Nick Cave said that he and his family moved away from Brighton because they were “triggered too much” by living so close to where his son died. The musician said that his “disgraceful self-indulgence” collapsed following the loss of Arthur, 15. Arthur died after falling from cliffs in Ovingdean having taken LSD for the first time.
Cave, 66, told ABC programme Australian Story that he and his family moved from Brighton to Los Angeles because they were “triggered too much” by living in the city after Arthur’s death. The Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds frontman added: “I was drug addicted for a couple of decades and had a great interest in this sort of stuff, but no need for it. “And I think after Arthur died, not immediately, but, it’s been quite a while now but rather than feeling anger towards that sort of stuff or rejecting that sort of stuff, I felt a slow movement towards a religious life that I’ve found extremely helpful.
Arthur Cave, 15, died in Brighton in 2015 “For most of my life I was just sort of in awe of my own genius and I had an office and I would sit there and write every day and...
whatever else happened in my life was peripheral, even annoyances, because I was involved in this great work. "And this just collapsed completely and I saw the folly of that, the kind of disgraceful self-indulgence of the whole thing.” Cave was speaking on the anniversary of the death of his elder son Jethro, 31, who died in Melbourne in 2022.
The Australian musician, known for hits such as Into My Arms and One More Time With Feeling, has been outspoken about the death of Arthur, adding that his “priorities changed” after his sons’ deaths. Earlier this year Cave also told The Guardian that there “can’t help but be feelings of culpability” over his sons’ deaths, adding: “it’s something that people who lose children feel regardless of the situation, simply because the one thing you’re supposed to do is not let your children die.” Cave lived in Brighton for many years prior to Arthur’s death.
A TV series based on his book, The Death Of Bunny Munro, is currently being filmed in Brighton and Sussex starring Matt Smith..
