Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Richard Niles. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Richard with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
Strong parents are a very important influence. I had thre, My father, Tony Romano was a singer, songwriter, guitarist who worked with Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Cole Porter. He gave me a love of music and arranging. My step-father was Jesse Lasky Jr., a poet, playwright, and writer of over 60 films. My mother Pat Silver-Lasky was an actress, director, playwright, and author. I used to see my mother and stepfater writing scripts together. Every day was the same – breakfast, writing from 10am to 1pm, lunch, writing from 2pm to 6pm dinner. I never knew there was any other way. When I started my own career as a composer, arranger, producer, I was able to get an enormous amount of work done very efficiently because of this. I’ve arranged many hits. I’ve been a BBC broadcaster, written many educational books about music, and released many albums of my compositions. Now I’m 72 but last year I released a new jazz album, “Niles Smiles”, and this year I release my new classical crossover album, “Adventures for Cello and Piano”. I just get up in the morning and start working.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I have written, arranged and produced music for many iconic artists such as Paul McCartney, Ray Charles, Tina Turner, Cher, and James Brown. I have always had a career in jazz working with artists like Pat Metheny, Bob James, and Randy Brecker. I have also released many albums as jazz guitarist/composer. My latest album in 2023 “Niles Smiles” is jazz-funk, featuring a brass section and the multi-tracked vocals of Kim Chandler.
My release for 2024 is “Adventures for Cello and Piano”, a classical-jazz fusion project. It features cellist Dennis Karmazyn, principal cellist for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. The pianist is Clive Dunstall, a first-call studio, jazz, and orchestral pianist. This is a new direction for me, and is rather unique. Although there is only one improvised solo on the record, it is written so that the solos seem improvised. although it is thoroughly composed. Pushing boundaries even further, two of the tracks feature bass and drums, “Only The Beginning” and my daring arrangement of Debussy’s “Clair de Lune”.
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?
The best advice I can give for anyone in any field would be to work and enjoy the work. There are no shortcuts, tricks, ‘hacks’, or secrets. Knowledge is power. You can’t know everything and you never stop learning. Everyone’s different but you can find ways in which our similarities can help us communicate. My success has been the result of being fiercely original. If your goal is to be yourself, you will never have any competition. I always found my own way to express myself, and luckily, other people seemed to like what I did.
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
The challenge creative musicians face today is that the music business has changed drastically in the last 30 years. Young talent is of crucial importance. In 2024 it is much harder for new talent to emerge. Live music is difficult because there are almost no clubs that will pay for new performing artists. Sales of physical product has been replaced by streaming, a world where the public can get music vitually for free. The internet seems like a place where anyone can be heard, but it is in fact a place where it is unlikely anyone is listening unless you have a large promotional budget. So, where there were in the past many sources of potential revenue, now there are very few. Musicians have to learn how to be video makers, photographers, entrepreneurs, and marketers. If a musician is making music for Art, it is very challenging.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://richardniles.com/
- Instagram: https://business.facebook.com/latest/home?business_id=120892180288362&asset_id=110510004417460
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richcomposer
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcY13Jb4r_coKPoIV4NXWzA
Image Credits
Photographers: Aylin Niles, Alexander Niles
