HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
[SIMG]http://forum.interference.com/gallery/data//500/11265dwightandnicole-sml.jpg[/SIMG]
By Jonathan Swartz
2007.03
The music of Dwight Richter and Nicole Nelson has been described as soulful and energetic. Their music consists of a blend of blues, soul, and various other musical styles. Their CD compilations “Live at Club Helsinki” and “Dwight and Nicole” show that they are about to become noticed in the mainstream. The compilations display their talents in such a way that listening to them brings you back to old times, and people and places that you fondly remember.
I recently sat down with Dwight Richter and Nicole Nelson for an interview at the Coffee Shop in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where they will be returning to Club Helsinki on March 9, 2007.
Jonathan Swartz: Your website biography states that you come from musical families and appreciate the past. Who are/were your greatest influences?
Nicole Nelson: My earlier influences were Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, and Cyndi Lauper. Later, I fell in love with Eva Cassidy. I have also been influenced by Etta James, the Beatles, Mazzy Star, and Johnny “Guitar” Watson.
Dwight Richter: My grandfather had a big band in the 1940s. I grew up listening to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, and Duke Ellington. I also listened to Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, BB King, and country singers such as Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline.
JS: I noticed that your music contains a wide variety of styles. How would you characterize your music? What distinguishes it from other contemporaries?
NN: We have a mix of blues, gospel, rock, soul, and an island feel.
DR: Our music distinguishes us because of our voices, harmonies, and old feelings, while still being able to modernize.
NN: Pop culture is a big part of us. We don’t water down. We are different from all our contemporaries in that we are able to keep the feel out of the blues.
JS: Describe how you first came together. What was the music scene like? How difficult was it to get the first gig?
NN: I saw Dwight opening for Otis Rock at the Original House of Blues in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he was the reason why I went to that show. Everybody was talking about Red Beans and Dwight was something else. That was the first time I saw him. I met him at the Yard Rock in Quincy, Massachusetts (now defunct).
DR: Everyone had been talking about Nicole. She had a residency at the Yard Rock on Wednesday nights and I liked what she was doing with her voice.
NN: I invited him up and he did a slow blues and tore it up.
JS: Describe the New York City soul scene and its rich history in developing artists. How did moving to New York influence your music? What did you learn from your early experiences?
DR: New York was hugely influential.
NN: The energy is different from what it was 30 years ago. Its energy is really strong. There is so much music and art. You bring your own personality to the forefront. Norah Jones is a frequent contributor to the scene. People are still interested in New York. It will always be an important place. You go to clubs and see the best people in the world. Coming from Boston, New York had 10 times as many artists that were trying to make it. It forces you to boil down what makes you special.
DR: It reminds you to be yourself more than any other place.
JS: Your website describes you as a blues and alternative band. How does your music fit both genres?
NN: We get categorized as blues. It is a label that is put on us. We have a blues type feel. We write whatever comes to us and do not set any boundaries. We are trying to do something alternatively with the blues feeling. Our feeling is definitely blues.
DR: When we get home, we are going to put on a BB King record. If our music was a person, the blues would be the heart and the mind would be the alternative.
JS: Your CDs “Live at Club Helsinki” and “Dwight and Nicole” are very different and combine both the blues and alternative styles previously mentioned. They also remind me of the old southern gospel songs. Are you influenced by Southern folk ballads and gospel music?
NN: We are influenced by the Southern gospel, country, and blues. Most of our gospel influences come from the blues. Our favorite blues singers are the gospel singers. Gospel music is one dimensional. I like to apply that style to what I am going through in life. It can be just as powerful to connect music to feeling.
JS: Your CD “Dwight and Nicole” seems to contain songs inspired by real people and experiences. How do real life experiences influence your work?
DR: We are strongly influenced by real life experiences.
NN: A human being is going to be more of an influence to us than a book or magazine.
DR: All of the people that we are surrounded with influence us.
NN: We are influenced by people’s feelings, reading, movies, cars, and other things, although not as much as people or the situations that we go through or people go through.
JS: I noticed that you did a tour of the French West Indies in the fall of 2006. How do audiences (national and international) respond to your work?
NN: It is different everywhere. We were very well received overseas.
DR: We are not trying to fight over a bar crowd. We play venues where people come to see us play and appreciate music and musicians.
NN: People are interested in the nuance of music. They get on a deeper level. People are interested in all the different colors of the songs and the hard and soft side of music. We can paint with a smaller brush.
JS: What has been the overall response to your shows? How does the audience influence your music?
DR: The audience loves our shows. People connect with the two of us together. We get e-mails from people, and people talk to us during and after shows. However, it is not something that influences our music very much. We bring our songs and voices to our shows.
NN: It is like a family. We write for ourselves first and our fans want to hear what we have to say. The honest we are, the more people appreciate us. Our fans are important to us and want to hear what we bring to the table. People are pleased by us being ourselves and that’s what we want.
JS: What are your future projects/prospects? Where do you see yourselves in the future? Are you working on any new projects?
DR: We are looking to be on a label and reach as many people as we can with our music. We would like to be able to have all sorts of different avenues for our personalities. We have a band in Boston with a bassist and a drummer. We are thinking about opening up for ourselves. We got enough songs for a record. We want to record for a label. We are getting to express all of our different sides in music.
NN: In the early days, I was not doing my own music. It wasn’t me. What I’m doing now feels like me. I’m happiest playing the guitar and singing and I look to be playing more tunes.
To read our review of Dwight and Nicole’s new CD, go here. For more information on Dwight Richter and Nicole Nelson, please visit their MySpace page.
By Jonathan Swartz
2007.03
The music of Dwight Richter and Nicole Nelson has been described as soulful and energetic. Their music consists of a blend of blues, soul, and various other musical styles. Their CD compilations “Live at Club Helsinki” and “Dwight and Nicole” show that they are about to become noticed in the mainstream. The compilations display their talents in such a way that listening to them brings you back to old times, and people and places that you fondly remember.
I recently sat down with Dwight Richter and Nicole Nelson for an interview at the Coffee Shop in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where they will be returning to Club Helsinki on March 9, 2007.
Jonathan Swartz: Your website biography states that you come from musical families and appreciate the past. Who are/were your greatest influences?
Nicole Nelson: My earlier influences were Whitney Houston, Tina Turner, and Cyndi Lauper. Later, I fell in love with Eva Cassidy. I have also been influenced by Etta James, the Beatles, Mazzy Star, and Johnny “Guitar” Watson.
Dwight Richter: My grandfather had a big band in the 1940s. I grew up listening to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, and Duke Ellington. I also listened to Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, BB King, and country singers such as Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline.
JS: I noticed that your music contains a wide variety of styles. How would you characterize your music? What distinguishes it from other contemporaries?
NN: We have a mix of blues, gospel, rock, soul, and an island feel.
DR: Our music distinguishes us because of our voices, harmonies, and old feelings, while still being able to modernize.
NN: Pop culture is a big part of us. We don’t water down. We are different from all our contemporaries in that we are able to keep the feel out of the blues.
JS: Describe how you first came together. What was the music scene like? How difficult was it to get the first gig?
NN: I saw Dwight opening for Otis Rock at the Original House of Blues in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he was the reason why I went to that show. Everybody was talking about Red Beans and Dwight was something else. That was the first time I saw him. I met him at the Yard Rock in Quincy, Massachusetts (now defunct).
DR: Everyone had been talking about Nicole. She had a residency at the Yard Rock on Wednesday nights and I liked what she was doing with her voice.
NN: I invited him up and he did a slow blues and tore it up.
JS: Describe the New York City soul scene and its rich history in developing artists. How did moving to New York influence your music? What did you learn from your early experiences?
DR: New York was hugely influential.
NN: The energy is different from what it was 30 years ago. Its energy is really strong. There is so much music and art. You bring your own personality to the forefront. Norah Jones is a frequent contributor to the scene. People are still interested in New York. It will always be an important place. You go to clubs and see the best people in the world. Coming from Boston, New York had 10 times as many artists that were trying to make it. It forces you to boil down what makes you special.
DR: It reminds you to be yourself more than any other place.
JS: Your website describes you as a blues and alternative band. How does your music fit both genres?
NN: We get categorized as blues. It is a label that is put on us. We have a blues type feel. We write whatever comes to us and do not set any boundaries. We are trying to do something alternatively with the blues feeling. Our feeling is definitely blues.
DR: When we get home, we are going to put on a BB King record. If our music was a person, the blues would be the heart and the mind would be the alternative.
JS: Your CDs “Live at Club Helsinki” and “Dwight and Nicole” are very different and combine both the blues and alternative styles previously mentioned. They also remind me of the old southern gospel songs. Are you influenced by Southern folk ballads and gospel music?
NN: We are influenced by the Southern gospel, country, and blues. Most of our gospel influences come from the blues. Our favorite blues singers are the gospel singers. Gospel music is one dimensional. I like to apply that style to what I am going through in life. It can be just as powerful to connect music to feeling.
JS: Your CD “Dwight and Nicole” seems to contain songs inspired by real people and experiences. How do real life experiences influence your work?
DR: We are strongly influenced by real life experiences.
NN: A human being is going to be more of an influence to us than a book or magazine.
DR: All of the people that we are surrounded with influence us.
NN: We are influenced by people’s feelings, reading, movies, cars, and other things, although not as much as people or the situations that we go through or people go through.
JS: I noticed that you did a tour of the French West Indies in the fall of 2006. How do audiences (national and international) respond to your work?
NN: It is different everywhere. We were very well received overseas.
DR: We are not trying to fight over a bar crowd. We play venues where people come to see us play and appreciate music and musicians.
NN: People are interested in the nuance of music. They get on a deeper level. People are interested in all the different colors of the songs and the hard and soft side of music. We can paint with a smaller brush.
JS: What has been the overall response to your shows? How does the audience influence your music?
DR: The audience loves our shows. People connect with the two of us together. We get e-mails from people, and people talk to us during and after shows. However, it is not something that influences our music very much. We bring our songs and voices to our shows.
NN: It is like a family. We write for ourselves first and our fans want to hear what we have to say. The honest we are, the more people appreciate us. Our fans are important to us and want to hear what we bring to the table. People are pleased by us being ourselves and that’s what we want.
JS: What are your future projects/prospects? Where do you see yourselves in the future? Are you working on any new projects?
DR: We are looking to be on a label and reach as many people as we can with our music. We would like to be able to have all sorts of different avenues for our personalities. We have a band in Boston with a bassist and a drummer. We are thinking about opening up for ourselves. We got enough songs for a record. We want to record for a label. We are getting to express all of our different sides in music.
NN: In the early days, I was not doing my own music. It wasn’t me. What I’m doing now feels like me. I’m happiest playing the guitar and singing and I look to be playing more tunes.
To read our review of Dwight and Nicole’s new CD, go here. For more information on Dwight Richter and Nicole Nelson, please visit their MySpace page.
