Nick Patey Website

NICK PATEY & THE OXYGEN THIEVES Press Coverage

"Pornography features regularly in Nick's poetry but so does humour and social comment, which highlights an acute power of observation." Stephen Marr, The Newcastle Herald - 3/12/92

"Newcastle's purveyor of seedy-time lyrics at times ironically set against pretty melodies . . . Nick is one of the town's more talented songwriters and has some well-crafted if somewhat dark songs in his repertoire." Karen Thomas, The Star - 1993

"Sins & Livers appear to be chicfly preoccupied with the task of exposing the realities of our rigid society . . . a sort of thrusting aside of the conformity, security and orthodoxy that is so convenient to leave undisturbed." On The Street - 1993

"[Patey's] bleak and painfully accurate reflection of the seamier side of humanity." Stephen Marr, The Newcastle Herald - 11/2/93

"Nick Patey and the Oxygen Thieves are a group made to order for music fans who would like to hear something a bit off the wall . . . Patey holds wider acclaim as a lyricist, poet and frontman for several groups, in particular the dynamic and controversial Sins & Livers, during which time he took the pseudonym, Des Parrot . . . The music of Nick Patey and the Oxygen Thieves possesses a hypnotic and melodic undercurrent." Paul Garwood, The Newcastle Herald - 18/3/93

"With a volatile progression of bands such as Sins and Livers and Des Parrot and the Pheasant Pluckers, as well as flirtations with a solo career, Nick swaggers at the periphery of the local alternative scene . . . His present band the Oxygen Thieves . . . [is] adaptable to the pace of both furious hate songs and melancholy ballads . . . If there's a pretty melody the lyrics have to be disturbing. A clever rhyme - the jarring clash of ideas. A well structured song contrapuntal to the universe it portrays." Chris Guest, OPUS / University of Newcastle - August 1993

"[Nicholas Patey's poetry] . . . grows not out of books or literature, but out of life on the street. It seeks to present everyday experiences and intense feelings in a highly-coloured and unsentimental manner, using some of the ploys of nursery rhyme and popular songs to make the experience both direct and hypnotic. In its mixture of cruelty and innocence it reminds me of Blake; in its focus on sex, unhappiness and violent emotion it reminds me of some rock music lyrics, though its gothic scale has echoes of Edgar Allan Poe . . . It speaks not for the privileged but for the dispossessed." John Tranter: poet / critic - 31/3/91

Fusing confrontational lyrics and an abrasive sound with strong acoustic melodies, Nick Patey & The Oxygen Thieves are a band whose music is wide-ranging and versatile. Highly infectious melodies and hypnotic rhythms are juxtaposed with sleazy lyrics, moody guitar and a hard driving edge.

Patey, who has worked in Sydney, Melbourne and Newcastle, is a singer / songwriter / poet who formerly fronted the dynamic and controversial Sins & Livers. His performing name during this period was Des Parrot. Sins & Livers were seen as an original / independent group "chiefly preoccupied with the task of exposing the realities of our rigid society . . . a sort of thrusting aside of the conformity, security and orthodoxy that is so convenient to leave undisturbed." (On the Street, 1989); "Street-wise and sharp, this hard edged alternative band Sins & Livers." (The Newcastle Herald, 1988) Sins & Livers's supports included Wild Pumpkins at Midnight and Porcelain Bus. Nick Patey & The Oxygen Thieves also appeared with ex-Sunnyboys' front man Jeremy Oxley as well as Kim Salmon & The Surrealists.

Nick’s enigmatic and eclectic songwriting styles embrace punk ("Squatting With My Drug Slut", "Mother Fucker"), ballads ("Someone's Been Sleeping In My Head Again", "When I Know That You're Not Coming Here"), and 'New Wave' ("Accident", "I Want to Swallow", "Walking Kind of Strange Now", and "Sins & Livers").

The Oxygen Thieves released a music-cassette in 1994 entitled "In the Nick". This recording featured Nick Patey on guitar and vocals, Ross Hatsuyker on bass, and Darren Burtoft on drums. All of the five songs on the tape were written by Nick.

Patey has published two volumes of poetry and prose, Life With The Lights Out (1989) and Sticks & Stones (1991). His poetry and lyrics deal starkly with immediate and urgent contemporary issues such as urban alienation and substance abuse. His writings examine conflicting social attitudes and ideas concerning pornography, obscenity, censorship and misogyny. He describes himself as a "lesbian in a man's body."