The Vines (band)

The Vines
Craig Nicholls performing with the Vines in 2004
Background information
Also known as	Rishikesh, Joe Dirt, Foregone Conclusion, the Crimes
Origin	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres	Alternative rock garage rock
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Wicked Nature Music, Capitol, Heavenly, Ivy League, BMG, Cooking Vinyl, Sony Music
Website	thevines.com
Members	Craig Nicholls Lachlan West Tim John
Past members	David Oliffe Patrick Matthews Ryan Griffiths Brad Heald Hamish Rosser

The Vines are an Australian rock band formed in 1994 in Sydney. Their sound has been described as a musical hybrid of 1960s garage rock and 1990s alternative rock. The band's current line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Craig Nicholls, bass guitarist Tim John and drummer Lachlan West.

The Vines' success in the Australian recording industry resulted in winning an ARIA Award in 2002, 'Breakthrough Artist – Single', for "Get Free" and receiving five other nominations for their debut album Highly Evolved, plus two further nominations in subsequent years. In 2003, the album went platinum in Australia, and since then the band has released four albums and a best-of compilation from their time at Capitol Records. The Vines have released six studio albums to date.

The original line-up of Rishikesh formed in Sydney in 1994 when vocalist and lead guitarist Craig Nicholls and bass guitarist Patrick Matthews met whilst working at their local McDonald's in the suburb of South Hurstville, New South Wales. They were soon joined by Matthews' school friend David Olliffe on drums. The name "Rishikesh", suggested by Olliffe, refers to the Indian city where the Beatles visited an ashram in 1968. The local newspapers regularly misprinted the name as "Rishi Chasms", so Nicholls suggested a new name, "the Vines", as an homage to his father, who fronted a local band called the Vynes. The group started performing Nirvana and You Am I covers at backyard parties while developing their sound on Nicholls' four-track recorder.