Mick Harvey Leaves The Bad Seeds

Mick Harvey, Nick Cave's longtime musical collaborator, has left Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds.

Harvey — who played guitar, bass, keyboards and drums in The Bad Seeds — announced on Thursday he would be leaving the band to pursue other projects.

"For a variety of personal and professional reasons, I have chosen to discontinue my ongoing involvement with Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds," Harvey said. "After 25 years, I feel I am leaving the band as it experiences one of its many peaks; in very healthy condition, and with fantastic prospects for the future.

"I'm confident Nick will continue to be a creative force and that this is the right time to pass on my artistic and managerial role to what has become a tremendous group of people who can support him in his endeavours both musically and organizationally."

Harvey will spend the next year working on Bad Seeds catalogue reissues. He played his final show with the band at ATP Australia in Sydney on Jan. 18.

Harvey and Cave met when they were students in Melbourne, Australia in the early '70s, and soon formed a punk and new wave outfit that played school parties. Their musical relationship continued after they finished school and they formed a band that would eventually become The Birthday Party.

Harvey switched from guitar to drums shortly before The Birthday Party broke up in 1983. He formed The Bad Seeds with Cave that same year, and played on every album — from 1984's From Her To Eternity debut to last year's Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

Harvey has also released four solo albums and composed music for several film scores and soundtracks, some of which were written with Cave.