With a media blitz last year, including appearances on Jay Leno and Ellen last winter, Nikki and Rich were positioned as the heir-apparent to Adelle and Duffy. Yet their expected summer album was delayed and delayed again. melophobe caught up with the duo as they prepared for a quick college tour and released a free EP.
melophobe:
Congratulations on the upcoming tour. How is the preparation going?
Nikki:
We have a few things to pull together, but we're really excited to be sharing the stage with Sean Kingston and Jason Derulo. After the college shows, we’ll have a few shows in NYC and LA.
melophobe:
How do you maintain sanity while traveling?
Nikki:
We both are very fortunate to have families that are so supportive when we're on the road. I'm a book reader, and just finished a biography of Carol Burnett. It was incredible; she just handles everything with such grace and laughter. Even with the most difficult situations, she makes things light. She has an ability to engage people, to make them comfortable and able to drop their guard down. It’s a really good book. Rich is an iPad guy. Lots of angry birds, and some beat programs that he uses on the plane.
melophobe:
For your first performance as a group at The Viper Room, there was a huge band and backing vocals. What support will you have for the upcoming shows?
Nikki:
These will be a little more skeleton-style. Depending on the size of the venue, we may have a brass section, but mostly it will be a four-piece band to make it easier to jump from place to place. Vocals? I’ll be carrying the show; I love it!
Rich:
When we’re selling out stadiums, we’ll have the full production. If there is room, and if there is the demand, then we’ll do it.
melophobe:
Rich, you started as a producer. I'm wondering how your job has shifted now that you're working alongside Nikki.
Rich:
The studio is safe, and it’s a lot nicer for me. It’s where I’ve been for many years. You can correct and fix anything, so there’s a lot less pressure than in the live setting. I never really did anything live; I’ve always been a studio guy. When we decided to do this group, and actually thought about doing live shows, I was a nervous wreck. I didn’t want to mess anything up. With the responsibility to make sure the drum machine and loops all work, playing keys, it puts a lot of pressure on myself that's different from the sound board stress. But it’s irreplaceable to hear the music live, and to see the crowd react.
melophobe:
That’s a huge contrast to Nikki, who grew up on stage.
Nikki:
Yes, the microphone has always been more comfortable than a pencil for me; that’s for sure. From the very beginning, there was nothing else that interested me like music. It didn’t hurt to have a family that only thought about was music. It was kind of like a family band thing; we all played something. They were pretty much, “Here’s a living room full of instruments - have at it!” We just played what ever we gravitated to, there wasn’t anything formal or forced; it was natural to pick something up and play. Everything was picked up by default.
melophobe:
In writing and performing your own songs, what's the transition from backup singer to being the focus?
Nikki:
It’s a wonderful change. The good thing about being with Carrie [Underwood] was seeing the realness of the touring lifestyle, especially the pace. Being up on stage was always fun, but you're always five steps away from the center, and you wish that could be you.
melophobe:
So, how has it been with the album delays?
Rich:
In many ways, that was Warner Brothers wanting to have everything held back for the perfect moment. Things dragged on from that, and this became the inspiration for giving out the Finally Free EP, especially for people who have known about us for the past year. We thought, at the least, we could put together a little album, rather than a few songs on iTunes. It’s not enough, really. The fans have been waiting awhile.
melophobe:
Are most of the songs on the EP also on the album?
Rich:
A few songs will be on the full-length, Everything. Since we’re constantly working with the material, we're known for pulling a song out at the end. We’ll continue to work on it until it’s released. It’s changed from the original, more “throw back thing,” into a perfect blend of everything that we love and wanted to bring to an album.
Nikki:
The big change is we’ve taken 100% control over everything: who we are and what we represent musically. I feel like we’ve come into our own, what defines us as a group and what we want out there.
melophobe:
Was there a strong pressure to fit a certain image?
Nikki:
I felt that, besides Warner Brothers, there were a lot of people with hands in the cookie jar. They all had their own ideas of how we should look or sound. At the start, I was just following what people were telling me to do, or how to dress. Now I'm able to do what I want, and what I feel comfortable with. People love to see authenticity, and now we feel completely authentic to what we represent.
Rich:
You at least need to block out the extra opinions, and then more good things will come. Artistically, we are in such a zone right now. It’s all there for us.
melophobe:
I was really impressed by the latest single with Fabolous; it’s quite a different sound for you.
Rich:
The thing is that people only got to hear a couple of tracks like “Next Best Thing” and “Cat and Mouse,” which lends to a perception of a doo-wop thing. People assumed they had figured us out as some Duffy or Amy Winehouse thing. That’s a huge compliment, but it’s not really who we are. We knew that the next song needed to change this, and that’s where “City Lights” came from. Being a hip-hop producer, Nikki and I have been working on hip-hop pop records from the beginning. There’s still the doo-wop; we love that whole era. For us, it’s all about soul music. That’s what we connect with. At the end of the day, that’s what we're doing.
melophobe:
At melophobe, our motto is "don’t fear music." What causes some fear for Nikki and Rich?
Nikki:
Fear? The whole process of being vulnerable in putting your music out, spending a lot of time to bare your heart and whole self in your work. The hope is that people will appreciate the effort that you put in. I can get really shy and frustrated with my song writing, since it’s such an exposing thing to put your thoughts out.
Rich
Prejudgment is a fear for our music. Often there’s a tendency to put music into a box, a certain style, a certain label. We want anyone who hears our music to listen and figure it out on their own. I fear that people won’t be able to have an honest chance to listen to our songs.
Official Site: http://nikkiandrich.com/
“Cat and Mouse”
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