Refused calls from other artists asking him to not perform in Israel back in 2017, referring to the requests as "Cowardly"
Nick Cave is an Australian Musician, writer and actor. He is best known as the vocalist of "Nick Cave and the Bad attempts to "bully" musicians and artists.
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Despite choosing to play in Israel specifically to spite the BDS movement and "take a stance against the cowardly bullying and shaming", he and his band choose to cancel their gigs in Russia and Ukraine to stand with Ukranian people, showing an alarming dissonance and a racist, anti-Palestinian double standard. Also Numerous artists have pulled out, and hundreds more have criticised the festival’s sponsorship deals with Barclays 💭
As part of his weekly Red Hand Files, fans write in questions for Cave to answer in his own words and candid style. The newsletter has always covered a vast array of subjects, from art and grief to current events or cultural reactions, but this week, it turned political. Under the name, ‘The Artist Is Present’, a musician on the lineup for the festival wrote to Cave for his advice.
“I am a musician who has been booked to play The Great Escape festival, which, as you may have heard, a number of artists are boycotting due to the sponsorship of Barclays. Who, in a non-linear fashion, are profiting from the horror that is occurring in Palestine,” they write. However, the conflict comes when considering the potential art can have in helping the world or the ways in which showcase festivals such as the one in Brighton can help new artists who need the platform.
They continued, “I do not support the genocide, I would hope the rest of the world feels the same. But as an artist already existing in a very toxic industry, the best many of us can hope for is a few scraps – the glimmer of an opportunity, a gig, anything to help us get our music out into the world, and in turn make it a better place with the love we promote in our art. The music industry is a place of being told you need to follow TikTok trends and that labels only look at ‘metrics’. Individuality doesn’t feel celebrated.”
They sum up their conflictions neatly as they conclude, “Integrity is all we have, so how are we expected to navigate through this world when all commercialism and corporate sponsorship comes from darkness? Latitude, Isle of White, Reading & Leeds are all sponsored by Barclays – it’s a huge expectation on struggling musicians who will be replaced by one of a thousand other hungry musicians if they decide to boycott. What would you do?”
To answer the extended question and the mammoth debate about the role politics plays in art, Nick Cave replied simply, “Play.”
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