Nick Cave has paid tribute to The Pop Group‘s frontman Mark Stewart.
The pop-punk pioneer’s passing was introduced on April 21, with The Pop Group honouring the 62-year-old icon by saying: “Mark is in Communion with Love. As Sufis say; there is no such thing as a such factor as loss of life, nobody goes to die, however since loss of life is so useful, it has been hidden within the protected of fears.”
Following his passing, Unhealthy Seeds frontman Cave took to his Purple Hand Recordsdata e-newsletter to share the impression that Stewart and The Pop Group have had on his profession when he first moved to the UK together with his early band The Birthday Occasion.
“When The Birthday Occasion moved from Australia to the UK in 1989, it was partly due to The Pop Group,” he shared. “We really liked them, have been mystified by them, enjoying their unusual, totally distinctive music continuous, barely capable of comprehend what it was we have been truly listening to.”
He continued: “One evening we lastly had the possibility to see The Pop Group (in Brixton, I feel) and, you recognize when bands stroll on to stage and make a present of tuning their guitars and adjusting their drum stools and rearranging their crotches and stuff?, properly, The Pop Group would have none of that.
“I keep in mind ready within the darkened venue for them to come back on, bummed out about England, listening to some ambient music wafting out of the audio system, when out of the blue and with out warning The Pop Group strode onto stage and ploughed into the opening tune with such indomitable drive and such sudden visceral rage that I might barely breathe.
Cave added: “It was essentially the most thrilling and ferocious live performance of my younger life – the whole lot modified at that second and we, as a fledgling band, knew then what we wanted to do. I feel The Birthday Occasion really turned The Birthday Occasion that evening – extra musically adventurous, extra anarchic, extra confronting, extra harmful.”
Mark Stewart of The Pop Group. CREDIT: Press
Cave went on to share the impression seeing The Pop Group stay had on him and the way he and Stewart finally turned pals.
“Though we have been ideologically opposed, in a lot as Mark gave a fuck concerning the world he lived in and I, on the time, didn’t, we nonetheless appreciated one another, discovered one another humorous, and bought wasted collectively many instances,” he wrote. “I didn’t thoughts him taking the piss out of me at each alternative he might discover, as a result of I knew that beneath the abrasive, obnoxious, demonstrative nature was a person of huge allure and intelligence – an honest and deeply endearing man.
“Alongside the best way Mark taught me many issues about life – for example that you possibly can get stoned from inhaling Tippex (they’ve modified the components, youngsters), and that sleeping was a bourgeois indulgence, and that the world was one large company conspiracy, and that one technique to win an argument was to simply by no means, ever cease shouting,” he continued.
“I’ve since revised a few of these notions, however not my love and admiration for this nice man, a fearsome vocalist and unbelievably thrilling frontman to whom I’m deeply indebted.”
Cave then revealed that he had been listening to The Pop Group’s 1979 traditional single ‘We Are All Prostitutes’, which he mentioned “influenced me as a lot as something I’ve ever heard and has, I might say, the best opening 20 seconds of any tune ever recorded”, urging his followers to “be a part of me in enjoying it loud”.
Many artists and musicians have additionally shared emotional tributes to Stewart – together with writer Irvine Welsh, Gareth Sager and Steve Albini.
Large Assault took to Twitter to share: “Put up punk pioneer and unique chief rocker. RIP Mark Stewart. Bristol won’t ever be the identical.”
Put up punk pioneer
and unique chief rocker.
RIP Mark Stewart
Bristol won’t ever be the identical.
💔 pic.twitter.com/3ASQIJ7gTD
— Large Assault (@MassiveAttackUK) April 21, 2023
Portishead’s Geoff Barrow wrote: “Extremely unhappy to listen to concerning the Passing of “The Godfather of Bristol” Mark Stewart. Bristol could be a really totally different place artistically and politically if it not been for Marks affect on all of us My deepest condolences go to his household and pals.”
Stewart based The Pop Group as a teen in Bristol in 1977 together with Sager, John Waddington, Simon Underwood, and Bruce Smith. The politically oriented band blended post-punk with dub and reggae and launched two albums, 1979’s ‘Y’ and 1980’s ‘For How A lot Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Homicide?’. The group disbanded in 1980 with a ultimate efficiency at rally for the Marketing campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), a marketing campaign Stewart continued to be closely concerned with.
They later reformed in 2010 and launched two additional albums, 2015’s ‘Citizen Zombie’ and 2016’s ‘Honeymoon On Mars’. Stewart’s final efficiency with the band was within the ruins of Coventry Cathedral to rejoice Metropolis of Tradition 2021, on the invitation of the late Terry Corridor.
In different information, Cave is ready to embark on a collection of ‘In Dialog’ occasions for his memoir, Hope, Religion And Carnage, going down throughout Europe later this 12 months.
In the meantime, Cave shared earlier this 12 months that he has began work on a brand new Unhealthy Seeds album. “My plan for this 12 months is to make a brand new document with the Unhealthy Seeds,” he wrote. “That is each excellent news and dangerous information. Excellent news as a result of who doesn’t desire a new Unhealthy Seeds document? Unhealthy information as a result of I’ve bought to jot down the bloody factor.”
Cave’s final album with The Unhealthy Seeds, ‘Ghosteen’, got here out in 2019. He launched ‘Carnage‘ with Unhealthy Seeds bandmate Warren Ellis in 2021.