Toronto alt-pop trio, Nikki’s Wives – comprised of Nikki Whitehead, Dylan Lauzon and Nate Baylor – are on the verge of being everyone’s new obsession. With the release of their debut EP, FOR E•V•E•R, the band touches on the culturally relevant topics of excess and infatuation while adding in a certain flair all their own no band has ever mastered. Buzz single, “Lonely Being Cool,” has been gaining momentum in the blogosphere which can only mean a bright future for these refreshing up-and-comers.
We got to catch up with Nikki’s Wives to chat all things music, inspiration, touring with the legend that is CeeLo Green and of course, what they’re obsessing over at the moment!
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Introduce yourselves to our readers with one random fact about each of you!
Hey! I’m Nikki and I sing in Nikki’s Wives. One random fact about me is that I am still in high school. So on tour I had to play a show and then start studying for my exams the next morning. It was a reality check for sure haha.
Ehh! Dylan here – I play guitar and keys. A random fact about me – I never grew out of sleepwalking, and once woke up in the hallway of a Nashville hotel wearing nothing but underwear and cowboy boots.
Yo its Nate, I play drums. During the filming of our “Lonely Being Cool” video, I had to break up a bus fight between a large Jamaican lady and a tiny Korean lady. I ate a punch getting in between them, it was pretty strange.
You guys recently released your debut EP, FOR E*V*E*R. Can you give us some insight into what inspired the 6 tracks? It definitely strikes a chord with us as it doesn’t sound like anything out there right now, which is refreshing.
Thanks! These were the first songs we ever wrote together and we had just ten days to write them, so we were pulling inspiration from anywhere we could get it. ABBA, Portishead, Motown, 70s prog rock, Drake and Peter Gabriel all got thrown in to our bubbling cauldron. Our goal was to make the record we always wanted to hear, so anything was fair game.
Nikki, you started your solo career pretty young. What ultimately made you want to team up with Dylan and Nate and start a band?
It was honestly the chemistry we all felt on stage that made being a band easy. We all connected so well and playing together was effortless. Being a solo artist is fun and everything, but nothing really compares to how it feels to be in a band with your friends. After we played that first show we all kinda knew that this had to be a band, and I couldn’t even think about going back to being a solo artist.
You’re on the road with CeeLo Green this summer, which has to be pretty incredible! What would you say he has taught you about the music industry, tour life, etc?
Yeah this summer has been so dope for us. The whole CeeLo crew has been very generous with their knowledge, and many of them actually went out of their way to teach us up on how things operate at the top of the game. The lesson that stood out the most was just seeing the amount of genuine love he has for his fans. Cee Lo has been working for over twenty years, and he still treats every fan like his first ever fan.
Has there been a moment yet in your career yet where you were just like, “Wow..I can’t believe we get to do this?”
Everything’s been moving so quickly for us, there have actually been a few of those moments! Probably the biggest one was in February – we drove from Toronto to San Francisco to play a Victoria’s Secret Super Bowl party. We walked the red carpet and partied with famous people. The whole event was very surreal.
Because we’re nosy, give us your top 5 songs at the moment!
“Shutdown” – Skepta
“Sky Blue” – Peter Gabriel
“Pyramid Song” – Radiohead
“Dimelo” – Snakehips & Tory Lanez
“Spicy 103FM” – Junglepussy
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVCDODmKjdQ
FOR E•V•E•R is available now here.
