David Nichols

David Nichols is a historian, music writer, and comic book author, and has played in such bands as the Cannanes, Blaimailer, Crabstick, Driving Past, and Huon. He began writing about music in his fanzine, Distant Violins, in 1980, and has contributed to magazines ranging from Puncture and Rolling Stone to Smash Hits Australia (where he where he was features editor from 1983 to 1991). His books include The Go-Betweens (2003), The Bogan Delusion (2011), and Dig: Australian Rock and Pop Music 1960–85 (2016). Nichols teaches urban history at the University of Melbourne, and is co-author of Trendyville: The Battle for Australia’s Inner Cities (2014), and co-editor of Community: Building Modern Australia (2010) and Urban Australia and Post-Punk: Exploring Dogs in Space (2020). Nichols has also written many comic strips and designed record covers and posters, as well as a limited-edition Converse sneaker (2007), and published his debut graphic novel, Persiflage, in 2020.