Nick McCabe was born in St. Helens, Merseyside
on July 14th 1971. He has two brothers, one of whom, Paul,
was during his youth anyway, the total opposite of the quiet,
shy Nick, even up to the point of (according to one Verve
biographer), him having a taste for joyriding, culminating in
some very unwelcome scrapes with the law! At least having a
tough brother had it's compensations for Nick, as he said at
least he never got picked on at school! The more sensible,
sensitive Nick however, eventually went on to sixth form
college at Winstanley near Wigan, where as history knows he
met the other three original members of Verve/The Verve, Nick
being in the year above them. The mercurial guitar sounds of
Nick which Ashcroft heard coming from the college practice
room, being described by Richard at the time as "A whole
other universe", eventually led McCabe to become one of
the most respected, innovative guitarists of the 90's.
Most
people know that drugs have featured heavily during the rise
of Verve / The Verve, from before "All in the Mind",
through "A Storm in Heaven", to "Urban Hymns"~
but during the "Northern Soul" era of 1995, this
lifestyle took it's toll on the fragile personality of Nick.
Being naturally quiet and introverted and quote "a
dedicated musician", meant the "laddish"
behaviour going on around him during the recording of "A
Northern Soul", caused him to retreat even further into
himself and a combination of drugs, a failing personal
relationship and eventually the break up of the band left him
in a severely depressed state. He thought everyone was
against him.
"We had a joke in the band about me being the kitty
litter tray. Any shit that happened to anybody I absorbed it.
To a lot of people I seem insane. I was a total emotional
wreck", he said. "It got to the point where all I
had in common with the rest of them was the music. My home
life was a mess and I didn't feel comfortable anywhere. Even
when I went back to Wigan I stayed in my room all the time.
My mum was telling me I was psychotic and I needed help from
the doctor. She'd be shouting "What's wrong with you?".
Then she'd go out and I'd be throwing chairs around, smashing
things up. It hit me then just how fucked up I was. All I
could do was blather emotional bollocks. I think I made a
prick out of myself." So worried was Miles Leonard
talent scout for Hut who signed up The Verve ,that he kept in
touch with Nick because he was in such a bad way saying
"He'd lost what was dearest to him...He'd hit rock
bottom."
In what turned out to be a prophetic
statement in an interview during the Northern Soul tour
of '95 Nick said of drugs:
"We dabble a bit and that's about it.
It's a bit of culture that keeps us from a destruction
trip. We've got our own preferences really. We don't make
drugs and music like you thought. It's not crucial."
His last performance
before The Verve's first split was at Glasgows "T in The
Park" in August 1995. Aside from being "burnt out"
rumours of Ashcroft wanting McCabe out due to him being
unhappy with the increasing "electronic" musical
direction of the guitarist and the fact that the two really
did not get on, led to the inevitable. Not only was Nick left
thinking "Well fuck off if I'm not wanted" after it
became clear that his services were no longer required, and
that he felt like he'd "been sacked", he was also
left with a daughter, Ellie from his relationship with
girlfriend Monica (now with Gerard from the band Witness),
which too had finally hit the rocks.
He spent much of the following time "techno doodling"
on his keyboards, making computer based stuff. He did in fact
join another band for a while but said "I couldn't be
arsed with the hassle." Meanwhile in February '96 there
was a Verve reunion of sorts without Nick. When he heard of
this in March 1996 Nick says he was "eaten up" by
reports that The Verve had been recording again without him,
but in January 1997 Richard Ashcroft put past differences
aside and phoned him to ask him back realising the band
needed him.
Although Nick is quoted as saying "Ashcroft had to eat
shit" and "I ought to tell you to fuck off",
by March 1997 he was back. Nick became philosophical about
his previous sufferings, saying "It was good for me, cos
halfway through the 18 months away, I realised this should be
the worst time of my life, but I was actually having a really
good time (he had even considered going back to his old job
as a trainee quantity surveyor). It got me through a series
of disasters. Things going completely wrong ~ but I was still
alright", and he acknowledged that, "I was really
ruining it for everybody in the last year of it".
The fact though that Nick regarded himself and Ashcroft as
"polar opposites" did not perhaps bode well for the
future of The Verve, the two were not, and are not to this
day the best of friends. Nick said of the band, "When
it's working it's amazing but when it's not it's horrible",
so I suppose it came as no surprise even after the phenomenal
success of Urban Hymns that the cracks began to appear again,
amidst rumours of internal bickering ; and that the
triumphant Verve homecoming gig at Haigh Hall, Wigan on May
24th 1998 would be Nick's UK swansong. He pulled out of
further live dates including America and the V98 concert and
Slane Castle, Ireland citing "the increasing stress of
touring", (believe what you will) in early July, and as
Ashcroft had already stated in the past that "he never
wanted to be in the band if he (Nick) is not playing guitar",
it was clear then that The Verve would eventually split and
that Nick would explore his immediate future as a solo
musician.
Since
his last performance with The Verve, Nick has (unfortunately
for McCabe fans) been keeping a very low media / musical
profile, apart from a couple of projects ~ see the news
pages. Someone who
has worked with him in the past described him as "a bit
of a wandering spirit" who likes to do what he wants
when he wants to do it.....but do something soon Nick 'cos
the suspense and thumb twiddling is mind numbing!
Nick McCabe was born in St. Helens, Merseyside
on July 14th 1971. He has two brothers, one of whom, Paul,
was during his youth anyway, the total opposite of the quiet,
shy Nick, even up to the point of (according to one Verve
biographer), him having a taste for joyriding, culminating in
some very unwelcome scrapes with the law! At least having a
tough brother had it's compensations for Nick, as he said at
least he never got picked on at school! The more sensible,
sensitive Nick however, eventually went on to sixth form
college at Winstanley near Wigan, where as history knows he
met the other three original members of Verve/The Verve, Nick
being in the year above them. The mercurial guitar sounds of
Nick which Ashcroft heard coming from the college practice
room, being described by Richard at the time as "A whole
other universe", eventually led McCabe to become one of
the most respected, innovative guitarists of the 90's.
His last performance
before The Verve's first split was at Glasgows "T in The
Park" in August 1995. Aside from being "burnt out"
rumours of Ashcroft wanting McCabe out due to him being
unhappy with the increasing "electronic" musical
direction of the guitarist and the fact that the two really
did not get on, led to the inevitable. Not only was Nick left
thinking "Well fuck off if I'm not wanted" after it
became clear that his services were no longer required, and
that he felt like he'd "been sacked", he was also
left with a daughter, Ellie from his relationship with
girlfriend Monica (now with Gerard from the band Witness),
which too had finally hit the rocks. 