Grinderman

Grinderman
Grinderman performing live in Athens, Greece in 2011. Left to right: Martyn P. Casey, Nick Cave, Jim Sclavunos and Warren Ellis.
Background information
Origin	London, United Kingdom
Genres	Alternative rock, garage rock, noise rock, psychedelic rock, stoner rock
Years active	2006–2011, 2013
Labels	Mute
Associated acts	Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dirty Three, The Triffids, The Vanity Set
Website	www.grinderman.com
Past members	Nick Cave Warren Ellis Martyn P. Casey Jim Sclavunos

Grinderman was an Australian-British alternative rock band that formed in London, United Kingdom, in 2006. Since its inception, the band included Nick Cave (vocals, guitar, organ, piano), Warren Ellis (tenor guitar, electric mandolin, violin, viola, guitar, backing vocals), Martyn P. Casey (bass, guitar, backing vocals) and Jim Sclavunos (drums, percussion, backing vocals).

Formed as a side project to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the band was originally known as Mini Seeds and was formed by Cave as "a way to escape the weight of The Bad Seeds." The band's name was inspired by a Memphis Slim song, "Grinder Man Blues," which Cave is noted to have started singing during one of the band's early rehearsal sessions. The band's eponymous debut studio album, Grinderman, was released in 2007 to extremely positive reviews and the band's second and final studio album, Grinderman 2, was released in 2010 to a similar reception.

Following extensive touring after the release of Grinderman 2, Grinderman disbanded after a performance at the Meredith Music Festival in Victoria, Australia in December 2011. The band split up in order to focus on The Bad Seeds upcoming material. However, Jim Sclavunos later said: "I can't predict what the future of Grinderman is – if there is a future." The band reunited for a one-off performance at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California in April 2013.

After extensive touring throughout 2005 with The Bad Seeds in support of the band's double album, Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus, frontman Nick Cave began composing 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 at the time. Cave formed Grinderman with fellow Bad Seeds' musicians Warren Ellis, Jim Sclavunos and Martyn P. Casey to experiment with his new material. The newly formed side project 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 studio 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.