripes at their Madison Square Garden show on 24 July 2007, followed by several of their own American tour dates. The band then embarked on a theatre tour of Australia, opening for a Nick Cave ‘solo’ set, which consisted of the same band members. The band also launched the official Grinderman website in March, 2007. Amongst other things, the website includes The Grinderman Podcast featuring a series of fragments of recordings from the band’s writing sessions. These are not complete songs but instead offer a unique insight into the workings of the band. New episodes were said to appear regularly over weeks and months. Five recordings have been submitted so far. On 11 May 2007 the band performed “Honey Bee (Let’s Fly to Mars)” and “No Pussy Blues” on the BBC television show Later… with Jools Holland. The band made their US network television debut on the CBS television show the Late Show With David Letterman performing “Honey Bee (Let’s Fly to Mars)” on 23 July 2007. Grinderman were one of the headliners at Roskilde Festival 2008 in July, the biggest festival in Northern Europe. They joined big names such as Radiohead, Neil Young and Jay-Z at the top of the bill. Whilst the band has been put on hold due to their involvement on Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’ 14th album, Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, Cave has confirmed that another album will be recorded after their summer tour of 2008. However the second album will feature a totally different sound to its predecessor. Speaking to XFM Cave explained that Grinderman want to do it in a more serious way this time, but still without caring for commercial success. |
