Nick Slick, front man of Oakland's very own rag tag trio of gutter glam heroes Slick! had some time to sit down and answer a few questions for us. In a revealing interview, find out why he talks like Tony the Tiger, why he doesn't care what his audiences do while he's playing, and why he believes Joe Jackson is a spaceman!
Interview by J Castro
Who is currently in Slick and what do you all do
in the band?
Nick: We are a classic
three piece or power trio as alot of people like to say. It consists of me
Nicholas J.C. Slick! on guitars, vocals, various keyboards (on the record) and
miscellaneous percussion, the lovely and talented Sasha Simone on bass and
angelic harmonies, and Matthew the monkey man Costa on drums.
How did you all meet and decide to play in this
band together?
NICK: Last year I was
in a band called Glitz, we were booked to play a showcase at SXSW 2014 but 2
weeks before we were scheduled to hit the road our drummer told us that he
couldn’t do it. It put us in a very difficult position, with little
deliberation we hit up every drummer we knew who could pull off learning two
sets in two weeks. If you’ve ever been in a rock & roll band you know that
drums (and drummers) are notoriously the most challenging component to
integrate into an already formed band that already has a specific particular
sound. Every drummer we knew was already too busy or it was too short notice to
pick up and go tour the south west for a couple weeks. Finally when things were
looking pretty bleak, I was telling my good friend Mike Noda (later to play
bass in Slick!) who I was living with at the time about this predicament and he
suggested the drummer in his band Caldecott the man was Matt! I hadn’t
considered that because they were more of an accessible easy listening to
mellow indie band. Kind of like something you’d hear on an adult contemporary
radio station like KFOG, but we decided to give it a try. It turns out Matt was
very familiar with us and previous bands we’d been in and was quite a fan. So
he was very enthusiastic and glad to be a part of the whole thing, on top of
that the guy’s a great drummer, of course it was a little shaky at first but by
the time we played our way down to South-by and back he had it down. Later we
disbanded due to creative differences and Matt & I formed Slick! We’ve been
a band less than a year and have already gone through numerous bass players, I
had known Sasha through other projects she’s involved with that were outside of
the “scene” that I’m more familiar, I knew she’s ambitious and a talented
player so it was perfect timing.
How would describe your band’s music to someone
that’s never heard you before?
NICK: I’d say if you
like Rock & Roll, Pop, Glam, Punk or anything that’s timelessly classic,
what we do is everything you’d want to hear. With Slick! you can hear
everything from the Beach Boys to G.G. & The Jabbers, from Roy Orbison to
KISS I could go on forever with the blanks to the blanks but I think you get
the idea. I want to have a very recognizable sound but nostalgic at the same
time without barricading myself into one thing.
What typically inspires your song lyrics?
Are there any subjects you guys purposely avoid in your song lyrics?
NICK: Lyrics, I will admit
are what I’m least good at musically, I tend to stray away from cerebral
poeticism or politics. I’m not a Bob Dylan Leonard Cohen type of songwriter
even though I’m a fan of both. My lyrics are usually very surface level,
simple, dumb not much nuance or double entendres hidden meanings etc. As far as
what inspires them, a lot of it is from my life experiences or stories from my
friends or family. The musician’s condition is another inspiration “You don’t
like me (Cuz I rock & roll)” is a testament to how I feel about the current
state of bay area music not limited to, “Your band Sucks” as well. The rest are
about all that romance, because let’s be real, people can’t get enough of that
shit. It’s autobiographical though is what it comes down to, all I can do is
write about what I know and see if I can do it in a way that people can relate
to. We’ll see about that though.
What’s your favorite album to listen to from beginning to end? Tell me a little about the first time you heard this album.
NICK: Fun House by The
Stooges. I was very young and very on drugs.
I was reading this interview with Nick Cave and he said that out of all the art forms, music has the power to change a person’s mood the fastest. Do you agree with this statement, if so are there any records that you put on that can change your mood pretty fast?
NICK: I do not agree
with that statement. I think it’s probably true for people who love music,
however there are so many people who really could care less about what they
hear. Why do you think the radio can get away with playing the same 20 songs
all day every day? I think the average person when it comes to music is either
indifferent or adapted to whatever is presented to them. That being said it’s
obvious that there are very common threads among what the average person likes
and how it makes you feel. It’s been said if you play a song that’s based in
the major scale it will typically sound like a happy or more upbeat song,
however minor can be interpreted as sad or melancholy. Mostly seems like ain’t
nobody care.
When you guys are playing live, what’s the most annoying thing an audience members has done that totally distracted you from rockin’ and rollin’?
NICK: I just want ‘em
to go crazy, other than that they can do pretty much whatever they want. It’s a
show it’s about having fucking fun!
If Slick could tour with any band from any era
throughout rock ‘n roll history, who would it be and why?
NICK: Probably the
Doors or the Grateful Dead hahahahahahahaha need I say more?
If you were a space explorer and got stranded on a life sustaining planet with only (A) one person, (B) one meal, and (C) one record to listen to for the remaining
of your life there, what would all of
these be:
NICK: The
Person : An alien woman that first would try to kill me but then later fall in
love with me and then we would fuck and create an entire race of alien
humanoids that would create technology and 10 million years later destroy the
planet through our selfish ways and have to go colonize another planet.
One Meal:
Either Chinese food or Mexican food
I probably
wouldn’t bring a record I would just start a band with my humanoid/alien
children and I’d exploit them for the entire planet, I’d be like a spaceman
version of Joe Jackson, actually he probably was a spaceman.
What’s the single best piece of advice someone gave to you that you followed and actually helped?
NICK: When anybody
asks you how you’re doing? Reply with “I’M GREAT!!!” and say it in the voice of
Tony the Tiger.
Where can people go to buy or listen to you music?
NICK: A bar, your mother’s house, the street, my house, any venue in
Oakland or San Francisco, iTunes, Spodify, Soundcloud, Youtube, the mall, a
car, any body's town via www. it’s extremely easy to find if you’re not a
useless person.
