🟥 This article is translated from German.

If it hadn't been for Kurt Cobain Craig Nicholls never would have picked up a guitar. In England The Vines are nowadays regarded as the best band since Nirvana.

Craig Nicholl's condition has dramatically worsened since we last met. Already coming across as slightly disoriented in June, this afternoon, hours before the concert in Munich, he is alarmingly absent-minded. When being led into the hotel room for the interview he is pale, his eyes are nearly closed. His head is thrown back when he greets me with an enraptured smile, a limp handshake and Hello, hello, hello. He drops into an armchair, rubs his face and hair while uttering undefinable sounds. Suddenly he says I like chocolate and a monologue about Gorillaz follows. By now a blonde girl who seems to be following him everywhere and a representative of the record label have sat down on the bed of the room. Both will stay there for the entire length of the interview. In short: Nicholls in an advanced stadium of crazy rockstardom. Just when being talked to directly he mobilizes the last remaining bit of concentration to get through a conversation which is several times in danger of falling apart.

Q: In June you were already fed up with touring. Since then you've been on stage nearly every night.

In return I don't get that fat although I'm eating fast food. I'm better at dealing with it now. I just throw stuff out of the window more often. (With lightning speed he suddenly grabs a hotel brochure and throws it out of the window. Our recording equipment is gotten to safety). No, I just have a brain damage. We want to go into the studio next year.

How many guitars have you destroyed so far?

About five during these seven months on tour. I have zero respect for guitars. They aren't instruments. They're tools. 

Have you ever hurt yourself on stage?

Not seriously. I always have cuts on my arms, hands and shins. Everybodys gotta do what they do, right? (He is rattling at the window and half-heartedly checking if it's possible to unhinge it)

Have you listened to the new Nirvana song yet?

Yeah, yeah. Its really... fuckin... excellent.

How old were you when you discovered Nirvana?

15 or 16. Before that I liked a few Australian bands. I just really discovered music for myself when I got into Nirvana. It was incredible.

How far did your admiration for Cobain go?

I'm sure I had his posters. But apart from that... I just really liked his songs. Nevermind was fantastic. But I also listened to The Beatles, before my Kinks phase, long before Supergrass. But Nirvana had something really special, I don't even know what. Maybe it's got something to do with teen angst. 

You have been called best band since Nirvana.

As a band we of course want people to think that we are good. But we don't want to dictate them what to think. We also don't want other people to do that. But what kind of control do I have in this matter? I can't say anything about it.

As an artist, would you compare yourself with Cobain?

Well, I have been inspired and influenced by him and the band. A parallel might be that we're serious about it. The songs aren't always love songs as you know it from 90% of the factory music. But I really don't want to say anything about it. Except maybe: I like the music. And I then also liked the bands that Nirvana liked. I know that Nirvana were strongly influenced by the Pixies. And I also hear a large The Beatles influence in their music. Even though it's something completely different - something is similar. Maybe the fact that it really was a matter of life and death for them. 

Do you make music for the same reasons as Cobain?

Rather not. I haven't gone through a lot of tough things. What's similar is the esteem for music and its effects. And that it becomes clear to you that you want to be a part of it. But that you don't want to make music to end up on the cover of a magazine or to be driven around in a limousine. But because something inside you caught fire. 

If you didn't have a rough childhood - are you composing songs more technically than Cobain?

Probably. But everyone is going through their own private hell each day, so I don't really know. I can't lie and say "Yeah, fun, just found a rock band". Even though we were naïve in the beginning. I didn't have any ambitions. Now I forgot what you asked me about.

Your artistic approach.

Yeah, right. There isn't an approach. It happens when it happens. But for me being in a band isn't about drinking and stuff. It's an art form. I want to get better. (The tour manager drops by with a bulging McDonald's bag. Craig bows like a Buddhist monk and disappears into the room next door with woman and fast food.)