Music like Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

Warren Ellis (born 14 February 1965) is an Australian musician and composer. He is a member of several groups: Dirty Three, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman. He has also composed film scores with Nick Cave. Ellis plays violin, piano, accordion, bouzouki, guitar, flute, mandolin, tenor guitar, and viola. Ellis has been a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds since 1994.

Ellis was born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia. He has said that he came to music by accident: while playing at the local tip, he found an abandoned piano accordion. He took it to school and his teacher showed him how to play it. He later learned classical violin and flute at school in Ballarat.

After winning a scholarship to a private high school. Ellis went to university in Melbourne, where he studied classical violin. After that he then worked briefly as a schoolteacher in country Victoria. In January 1988 he travelled to Europe, where he busked in Greece, Hungary, Scotland and Ireland. A year later he returned to Australia. Ellis then wrote music for theatre groups and performed at art openings and plays in Melbourne, before he started playing in bands in the early nineties.