Night House speaks to us about his debut album.
Brighton's Night House - aka Nick Williams - released latest single Unfold earlier this month, taken from his debut album Everyone Is Watching From Afar. He worked with producer Dan Brown (whose credits include Massive Attack and Jerry Williams), who he told us was an important part of his album project...
Night House
For those who may be new to your music, how best would you describe your sound?
It's a mixing pot of sounds! We tend to blend electronic elements, such as synths and drum machines, with orchestral arrangements and an emphasis on lyric driven songwriting.
What challenges have you faced in the music industry so far?
I think when you start down the path of wanting to be a recording artist you know it's not going to be an easy ride. Finding the right balance between writing, recording, promoting, touring and having enough money for rent is always a challenge. As the old label system is changing it now falls to the artist to be an expert at marketing, management and promotion! There's lots of hats to wear.
How difficult would you say this career path is in terms of making a name for yourself?
It's definitely not the easiest of career choices, if you were looking to make an easy buck I'd suggest trying something else. But it is the most rewarding! I think that getting out on the road and playing live is the best and most rewarding way to introduce people to your music. Creating music is a compulsion for me, for better or worse I've got to do it.
How important is it for you to have creative control over the work you produce?
Keeping creative control is very important to me, I like to feel that everything I release is very personal to me. However that being said, you can't do it alone, I think it's so important to know when to collaborate and listen to your collaborators ideas. One particular moment sticks out for me when our album was being mixed by Dan Brown (Massive Attack). He sent back his first mix and a synth part that I'd recorded as just a background texture he'd made incredibly loud, right at the front of the mix. I would have never made this choice but it is one of the highlights of that track and has a huge emotional impact. Especially with mixing, I think sometimes you can be too close to the work to know what's best for it.
Where do you draw influence and inspiration from for your work?
Most of my songs are written about my own life, current affairs and the people I know. One of my songs, The Roots in the Wires, I wrote about the ongoing refugee crisis. This was real challenge but lyrically it's one of the songs I'm most proud of. Musically I like to listen to a lot of different genres and I feel this comes out in my songs.
If you could collaborate with anybody going forward, who would you choose and why?
Two producers I'm a huge fan of and would love to work with are Nigel Godrich and John Parish. I think Aldous Harding is one of the most interesting songwriters out there and I love to get in a room and write with her.
Tell us a random, funny fact about you that not many people know.
I've worked as a professional Father Christmas.
Do you have definitive aims or goals for your career?
Just to continue making albums and playing them to audiences live.
Where do you hope to be this time next year?
To have my album Everyone Is Watching From Afar out in the world and to be deep into recording the second one.
What should we expect from you in the coming weeks and months?
I'm releasing the music video for Unfold very soon, it was directed by Elliot Tatler and it completely captures the emotions of the song. I'm heading out on a joint headline UK tour with Ellie Ford in April. I've the next single coming out in April too!
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