Nick AM
Nick AM is a visionary: his inspiration draws on an amalgamation of his early life, heritage, contemporary music, and his own personal music taste. He was born in Manhattan to Iranian immigrants, where he discovered a love for house and electronic music. Now, he’s a well-established producer on the scene. His song, “Cold War (Nick AM Remix)”, currently has over 2 million streams while “Thief” and “Fatale” have also received significant success. He’s amassed a following of more than 120K monthly listeners on Spotify, with streams coming in from across America, Australia, and the UK. He’s received recognition through features on Spotify’s Dope Beats and Creamy playlists. It’s safe to say the future is looking bright for the artist. We recently spoke with Nick AM about his early life, hobbies, and more!
How did you start making music?
I’ve always had beats in my head. A few of my friends in college were producing music, and that motivated me to download Ableton. But, I didn't have the attention span to get past the learning curve. When school ended, it became torture going to my 9-5 and hearing the beats in my head, not knowing how to get them out. Luckily, I knew these producer kids from the internet who were getting Soundcloud hype and booking shows on weekends in New York. They didn't know anyone else in the city, so they'd crash at my place in Brooklyn when they came to play show's. They'd be making music at my place in between and I'd pick their brains. They'd give me huge sample libraries, helped me start songs etc. One of the kids never left and crashed on my couch till we got too many complaints and the landlord kicked us out. I think that experience took me from 0-60 in a short span of time. The rest was all on me.
What do you like to do when you’re not in the studio?
I just bought some books on Persian poetry so I'd like to get into them. Other than that, spend time with family and friends.
Where is your go-to location when it’s time to write?
Anywhere, I just need my laptop. 90% of the time it's at my desk, but sometimes in the kitchen, in the living room, on the floor, airports, airplanes, cabs, buses etc. Headphones and laptop are all I need. Sometimes I'll be watching Netflix in bed and inspiration will strike; I'll sample the audio from what I'm watching and get to writing. That's how I started my track “Almond Eyes”. I was watching 8 Mile in bed and there's a part where Brittany Murphy's character is talking to Eminem; it sounded so beautiful. I immediately ripped the audio with this Mac plugin called Audio Hijack and threw it into Ableton and the first seed was planted.
Describe your music in just 3 words.
The best music
What do you consider your biggest accomplishment so far? -
Playing in Tokyo.
Who’s your partner in a dream collab?
Jimmy Hendrix.
Any future projects for fans to get excited about?
I have a song called “Power” that should be out in late August or early September. i started “Power” back in February when I noticed radio silence on the already limited coverage of the recent protests in Iran. When I started mixing “power”, the BLM protests started happening over here. “Power” is for anyone who has to take to the streets.
