Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to David Nicholas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi David, so happy you were able to devote some time to sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our community. So, we’ve always admired how you have seemingly never let nay-sayers or haters keep you down. Can you talk to us about how to persist despite the negative energy that so often is thrown at folks trying to do something special with their lives?
Relying on support from others who share the same aesthetic goals and sensibilities is absolutely essential. Seeking out that network of friends and collaborators who intuitively understand and support what I am trying to do with the music in Sansyou is an ongoing part of the process. Most people expect rock music that until recently has been instrumental to be loud and hard which means the headwinds against what I am doing are pretty strong. I can’t imagine relying only on myself to absorb the negative energy. Having a reliable network of people who are encouraging when the self-doubt takes hold has pushed me back up and forward on more than one occasion and I’m grateful for that.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Making music with Sansyou is the way I counter the pace of life today; it’s for myself first. By offering it to others it becomes my invitation to slower introspection that seems devalued but so essential for mental and physical health. When the pandemic hit, the usual cycle of playing live and releasing music was disrupted like every other activity. I used this as an opportunity to pivot and work with new people who shared my vision – and working remotely meant that distance didn’t matter. The past two releases, Eyes Front, and True North Coast have established a collaboration that leveraged the possibilities of remote sessions working from Washington DC and Los Angeles CA with drummer Kelli Scott, photographer Michael Blank and model Miki Hamano who bring the visual elements into full alignment with the sound. The new record, Spaces In Between, builds on this with them again and introduces vocals recorded in Honolulu Hawaii by Kelli Miyahira (aka Natto Princess) for the first time with Sansyou. I feel like we’ve evolved the sights and sounds in a way that’s true to the intentions we started with and pushed further with the artwork and forthcoming video.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
To overcome the setbacks of critics, gatekeepers and the adversity of a pandemic that disrupts the usual patterns in creating music, I think artists have to keep an open mind to new paths; try new things and new collaborations that didn’t appear fruitful before. What I’ve learned in the past 3 years is that it’s a new world and the payoffs can come from unexpected places. After that, I would advise others to build your own authentic community of real people who share the vision and goals with you and social media can fall into place. Maybe this results in smaller numbers of followers or streams, which pay fractions of pennies, but at least it will be real as opposed to bots and smokescreens. There still is no substitute for real human connection and I’m so fortunate to have found new creative partners this way that I believe it’s the only way forward.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
Pushing my own agenda and ego aside to make room for creative input from others; in ways and in areas that I had not expected has been a growing step forward for me. And I’m still working on it! After making music for several years, there are patterns in the process and outcomes that offer consistency but lately I’ve been keeping an open door for the input of other collaborators which has produced some beautiful surprises in the sights and sounds that make their way into the final Sansyou records including the next one, Spaces In Between that should be out in late July or August. Writing and recording this one has been the most interactive and collaborative one so far; I really enjoyed writing lyrics with Kelli and trading ideas on imagery to draw from even though we were a continent and ocean away from each other! Locally, I was really fortunate to work with Jarrett Nicolay for recording, mixing and adding bass lines that elevated the songs beyond what my initial sketches. I hope to keep moving in this direction.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bandcamp.com/sansyou
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sansyoumusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100030897202435
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp8xou7kzyI
Image Credits
Michael Blank, Michael Kenthoff
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