Interview by Marc Masters

Grinderman is a new project featuring Nick Cave and three fellow Bad Seeds: violinist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn Casey, and drummer Jim Sclavunos. The band's self-titled debut is a raw, aggressive affair, a product of the group's down-and-dirty recording approach. Yet for such a short, direct record, Grinderman is surprisingly diverse, with aching ballads and mellow blues deftly mixed in. Pitchfork talked to Cave and Sclavunos before album's release about what makes Grinderman different from the Bad Seeds, why Cave decided to try his hand at the guitar, and their new, self-titled album.

Pitchfork: How did you decide this would be a separate project from the Bad Seeds?

Nick Cave: Well, we went into the studio in order to make a record that was distinct from the Bad Seeds catalog. The four of us had been playing together for a while, working on a lot of projects outside of the Bad Seeds. We found that we were developing a sound that was quite different from the Bad Seeds. So we felt the next step was to record that.

Continue the article at Pitchforkmedia.com