Falkirk-based four piece The Nickajack Men are preparing to release their debut EP Wasting Away, due for release on 26th May 2017 via NJM Records.
The theme of the EP explores the difficulties and frustrations experienced by aspiring young musicians as they try to break free from the environment they have grown up in, preparing to take their first steps into a larger, daunting world. From the first note of the opening track, forthcoming single Running, the momentum builds slowly with lead singer Lewis White’s country-tinged vocal style taking centre stage. Skilfully supported by a dynamic band who’s instrumentation is expertly delivered, The Nickajack Men’s ability to write emotive, heartfelt music comes to the fore; producing a captivating, anthemic sound in the spirit of contemporary stalwarts such as Band of Horses.
In this interview spotlight, we chat with The Nickajack Men about their newest project, navigating the digital music world, influences and more.
Full Q&A along with links and streams below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
I personally have always been a massive fan of Americana/Country music. Having grown up listening to a massive range of music from Country to Punk it was the country/americana stuff that really resonated with me. We try putting our own take on Alt-Country.
How long have you been creating and sharing your music with the public?
Our first single was released July 2016, but we have been writing and playing together as a band since the end of 2014.
Who or what influences your playing and/or writing? Also, what motivates you to keep going?
There are so many bands/artists I listen to that I draw some sort of inspiration for, whether it be lyric wise or musically. Jason Isbell is one of the most talented musicians/lyricists on the planet today so I can always take influence from him. Adam Granduciel from The War On Drugs, the way he blends modern guitars with a mainly slow country track absolutely blew my mind in their latest release “Lost In The Dream”. John Mayer’s effortless guitar playing has to be mentioned in here as well I think. The dream of touring around playing our music to fans all over the world definitely keeps us going!
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
We were really trying to get our live performance energy to shine through in the new tracks. We all felt in our first releases they lacked energy that we create when we play live to we worked really hard with Paul McInally at 45 a-side Recordings to make sure we captured that. We all knew what we wanted from the tracks when we started the recording process and we are really happy with the final product.
What was the last song you listened to?
Quiet Life – The Fool
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I’m going to say CD’s because I grew up with them. Most of my favorite albums from growing up I had on CD. Vinyl is real cool and we are hoping to do a limited run of Vinyl for “Wasting Away” so that would be class.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I personally prefer Apple Music, I’ve literally always had it. I tried Spotify for a while about a year ago but I’ve ended up back on Apple Music!! I think its possibly the easiest thing on the planet to use?
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what are one or two of the biggest challenges you face when trying to attract listeners to your music?
I guess exposure, getting out to the audience we need to be getting to. I suppose its hard to break through from the mass amounts of bands all trying to do the same thing.
Do you gig, tour or perform? Do you ever live stream? Where can music lovers see you live?
Yeah we played a fair amount of shows last year, selling out two of them in Glasgow which was really cool! We have a couple shows lined up right now and a couple Festival slots for later on in the year. We live streamed a couple of the tracks from our King Tuts show which was good fun! We play Behind The Wall, Falkirk – 29th April then we play King Tuts Wah Wah, Glasgow – 24th June which will be to celebrate the release of “Wasting Away”. We are working on a small tour for August also.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more of your music?
You can get us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, iTunes, Spotify and all the other ones you can think of!
Any last thoughts? Shout outs? Words of wisdom?
Shout out to Tom Collier for shooting our forthcoming video last week!
Thanks for checking out this interview, Keep It Real!
