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Hi Nick, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
Thanks for having me! I’m great, basking in the awesomeness that is 2020 and trying (unsuccessfully) to control the amount of food I eat during this festive period.
Can you tell us about your latest single “Brave”?
Yes! I often try to write songs that inspire us to be better versions of ourselves and Brave is no different. We live in a crazy climate at the moment, between the pandemic and the constant fighting we seem to plague ourselves with I wanted to ask people to take a look at the world around them and decide what kind of place they want to live in. Perhaps, most importantly, what kind of world they want to leave behind. Sometimes, the right path isn’t always the easiest, which is why I called the song Brave.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
A manifestation of all the things going on this year I think – whether it be the pandemic, the election or a number of other happenings. We seem to have been led down a path that pits us against one another at a time where we should be working together and getting closer. We’ve seen humanity capable of brilliance, and we’ve seen humanity capable of the opposite, I think this song is a question to us all – which is it going to be this time?
Any plans to release any sort of music video for the track?
I’d like to! Restrictions around the pandemic have made it hard to get productions going, but in the meantime, I released a lyric video which is out now!
How was the recording and writing process?
I wrote the song with two of my great friends and co-writers here in Nashville. Whenever we write together, these songs seem to come out so easily, so it was a great experience as always. Writing for many of us is therapeutic, a way of trying to understand the world around us. This one was no different.
What role does Germany and appealing to your German fans play in your music?
My fans in Germany were some of the first to really support what I was doing musically, and it was there that I experienced real success for the first time. I’ll always have an extremely strong connection with Germany and the wonderful people there. This year, sadly, is the first time in 10 years I haven’t been able to go over and tour, but I’ll make up for it in 2021.
What would you say you learned from your experience during The Voice and how did that experience influence your music?
I learned about the power of television for sure. Before the show, I was playing headlining gigs to about 100 people and afterwards 1-2000 people were showing up. My advice to anyone who goes on a show like that is to use the show as a platform, be prepared to capture the attention of the people watching and forge a connection with them as best you can. The best way to do that, in my opinion, is to hit the road and play for those people in person as soon as you can.
With your music getting so much momentum – does that put any pressure on you as you work on a new material?
For sure – I’m always trying to ensure that my next single is better than my last and that’s not always easy, particularly if you’re following up something that did well. I’ve always just tried to stick to the same mantra: making music that I enjoy and that I’m proud to perform in front of people. If I stick to those basics, I at least am staying true to myself and the rest is up to the changing tides of the universe.
Does the new single mean we can expect more new material – how’s that coming along?
Absolutely, this year has been the most prolific writing year of my career, with over 75 new songs written for a number of projects. One benefit of not being able to tour has been to focus on that part of my world for the last 9 months.
Any tentative album release date or title in mind?
Early in 2021, I want to release my first album since 2016, which will be a collection of the singles I’ve released over the last 2 years plus some new tracks people haven’t yet heard. I think it will be called “Melody”, but don’t hold be to it.
What else is happening next in Nick Howard’s world?
I co-founded a booking and events platform a few years ago called Bookable and during the Summer & Fall we were able to run several music series here in Nashville. We had socially distanced, limited capacity shows running outside for several months which was a great chance to get musicians playing live again and for people to experience live music safely. We’re hoping to re-launch in the Spring once the weather gets better and roll it out to some other cities in the US.
Other than that, trying to hang in there like everyone else on planet earth this year.
Watch Lyric video here: https://youtu.be/Dp9ARP18CN4.
