This week we have Derek Nicoletto getting interviewed. Hailing from NYC, Derek gives us his brand of shimmering full-bodied electropop flavor with a hint of vocal soul.
Can you give my readers a brief introduction to the band, for those who are unfamiliar with you. How did you form?
I formed in my mother's womb in Valparaiso, Indiana, home of Orville Redenbacher and thus, the popcorn capital of the world. After spending time with a few bands and then a good run with Telling on Trixie, I've now gone solo. Telling on Trixie was a great rock band and "Ugly, Broke & Sober" is some of my best work. Four years for a self-sufficient independent band is a good run. After our break up Tommy, my guitarist, immediately got a gig doing Rock of Ages on Broadway and now he's the guitarist in Blondie. I walked in to the Highline Ballroom with Tommy, Debbie and the band the other day. Awesome. The other guys are on Broadway and one is taking a hiatus. But I needed to move forward so Telling on Trixie had done its time. I couldn't control the urge to risk it all and do my own record, be my own act, take full responsibility for the mountain peaks and tar pits that come with solo indie artist terrain. And here I am now, with "Kind Ghosts," making my electrorock debut. Each of my bandmates Tommy Kessler, Brad Small appear on the record, as "Kind Ghosts," per se. "Kind Ghosts" is produced by the producer whom I trusted most, Jamie Siegel. Right now he's in a studio mixing Sting's Birthday concert. As in any work environment, when you're in the music world, the circles eventually become smaller and when I was recording "Kind Ghosts" I pulled from the plethora of musicians I know to suit the personality of every different song. But I own it all myself, thus now my sound has more lightning, because the vision and sounds come all from my own stormy soul.
When did you first start writing music?
My mother barged into my room as I was belting out my own melodies one day, standing on my bed in front of my imaginary audience. "Your'e gonna ruin your voice!" she shouted. "And what song is that?" she continued. "I don't know," I said, "I'm just making it up."
How did you choose your genre?
I have a soulful voice, I love soulful rock and played just that for year. But then I started having our song remixed and fell in love with indie dance music. So, going solo, I'm free to arrange the instrumentation of each recording and "Kind Ghosts" steers into the indie dance rock realm, but my voice is my voice. I don't change it, no matter the genre. The voice changes with the message and the musicality of the song.
Did you ever take any formal music lessons?
Every singer should take lessons, study to find their true voice. I don't care how good you think you are, there's room for growth and improvement. I study with Wendy Parr, an incredible artist in her own right. Other students on her roster include Regina Spektor, Nicole Atkins, Alex Wong, The Goo Goo Dolls, Alex Ian and some other incredible talents that owe a lot to Wendy. She's incredibly enlightened and the best there is.
Did your environment while growing up have an impact on the kind of music you make today?
My father was a session and tour drummer, and my drummer Charlie Z reminds me a lot of him, even though Charlie is a little younger than me. They live to play drums. So there were albums and music everywhere. My dad played for the Turtles and I even remember when he was in some disco-soul Kool and the Gang-esque band called "Celebration." Like all of us, there were highlights and lows to his career, but we keep playing because it's in our blood. Right now, as I answer these questions, my 3/0 son (I'm a single dad) has found "Sunglasses at Night" on YouTube on my iPad. He has mastered net surfing. But he just asked me, "Papa, where's my guitar?" He's talking about my Yamaha acoustic. Now, he's plucking along. Apparently, he thinks Corey Hart needed some guitar on that song. I don't disagree. Ballsy pop is prevalent in this house. He sees myself express myself through music and sees it, even at this age, as something he can use to express the massive imagination in that little head. Maybe you'll be asking Asher Nicoletto the same question in a few years. My brothers Danny and Ryan are in a Nashville rock band, The Fires. So, evidence would suggest a child's exposure to the fulfillment received by creating music provides a substantial impact.
How did you come up with the name of the new album?
"Kind Ghosts" was the title before it was even a song. After all my life events, we'll call them, I believe I'm carried by something greater than myself. I've always seen this caring power as ghosts, maybe ancestors. Then during the recording of "Kind Ghosts," my grandfather passed away and I had a literal meaning to the title. So, I wrote "Girls Like Em Lucky" with my old bandmate Brad Small to recount my grandfather's fascinating and horrific stories about World War II (much of my family are veterans, all are Army, although I am a civilian), and the best part of the story behind "Girls Like Em Lucky" is the love story that happened when he married my grandmother after she waited for years for him to come home. I asked him why he thought my grandmother waited for him, when she didn't even know if he were alive or dead all that time. In his Alabaman accent he replied, "I don't know Derek. Girls just like 'em lucky and alive." And there's my chorus. Halfway through the album, Nathan Kil, who had been playing synths on a lot of the album sent me this fantastic snippet of a musical idea. I knew I had my title track. So, I sat on the beach in Cherry Grove, Fire Island and wrote and arranged those lyrics and melody reflecting the huge turning point I was encountering in my personal life, reaching out to the powers, the ghosts who had previously carried me through much worse experiences than divorce.
How do you normally write your songs?
Walking down the street, I'll start humming a melody, a riff. Nowadays, I sing it into the iPhone voice memo app,which I can then sync to my mac and develop a complete the song and chords later. Lyrically, phrases come to me and I type them into my phone or a napkin. But, honestly, I usually begin with a riff and a title. I always know the title of the song and then I develop the musical and lyrical stories around it.
In your opinion, what does a good song need to consist of?
Honesty. Even honesty in a fictitious lyric. Even honesty in a arena club dance club anthem, not just in a ballad. If your song is about getting laid on a Tuesday night, be honest and deliver it. The subject matter or mood doesn't matter. My music is, for the most part, upbeat, with some melacholy undertones. But the honestly lies in the light just as in the dark sides of the song. If I get stuck in the studio trying to sing a phrase right, I'll stop myself and say, "just say it." I remind myself why, where, when and for what purpose I wrote the words, so now, I just sing them. Commit to what you want to say and show through your instrument how you mean it. Integrity and honoring the truth in every moment of the song. That means, as a singer, giving your low notes just as much respect as the dramatic high one that you know is coming in a few moments. Be in the now. I also love the element of surprise in a song. And good hooks. In my case, pop hooks. When a pop song is "stuck in your head," that means some songwriter behind that melody or riff has done her or his job.
What song is most exciting to play live? Original and/or cover, please!
Judging on dynamics and passion, the clear winner is "Champion." My stage plot is like this: my Sennheiser e390 mic in the middle (because I'm picky about mic's and it captures my particular voice perfectly), to my left, my DaveSmith PolyEvolver. And to my right, just before my guitarist (I do play with a full band) is my piccolo snare. During the breaks in "Champion" we've written a duo drum cadence between myself and Charlie Zeleny, my drummer. And then at the end, we do a few minutes of a slamming drum duo that gets screams from the audience. At CMJ, someone told me the end of "Champion" reminded him of Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" from their live album, "The Dance." When you feel the excited charge from the audience after a song, or after our live version of "Alabaster Sky," you know you've done your job. But when a stranger compares you to a performance by your all time idols, Fleetwood Mac, you know you've earned an extra gold star. I also love doing "Take Medicine" and "Hustler with a Rescue Plan" because at various points I get to use all my different instruments, the synth, the voice, the drum. Although, after my show at the Bitter End last week, my drummer told me we are going to have to start giving me a tom instead of a snare, because we need something I don't smack out of its stand. During "Champion" at the Bitter End, it flew out of its stand so I just kneeled beside it and beat it into the ground. That's what happens when you channel all your resentments into one song. For my own selfish purposes, I begin with "Hustler with a Rescue Plan" because it's my one-man team fight song. It puts me in place and starts the set off with some fireworks.
What cities have had the best reception for your music outside of your home state?
Cincinnati. Now that I'm a solo artist, I cannot wait to go back there. The Midpoint Music Festival is an absolute blast. I'm from Indiana and some of my family lives in Northern Kentucky, so when I play Cincinnati it always turns into a family reunion.
Any words of wisdom for those with hopes of breaking into music?
There's no "breaking into music." You just do it. You start where you start, but just start it. Don't wait for someone else to discover you or invite you to the party. Discover yourself and throw your own damn party. Walk through your fear and show up, be present. If you're just looking for someone to make you rich and carry your bags, go start a hedge fund. Don't wait for this or that condition or situation to be perfect before you start. For a musician with music in his blood, that means depression. Do it now. And know that the working musicians out there will recognize you as legitimate if you are. That doesn't even mean you need to quit your day job, it just means you should begin to work your immediately. Need help? Ask for it. I met God-des of "God-des and She" on a music festival panel we both spoke on two years ago. We had both known of each other, and there was instant respect. Flash forward to this past winter, when we were recording "Take Medicine" I instantly thought, this dance beat could use a rap, like Enrique Inglesias used Pitbull. I called God-des, and probably because I was nice and respectful to a fellow musician two years prior, she delivered the most slamming rap on my debut album. So, be nice. This isn't a competition. It's an opportunity for you to find your own voice, do the work, don't mimic The Arcade Fire, be inspired by them, then do your own thing. Show up, do the work and treat your colleagues and audience with respect, whether it's Aerosmith or the bucket drummers below the West 4th street subway station. When you take care of yourself and others around you, there's not much "breaking" that needs to be done. Set your goal to be to make the best possible music you can make and hope it reaches someone. It will.
What was the strangest thing to have happen while performing on stage?
I knocked my front right tooth out on my microphone at the Mercury Lounge. It just plopped right into my hand. I put it in my pocket and finished my show.
What is your biggest guilty pleasure?
I don't don't know how "guilty" it is, because it's legitimate comedy. But I can't go to bed without an episode of 30 Rock and a bowl of Special K w/Strawberries.
Read any good books lately?
"When Things Fall Apart" Pema Chodron. The message I'm getting is that when things fall apart, it creates an opportunity for a new and truer experience to occur in my life. That's exactly what happened in my personal life, and now I have an amazing kid and an incredibly rewarding creative career, both for which I am incredibly grateful.
Thank you for your time!
You can Find Derek Nicoletto on the web:
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