Nick Cave Details Falling Out Of 'Disgraceful Self-Indulgence' Following Sons' Passings

Nick Cave appeared on Australian Story last night (12 August) and got personal with Leigh Sales.

He reflected on how the passing of two of his four sons made him prioritise his focus on being a “father, husband and grandfather and a kind of person of the world,” and also explained that being an artist (or the concept of it) isn’t so important to him as a family man, describing his old practices as “disgraceful self-indulgence.”

The interview lasted 30 minutes (and certainly could and should have been longer). In it, Cave outlined the importance of focusing on his family, stating, “These things are much more important to me than the concept of being an artist.”

Discussing the change in his mindset, Cave went back in time:

“For most of my life, I was just sort of in awe of my own genius, you know, and I had an office and would sit there and write every day, and whatever else happened in my life was peripheral,” he said. “This just collapsed completely, and I just saw the folly of that, the kind of disgraceful self-indulgence of the whole thing.”

As Cave and Sales ruminated on grief, the Into My Arms singer revealed that the interview was taking place on the second anniversary of his son Jethro Lazenby’s passing.

Lazenby passed away in 2022 at the age of 31. In 2015, Cave’s 15-year-old son, Arthur, died after falling off a cliff near Brighton. Grief has informed the devastating Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds albums Skeleton Tree and Ghosteen.

“This is part of our fundamental fabric of what we are as human beings,” Cave said of loss. “We are things of loss. And this is not a tragic element to our lives but rather a deepening element that brings incredible meaning into our life.”

You can watch Nick Cave’s episode of Australian Story on ABC iView or check it out below.

On Friday, 30 August, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds will release their 18th studio album, Wild God.

Described as a “complicated” album, Cave added that it’s also “deeply and joyously infectious”.

“There is never a master plan when we make a record,” he revealed in a press release. “The records rather reflect the emotional state of the writers and musicians who played them. Listening to this, I don’t know; it seems we’re happy.”

Cave continued, “Wild God… there’s no f*cking around with this record. When it hits, it hits. It lifts you. It moves you. I love that about it.”

You can pre-order/pre-save the album here and check out the latest single, Long Dark Night, here.