🟥 This article is translated from Japanese.

I never thought I would hear an album like this in this year 2002. Listening to The Vines' debut album, "Highly Evolved," I was just really happy to have met this band and this album.

Craig Nicholls, the band's frontman, is a so-called "reclusive" boy from Sydney, Australia, who has been playing the CD player in his room ever since he first encountered Nirvana's "Nevermind" 10 years ago, and has felt his identity only in it. This "Highly Evolved" is a work that directly reflects Craig's 10-year "honeymoon with rock music".

That's why the 12 songs here are so schizophrenic and varied, highs and lows mingled together, and wistfully sweet. The throaty vocal style of "Get Free," which has already been voted the best song of the year by me, and the simple song structure with very few chords are clearly inherited from Kurt Cobain, as are the riffs of "Outtathaway" and "Factory," and the slightly folky melodies that peek out from time to time remind one of the Kinks. Add to this the LSD-like psychedelic sensibility, superb pop melodies and harmonies taught by the Beatles, and you have "Highly Evolved," a miraculous debut album that contains nothing but Craig's innocent love for music. Rob Schnapf, who produced this album, is a master of the "combination of dreamy soundscapes reminiscent of the mid-period Beatles and the rough guitar sounds characteristic of American alternative," as typified by Elliott Smith's works after "Either/Or". (It is probably because of his connections that we can find the names of songwriters around Beck, such as Roger Manning and Joey Waronker, in the credits of the album.)

However, as can be seen in the interview that follows, the band seems to have grown tired of having their music compared to the aforementioned bands, and they are already working on the idea of a second album. In their latest statement, they seem to be already moving toward a new vision, as they commented, "We definitely want to work with the Neptunes." But that is why "Highly Evolved" could be the first album in the true sense of the word, which we will not come across so often, and surely the band will not be able to make it again. How can anyone not love this album, which is as dazzling as the soft, brilliant sunshine of Australia, and as endlessly lovely and vibrant as it is?　In 1992, the year "Nevermind" engulfed the world. Then, ten years later, in 2002, that was the year The Vines appeared on the scene.

Naturally, we'll be following it with all our might in the next issue, too!

Interview with CRAIG NICHOLLS

• When and what kind of record was it that first got you hooked on music?

Craig: Nirvana's "Nevermind". I was just blown away. I had never heard anything like that before. I wasn't really into music or anything before that, but I started listening to music on that album and it opened my eyes to the world of pop music. And it made me want to listen to other bands. I was about 15 or 16 years old.

• So when you started The Vines, what exactly did you have in mind for the sound and the band?

Craig: I didn't have a clear idea. We just got together in the garage with instruments we had at home and started a crappy band. We wanted to do something melodic, like the Beatles or the Kinks, but we also wanted to do something new and heavy at the same time. A combination of things, I guess you could say. But it's really amazing to be in a band. You start off with a lot of influences and then it becomes your own thing.

• So, when you first formed the band, you didn't have any ambitions or big master plans?

Craig: When we started writing songs and making demos, we had a "world domination" kind of plan. Because in the end, every band has to think about that...well, you don't have to think about it, but it's not necessarily a bad thing for a band to have goals and ambitions. Of course, that's not why I started the band...I just thought, 'I want to do this right. It's the only money I can make in this crazy world. I was like, "We can do this!" (laughs) So we wanted to sign with a major label. It wasn't because we could get a lot of money. I want artistic satisfaction more than anything. I didn't care about anything else, I mean, the outside world didn't mean anything to me. We used to be so focused on the inside world, The Vines that we couldn't deal with the outside world at all. Because in that area, we were free to make music.

• Please tell us about the 94-second song "Highly Evolved". I thought the lyrics "If you feel low / You can buy love / From a pay phone / I don't feel low" were a response to Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit".

Craig: Uh...no, I didn't think so. It's not "low" as in "Smells Like Teen Spirit. It's a very simple lyric. Yeah, so I thought your opinion was interesting. "You can buy love" is a phrase that, now that I think about it... came from a lot of places. Most of the time, the lyrics don't come from anything specific, but when I think about "people" or "music". Or myself. So it's abstract in a way, but at the same time it's true to the word. It's personal and fictional. And "Highly Evolved" is not intentionally short. It's just that the length of the song was the best fit for the songwriting.

• I guess I'm reading too much into it, but I thought the fact that the song is only 94 seconds long implies that you yourself are "HIGHLY EVOLVED," meaning that even if you can be highly evolved and very passionate, it won't last very long.

Craig: Haha. Yeah, maybe so (laughs). I'm the same way myself (laughs). I think that song is just like a... poem. It's my favorite song on the album. It's one of the ideal songs because of its short structure. It's basic, it's improvisational.

• Well, one more thing, there seems to be a 60's, psychedelic feeling all over the album. Is that conscious?

Craig: Hmmm, not really. Of course, this is our first album, and I think there are a lot of influences. The early Stones are a big part of it, and I was thinking of the Kinks and the Beatles myself. But it's already a part of us, a part of being alive. But it's not just anything from the '60s. The Kinks, the Beatles, the Beach Boys. Yeah, I guess mainly those three bands.

• For example, some people say, "LSD is a reminder of the possibilities that we tend to forget in our daily lives." Do you have that angle in your mind?

Craig: Yeah, I can relate. We've done a lot of things... at least sometimes we feel like we've come up with a good idea. Whether it's really good or not. I've written songs about LSD and other "experiences," but I've never written a song about being in a stoned state. It's an experience, isn't it? It's like "experiencing something strange and different through drugs".

• So the ninth song, "In the Jungle," is about a bad trip, isn't it?

Craig: That's something else entirely. There are a couple of other songs that I wrote about that." In the Jungle" is kind of universal...I wanted it to be universal. But most of the lyrics on the album are not mature enough to say what I was thinking. It's part of what I've been thinking about for a long time.

• So what is "Sunshinin" about? About the transience of happy times?

Craig: It's... probably one of the happiest songs on the album. It's a positive, happy song that says, "Maybe things will be bad, I think so myself sometimes, but the sun will shine someday". It's a positive, happy song that says, "The weather can be any place I am". The lyrics, "The weather for me are the birds flyin'," are really mellow, happy, and natural. My little sister had that happy idea at first. She wanted to write a song, and she played it for me. She wrote a song that sounded like country, and (starts singing) it like Johnny Cash, like "Suunshiniiin~" (laughs). I had an idea for a 4-track song that was a bit like a pop song. Actually, the song was originally called "Sunshine," and it had a happy, dreamy feel to it. So when I added the sun, trees, and birds, it was perfect.

• I wonder if "1969" means that you have a special feeling for the time when the Grateful Dead were around, as the lyrics suggest.

Craig: In a way. It's kind of like, "I want to go back in time"... No, I don't want to go back in time myself. I'm happy right now. And when I do, I'll miss my time, not 1969. I just want to say, 'What a great year! I mean. You imagine, don't you?　So many things happening, so many different bands. Yeah, when you think about what you like and your influences... the music that you think is "really good" is from the 60s or happened in the 90s. But we don't want to stay stuck in the 90s. We are already in a new decade.

• So you're saying that the 60s evoke these images?

Craig: Yeah. I think that the music of that time has this sense of, "We don't know what's going to happen next or where we're going, but it's exciting anyway," and I relate to that.

• You seem to consider yourself a realist, but Ray Davies of the Kinks, for example, has always been someone who draws inspiration from nostalgic things.

Craig: Yeah, I have a lot of respect for Ray Davies. The great thing about the Kinks and Ray Davies' songs is that they are about everyday people and then there are witches and monsters and all these imaginary things. So we want to talk about ourselves...but we want to write lyrics that are more imaginative. Because I want more than just real life. I don't want it to just reflect reality, like a well-wisher. I mean, it's... it's really head music. For example, The Vines don't sing about going to the pub. Because I don't do that, and it's not my life. I use my imagination more... but in reality, I'm lazy, I sit around and do nothing (laughs).

• Haha, I see. The Avalanches once told me that when you are in Australia, you are isolated from the rest of the world. Do you ever feel that way?

Craig: Yeah, I can say that (laughs). But I don't like the noise, I don't like the crowds, so I guess I'm just fine. I was lazy and spent most of my time indoors, much longer than most people. I had no interest in the outside world. I spent my life locked up in my room, listening to British and American music. Yeah, that's the world I lived in. The only thing that kept me going was the feeling in the CD player in my room.

• So, in "Get Free," what is the metaphor for California that you are trying to jump out of?

Craig: I'm a contradiction in terms in the physical world. I wrote that song in Sydney. Because I realized that I had no desire to live anywhere else. We made the album in the US, and at first I thought it was very exciting. California was fun, and I was happy, but... maybe I felt what I just said. And then when I got back to Sydney, I realized, "Whatever it is, it's all internal, it's all happening inside of my consciousness." There's nobody there, and nothin's gonna save you. I wrote it like a story... "What's going to happen in the future?" In this song, "California" is just a place, a very visual place. It's not about California as a place where aspiring actors come to make it. It's about what's inside of me. I'm doing what I'm obsessed with, what I love, and I'm not doing it to be famous or rich. That's what I was trying to say. And California seemed like a good fit for that theme.

• I see. You talked about how you "neglected to get out more than others," but if there was ever a darkest period in your 24-year life so far, or, conversely, a time when you felt the happiest, when was that?

Craig: Hmmm (laughs). Probably the darkest was when I was a... I don't know, I guess we all are, but I guess it was when I was a teenager. I wasn't going through a very hard time or anything, I was just a "kid". I didn't like school, I didn't like going outside. I didn't know what I was going to do in the future, and I was anxious, so I just stayed in my room and killed time. So I wrote a song... and I was happy. Maybe that's when I changed. I guess I found out, 'I can be happy doing music. Yeah, I took a few bad trips as a teenager, tried to drink, tried to smoke... but after the good trips, I wrote more songs and recorded them. Yeah, I was probably twisted all the time (laughs).

• If you had a record that you could call your soundtrack of that time, what would it be? Tell us both the bad trip's and the good trip's.

Craig: I still think it might be "Nevermind". But I think "Sgt. Peppers" or something like that. The Beatles taught me good music (laughs). And also about drugs. The interesting thing about their music is that everything is in limbo. You feel like you are in the control booth, but you can't control anything. When we play, it's like that... I think we do it instinctively. We're not going for something, we're just letting the music evolve. So... yeah, we don't have a name for our music, and from now on we don't want to be described by another band's name, we want to be called by our own name. What we make has to be a good record, and the next one should be better than the first one, at least. Because, would you rather have one great album or 20 boring albums? I would make 20 great albums! That's what I would do.

• I really hope you will.

Craig: (laughs) Thanks.