Nick Cave on playing live being part of his grieving process: “The care from the audience saved me”

nme.com:

Nick Cave has discussed finding comfort throughout the grieving process in his audience when performing live, following the deaths of two of his sons in the past seven years.Cave’s son Arthur died in 2015 after falling from a cliff in Ovingdean, near Brighton.

In May of this year, Cave’s son Jethro Lazenby also died, at the age of 31. The musician later thanked fans for sending their “condolences and kind words”, adding that they were “a great source of comfort”.In a new, in-depth interview with The New York Times, which arrives ahead of Cave’s book Faith, Hope and Carnage being released later this month, the singer-songwriter talks about how the support he received from fans has helped him throughout his grieving process.“When Arthur died, I was thrust into the darkest place imaginable, where it was almost impossible to be able to see outside of despair,” Cave said.

He goes on to say that part of he and his wife Susie’s ability to “pull ourselves out of” that period was the response he got from those who wrote to him saying, “This happened to me, and this is what’s happening to you, and this is what can happen.”Cave goes on to say that the concerts he performed following Arthur’s death also provided comfort. “The care from the audience saved me,” he explains. “I was helped hugely by my audience, and when I play now, I feel like that’s giving something back.

What I’m doing artistically is entirely repaying a debt.“My other son has died. It’s difficult to talk about, but the concerts themselves and this act of mutual support saves me.