Nick Wilson grew up near London and discovered his love for music when he was 4 years old. One of his sisters was playing the first album from Muse in the car. But it took him another 10 years to realise music might be something he’d actually like to do himself. He got a guitar and started covering songs and whacking them online. As soon as his YouTube channel started getting traction, he decided to start writing his own songs.
Today he’s 21 and has already released 4 EPs. We’ve been following his YouTube account for years now, and have been loving his soft voice ever since. It’s very important that when people cover songs, they don’t just imitate the original version, but make it their song, and we’ve caught ourselves thinking loads of times, “Damn, this is better than the original track!” when listening to his covers.
You can really feel how much emotion he puts into his music and we got to interview this young man with the voice of an angel recently. We talk about music genres, audiences paying attention and his future plans among other things. Find out more about the 21-year old singer-songwriter below.
How often do you practice?
“I guess I practise every day. Most of the time I don’t see it as practising, more just messing around on a guitar haha. If I have to go a few days without a guitar then I get upset and cry (I don’t actually but it is the worst)“.
What are your plans for the future?
“I have a few plans that I don’t want to give away too soon, just in case they don’t happen, but I guess the main plan is to just stick at it and keep making music, even if it doesn’t get heard haha! I have so many demo’s on my laptop and ideas in my head that I can’t wait to turn into actual music. Oh and an album, I think a full length LP would be the next big step for me“.
What is your favourite thing to see in the audience while you are on stage?
“It’s always lovely to see people looking back and paying attention. I think that’s my favourite thing, just knowing that people are actually engaged and connecting to the noises i’m making. Some of my favourite gigs have been the ones where I’m playing background music, but people are actually listening. It sounds super big headed, but it’s just nice to know people are appreciating something that you put a lot of time into, you know?”
Why did you decide to play the genre or genres you do?
“I don’t think there has ever been a conscious decision as to what sort of genre I fit in. It sounds cliche but it just kind of happened, it seems to have organically blossomed. I mean I’ve always loved the singer/songwriter style, I used to listen to James Morrison a lot, and I’m in love with John Mayer, so I guess my early years with a guitar came from a desire to do what they do. But apart from that, that genre just seemed to fit with my voice and what I like to hear so“.
Do you use Bandcamp, Spotify or SoundCloud to share your music?
“Loads of people are slating SoundCloud recently, and I get why, but for me at the moment it’s a really good way to get out demos or covers. Spotify I LOVE. they obviously don’t pay amazingly, but for me it’s more about building an audience then getting money. It’s never been about money for me, even though it does help massively to get things done. Spotify has let me reach so many more people than I would have been able to without it. I love it“.
What’s your favorite song lately?
“That is tough. (laughs) I hate having to pick just one song. I CAN’T DO IT. Okay no, I’m a massive fan of Noah Gundersen and I’ve had ‘Topless Dancer’ on repeat for about half a year. ’19’ by Leo Stannard as well. That song is just ace“.
When you record music at home, how long does it take till the entire recording is done?
“Not as long as it should. (laughs It takes a few hours to recording everything. But then I’m a perfectionist, so I can spend days straight mixing and tweaking. To me, nothing I’ve ever made is perfect or finished, so I just work on it until it’s the best I think I can get it“.
Are you currently in a relationship? How does love influence your music?
“I am, yeah. It’s probably the biggest influence for me. I’m lucky enough to have someone who I can write music about, and so I do“.
Do you prefer playing cover songs or originals?
“I prefer playing originals, but had you asked this a few years ago I would have said covers. Although, having said that, there are certain covers that I love playing. Making a song your own is so much fun, so yeah, sometimes I prefer playing covers“.
When you started uploading songs on YouTube, what was your goal?
“I don’t think I ever started with a goal. Once I started to see that people were actually listening, then I saw it as a way to build up an audience so that I could put out my own music. But when I started I think it was just a way to play songs and hone my recording skills. It was always more exciting for me making the videos than it was seeing the response“.
What inspired you to write Bright Eyes? Tell us about the background.
“That was the latest work I released, and most of the songs on that were all inspired by my girlfriend. That EP was entirely written about falling in love with someone. The only track from the EP that wasn’t written at the same time was Don’t Let The Sunrise, but even that was written about the same thing, so I bundled it in with the other three songs because they fit“.
Keep Tabs on Nick Wilson: Facebook // Twitter
Words by Jazz Egger
