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CEV: Tell me about your family’s history with music and the
arts. Given these influences growing up when did you decide that music was
something that would play a major role in your life as well?
NJ: My great-grandparents, who were both violinists, immigrated
to the US from Hungary in the
early 1900s. My grandmother, an actress and pianist, always brought me to
plays, museums, and concerts when I was a child, which really instilled in me a
love for the arts. I always loved music and knew that I was going to such an
important part of my life.
CEV: What instruments did you want to learn at first and did
you have any formal musical training either with these instruments or with your
voice?
NJ: I’ve been studying with Rosemary Ostrowski, my dear friend
and amazing voice teacher. Rosemary and I are in the process of booking some
wonderful shows together featuring music from the
1930’s/1940’s era! I’m also currently studying guitar with my
friend, Chris Shepherd, who is an absolutely amazing musician. Within the past
year, I began playing the musical saw! I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to
learn about the saw from two amazing players, Dale Stuckenbruck and Katherina
Bek. While visiting Germany
& Poland this summer I
had the wonderful experience of playing saw duets with Katherina in Berlin! I’ve loved
singing from a very early age, I became drawn to the guitar soon after and my
most recent love is the musical saw!
CEV: When you first started composing music what style of
music did you start off with or did you even have a defined style at first?
NJ: When I was a little kid, I’d make up songs all of the time
which, as I’m sure you can imagine, are quite different from what I write now
and I’m sure the music that I write now will, in some ways, be quite different
from what I’ll be writing years from now. I feel that style is something that
naturally comes about while an artist is exploring and it then changes as the
artist changes, it’s an ever evolving thing.
CEV: As far as the music you listen to personally who were
some of the musicians that you would list as influential to what would
eventually become your style?
NJ: I have a pretty broad range of artists who inspire me. When
I was a kid, my Dad bought me some Jethro Tull CDs and I absolutely loved them!
I loved the songwriting, the inflection that Ian Anderson used when he sang,
everything! As strange and as unexpected as it may be, I’d point to Jethro Tull
as being one of the first bands to really inspire me. I’m not sure exactly how
I’d trace that to my style today, but my love for Jethro Tull was certainly
part of the process.
CEV: When was it that you first felt attracted to the music of
the 30’s and 40’s and what was it about this music that motivated you so much
to learn it and to sing it?
NJ: My middle school chorus put on a concert that included some
songs from that era, including “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy”. I remember loving
that song so much! When I started performing my own music, many people would
approach me after shows to say that there was something about my performance
that had a quality that was so reminiscent of Marlene Dietrich or Lotte Lenya.
After hearing this so many times I began to listen to the music of Dietrich
& Lenya and absolutely fell in love with it. It brought me right back to
that musical era, it brought me back to how much I loved “Boogie Woogie Bugle
Boy” when I was in middle school. Right around the same time my friend and
voice teacher gave me an Ute Lemper CD, which made me love this music even
more. I felt such a connection to it and passion for this music. I absolutely
had to learn this music and start performing it.
CEV: Was there a reason that you began singing in German as
well as English and did you have to learn German or were you already versed in
the language?
NJ: I just began studying German over the past year and I
absolutely love it. The music of Marlene Dietrich and Lotte Lenya really
brought about this love of the German language for me. I love singing in German
and certainly look forward to adding more German songs to my repertoire.
CEV: Tell me about your relationship to Projekt records and
how that came about.
NJ: I met Sam Rosenthal at a holiday party in 2003 that was
hosted by the wonderful owners of the NYC based record label, Middle Pillar. We
immediately became friends and that was the beginning of my relationship with
Projekt Records.
CEV: In 2004 you became part of Projekt Records Black Tape
for a Blue Girl U.S. tour, how did you feel about being a part of the tour and
did it increase your visibility to more fans who might enjoy your music?
NJ: Touring with Black Tape for a Blue Girl was an absolutely
wonderful experience artistically and an amazing opportunity to meet new
friends and fans. Some of the recordings featured on my live album are from the
tour.
CEV: How do you feel about performing your music live and
what kind of atmosphere do you like to create with your performances?
NJ: I love to feel as if the performance exists in its own
little world that one can get a bit lost in. In the same way that one can get
lost in the world of a painting or a good book, I like to feel that the
performance has a dimension to it that one can get lost in.
CEV: Speaking of live music your new release Nicki Jaine Live
was released earlier this year. This would be your second release so why did
you decide to do a live CD instead of a follow up studio CD?
NJ: I really love so many things about live recordings...they’re
so honest, so genuine, they have a spirit that studio recordings sometimes
lack. Naturally, live recordings aren’t technically squeaky clean like music
that is produced in a studio, but that’s part of what I love so much about
them, they’re raw and real and perhaps a bit imperfect…like life, like art and
that’s where their charm lies.
CEV: Did you have anything in particular in mind when you
decided what songs to include on this collection?
NJ: The live CD features original songs as well as selections
from the 1930s/1940s era that I really love. I wanted to combine the two
together in a way that they flowed into each other, which I really feel happens
on the CD.
CEV: Do the venues that are featured on this CD add anything
to the music that would not have been there otherwise?
NJ: Yes, I believe so. The songs that I performed at Odette’s
are particularly special to me. Odette’s was one of my favorite venues, the
people who frequented the place were so wonderful and had such an appreciation
for the music and the venue itself just had such great feel to it.
Unfortunately, Odette’s recently suffered such extensive flood related damages
that it has been closed permanently. I have so many great memories of
performing there and seeing shows there and miss it very much. The energy and
atmosphere at Odette’s was truly unique and I’m really happy that part of it
was captured on this CD.
CEV: So what’s the early word from your listeners as to what
they think of this new collection of live songs?
NJ: They seem to feel the way that I do: the live recordings
have such an intense and truly personal feel to them. The spirit of the
performance is really captured on these recordings, which is a wonderful thing.
CEV: What’s next for Nicki Jaine? Are you going to work on
more music for future CD’s or will you be concentrating on performing for now?
NJ: Right now the live performances are my main focus. I will be
working on another recording project in the not too distant future, but right
now the shows are what my mind is on! I’ve been collaborating with some
wonderful musicians, such as Mary Bichner, of the band Box Five, accordion
player, Ray Ashley and drummer, Ned Sonstein. Mary & I recently had the
pleasure of getting together for a little musical experiment with didgeridoo
player, Mark D. We spent the night creating music as a musical
saw/didgeridoo/glockenspiel trio! We will definitely need to incorporate this
into a show in the very near future!
CEV: Any final thoughts you’d like to share with the readers
of CEV?
NJ: Thank you for the interview, I truly appreciate it.
In the near future, video footage of live shows will be
available on my website. Some of the videos will include me performing music on
my musical saw. Please do keep an eye out for it! Also, it’s always a pleasure
to get in touch with new people, so if you feel inclined, please do stop by my
myspace page & say “Hello”! http://www.myspace.com/nickijainemusic
CEV: Thanks for taking the time to talk to me and share some of your thoughts with the readers of CEV and I'm sure that we will be hearing more from you in the near future. Good luck.
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