🟥 This article is translated from Japanese.

The Vines' first show in Japan was, in a way, something you don't see very often. Since frontman Craig Nicholls was not going to be interviewed at all (even though it was a promotional visit to Japan!), so I watched the show with some concern. But after a few songs, he said, "Give me some drugs, I'm serious." and Craig's behavior started getting stranger and stranger. Before I knew it, Ryan was gone from the stage, and Patrick had thrown out his bass guitar in the middle of the song and left quickly backstage. Craig improvised and sang while playing acoustic guitar in front of Hamish on drums, who patiently played along with Craig. “They've gone mad," he sang.

When Hamish walked off the stage, I honestly thought it was the end. We've always known that Craig is an unstable person, and we can't expect him to be able to continue the show all by himself. However, the band members returned to the stage, and after Craig teased them by pretending to walk off the stage during the next song, he gradually recovered. After a few songs of miraculous band magic, The Vines managed to pull off their first Japan show.

If it hadn't been for that magical moment, it would have just been a helpless show. Personally, I think they could have been a recording band that never played live. But even in the midst of what the band members themselves admit was a "bad" show, The Vines barely showed us the essence of their appeal. We need to see all of that something that shone so brightly in the mire. The next day in Osaka, Craig was in a better mood and they even played an encore. Hmmm. I'm looking forward to Fuji Rock.

Nevertheless, the band was built on an inexplicably delicate balance. The band started out as a group of friends, but there didn't seem to be any sense of unity among the members or comrades. Although the band members manage to support Craig's out-of-the-ordinary behavior without abandoning him (Craig is probably taking advantage of this), they don't seem to be trying to solve his problems in a more in-depth way. They may have tried in the past, but it didn't work out.

In the midst of Craig's declaration that he would not do any interviews, an interview was conducted under his watchful eye. The two members of the rhythm section told us about the current state of the band without hiding anything.

Crossbeat: It was your first time in Japan, how was the show?

Patrick: It was bad.

Crossbeat: Haha... What about the audience?

Patrick: It was different from the audience we are used to play to. They were really excited, but they were different. I thought they were noisy, but then they became quiet. I've been told that's the way it is, but I still felt uncomfortable. And then there was Craig's attitude. No matter what country you're from, it's hard not to be disgusted.

Crossbeat: How would you rate it?

Hamish: Hmmm... 40.

Crossbeat: I have heard that you have a wide range of styles in your live performances.

P: It's not that I wasn't happy with the performance, it's just that I rarely leave the stage in the middle of a show.

Crossbeat: During the first half when Craig was unstable, how did you feel?

P: We thought we had to do the best we could. All of a sudden, Craig started abusing everyone with foul language. I think that's okay to a certain extent. Many people in the audience don't care if Craig is hysterical or lashing out. For example, when it seems like the worst thing to me, the audience doesn't really seem to care. But last night, when he started abusing everyone, I thought it was too much.

Crossbeat: What was strange was that you all had moments where your waveforms were off, but still fit perfectly sometimes, and I thought, "That's great”.

P: There were moments in last night's show that I thought were great. We played three songs that we don't usually play. It was exciting even though a lot of things that happened.

H: This band is like a roller coaster, you can't always see what's going to happen.

Crossbeat: The songs were changed a lot from the original set, was it because of the songs Craig wanted to play?

P: Yeah, that happens a lot.

Crossbeat: Hamish managed to keep Craig company, but did you always play the role of a guardian?

H: Actually, I was the one who brought Patrick and Ryan back to the stage after they went backstage.

Crossbeat: Ah-ha. What was it that made you manage to make it work in the end, even though it could have ended at any moment?

P: I've been dealing with Craig's crappy attitude for so long now that it's not so hard to keep playing in it. But last night Craig was the worst I've ever seen him. For about the fifteenth time in this set, he messed up the start of "Evil Town" and he hurled abuse at Hamish for three minutes. We kept playing, but finally Ryan walked off the stage... What did we do after that?

H: "Autumn Shade II"

P: Yeah. But Craig stupidly slowed down the tempo, and Hamish couldn't keep up, and Craig called him an asshole. That's when I got off the stage.

Crossbeat: That's terrible.

P: Right? As long as he doesn't lash out at people like that, we can somehow finish the set... In the end, the only reason we managed to finish the show was because he finally stopped doing it.

Crossbeat: Does the fact that the tour has been going on for almost four months have a lot to do with it?

H: Yeah. I feel like I want to go home too.

P: Yeah, it can go on for a long time, and it can be depressing, but when I think about the UK tour that we just finished, which was really good, it makes me wonder why.

H: Maybe it's the jet lag. He doesn't like to travel that much. Me and Patrick enjoy going to different countries, and we've done some sightseeing in Europe. But Craig is the type of guy who prefers to stay in his room and watch TV. In Japan, he doesn't even know what's on TV, so maybe that's why he's frustrated (laughs). He just watches the news he doesn't understand. Even when he goes shopping, he doesn't want to go anywhere because he doesn't understand the language, so he feels isolated… I guess. He's blurting it out to the audience.

Crossbeat: When you have a problem like this, do you guys talk about it?

P: We don't really have any problems. If there was a solution to jet lag, we might talk about it (laughs). We don't have any specific problems, so there's nothing we can do about it... In the end, we just have to play the show.

Crossbeat: Patrick has been friends with Craig for a long time, but has he always been that type of person?

P: No, not really. He's never been that aggressive. Not recently, but not for a long time. It's a gradual thing. Maybe... (hesitating to say over and over, choosing his words) I don't know how to say it without being too harsh... Maybe it's because he's a star... No, that's not it either. It's complicated. He's not an aggressive person by nature, and yet he's trying his best to play the role of a singer. It's a bit of a ragged explanation, but I hope you get the idea. There's something about him that makes him do it…

H: Or that he's completely out of his mind. If you took him to a doctor, you'd get a long list of symptoms and prescriptions. He just happens to be in a band, so no one has taken him to the doctor.

Crossbeat: Like Radiohead, for example, have you ever thought of running a band so that you can do only what you want to do and keep a balance?

H: (Chuckles) We'd have to sell 10 million albums to be able to do that.

P: We don't have enough money to keep us afloat. We have to tour to make a profit, so we have to play a lot of shows in a short period of time. All while staying in such comfortable hotels!

Crossbeat: What is it about Craig that makes you still want to work with him, even when you have bad experiences like yesterday's show?

P: That's easy. When we do a great show, I feel satisfied that I'm working with him. When we have a really good show, we feel satisfied. Like any band, when you're on tour, you can get stuck. But it's music that allows you to use your imagination and give form to it. Well, maybe he can't write music unless he's at home, though...

Crossbeat: So Craig is more stable when you're recording?

H: He's more relaxed in the studio because he's in one place. We recorded in a very mellow environment, and it's very different from playing live. It's the moving part that makes him tired. So he wasn't so crazy (laughs).

P: And maybe it was different in the studio because Rob Schnapf [their producer] was there. We didn't have to get Craig to sing. That's Rob's job.

Crossbeat: I see. By the way, what was the best show you've ever played?

H: Recently, it was a show at the Brixton Academy in London. Before we went on stage, we had a discussion about how we were going to play this song, and Craig was very serious about it. The performance was perfect, the crowd was on board, and there were no unnecessary pauses between songs.

P: That's when he's at his best. Sometimes he gets frustrated with his own or someone else's mistakes, but when he's really on it, he doesn't care about that at all. First of all, our songs are not that complicated. I don't really think about what direction the song is going or how I'm playing. Whether or not it goes well depends on luck, I guess.

Crossbeat: How do you see the future of the band now?

H: I can't wait to finish this [tour].

P: It's getting harder and harder... Well, but we made it through this time.

H: No one knows how the show in Osaka tomorrow will go. If we play a bad show in Australia - like the tour with Incubus - then there won't be any bands that want to take us overseas. It's a cliché, but I guess we just have to take it one day at a time.

After the Japan tour, the band returned to Australia, but instead of relaxing, the situation has worsened: at the radio broadcast show on May 27, Patrick left the stage in the middle of the first song after an argument with Craig and never returned. Craig's "kicking the cameraman," which he had done in Japan, also became a problem. The next day's show was cancelled "due to illness," and the band's appearance at Fuji Rock, where they were expected to redeem themselves, was also cancelled. They will be touring the U.S. for about two months starting at the end of June, but will they be able to overcome this?