Singer/Songwriter Nikki Lang

All Photos:  Alan Mercer   Lighting:  Eric V.

Nikki Lang started her musical career, as a singer/songwriter at the age of 12. By 15, she had appeared in clubs throughout Los Angeles both as a solo artist and with her band where she plays guitar. Now as Nikki approaches her 20’s, she has toured both nationally and internationally, been a featured artist on radio, TV, print and has caught the eye of music industry moguls as well as developed a loyal fan base.

Inspired by the authenticity of singer songwriters, Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morissette, and Lily Allen, Nikki sings of self-discovery and empowerment that can be read like a handbook for girls coming of age, while also appealing to adult audiences.

Nikki writes about life’s experiences, love, heartbreak, boys, and lessons, from the lens of a young woman entering her 20’s. Her songs are ageless. Added to the lyric is her voice and instrumentation, which rings out clarity and precision, and can cross genres, as well as generations. Songs such as “My Sad Hero,” “Cute but Stupid,” and “Bros before Hos” speak directly to her fans and offer up a “tongue on cheek” way out of what sometimes can appear bottomless.

Nikki’s recent accomplishments include the completion of her latest EP, 'Feel Better,' and wrapping production on her first major music video for the EP’s title track. She has recently completed her first national tour.

Tracked at the world-famous Record Plant studio, her latest CD, Feel Better, was produced by Jason Goldman, who has worked as an instrumentalist and a arranger for artists such as Michael Bublé, David Foster, and Clay Aiken, and was engineered/mixed by Mike Butler, (Pretenders, the Shins) and countless others.

Coming from a family steeped in the performing arts, Nikki took to music naturally and at an early age and developed impressive chops on guitar and piano along with her singing voice. 

I became familiar with Nikki Lang when I featured her accomplished Grandmother Monica Lewis on this blog a few weeks ago.  Nikki is not only talented and beautiful, she is charming and unassuming.  I have really fallen in love with the whole family!  I know you will fall in love with Nikki's music and charm just like I did! 

  

AM:  Nikki, I know you are a very talented singer and songwriter.  Have you been doing this your whole life? 

NL:  Pretty much!  I started playing guitar when I was six.  I just saw someone on TV and I told my Dad I wanted to play the guitar.  He didn't take me seriously of course because I was a six year old little girl so he got me the cheapest guitar he could find.  I never put it down.  I played it every single day all the time.  He was a little bit worried that I wouldn't have any friends because all I wanted to do was play the guitar.  Then I started doing it seriously and never gave it up.  I wrote my first song when I was eight and it was about my sister.  So I have been doing this my whole life and it's all I want to do my whole life. 

AM:  Well music is in your family so it isn't surprising!  Do you think you inherited this talent?

NL:  Definitely from my Grandmother and Great Grandmother, everybody in my family except for my parents.  They are the only not musically gifted people in the family. (laughter) No offense to them. 

AM:  How much music do you have available now?

NL:  I have an album I released when I was sixteen and an EP I released a year and a half ago.  I'm in the process of recording another EP which is five or six songs of newer material and it should be out at the end of the summer. 

AM:  Do you think EP's are a modern trend?

NL:   Yes people want to have a little of one thing and a little more of something else.  A whole album costs a lot of money also.  EP's help you get record deals.  People don't want to listen to twelve songs. 

AM: What gave you the idea to write 'Bros Before Hos?'

NL:  I originally wrote that as a joke for my friend.  She was going through the same thing I was going through with a guy.  You really like this guy but he won't flirt with you because his best friend has already claimed you.  He's already said you can't go for her because I've got her.  It's the worst thing for girls because we just want that one guy.  Anyway my friend told me it was a really good song and that I should record it so I did.  It turns out that so many other girls are in the same situation. 

AM:  Your lyrics really focus on your age group.  It must be great to write for other teenagers. 

NL:  A lot of what I write is from the heart.  I write honestly and actually a lot of older women relate to it.  Writing from the heart translates to any age group.  Most people can relate to love stories and break ups. 

AM:  You have a little sarcasm in your lyrics as well.

NL:  (laughing)  A little bit! 

AM:  Do I detect a bit of a dark side to your lyrics?

NL:  Definitely.  I'm truthful and in touch with my feelings.  If somebody has screwed me over and I'm bitter about it then I'm letting the whole world know. 

AM:  How often are you writing?

NL:  I write so much.  It's interesting because I'll be driving or walking and somebody will say something or I'll hear something on the radio and it will inspire a whole song.  So I'll write the song and then another song will be inspired by the song I just wrote.  It's not predictable.  It just happens randomly.

AM:  Do you feel like you channel the music?

NL:  Yes, everything around me inspires me. If it's a bad situation it can inspire ten songs. 

AM:  Is it easier to write from a sad point of view or a happy one?

NL:  Generally for me it comes both ways.  It does come a lot from frustration, sadness and heartbreak but also if my life is changing for the better like when I went to Europe.  I came back and wrote so many happy songs.  So it comes from sad and happy.

AM:  Why don't you tell me a little bit about your recent shows in San Diego?

NL:  I played for two conventions.  One was the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions which had 18,000 researchers from around the world there to discuss the current research on diabetes.  I sang 'America The Beautiful' to kick off one of the sessions.  The other concert was for Medtronic, a pharmaceutical company that makes my insulin pump.  Sandwiched in between those two shows was my full set at Lestats, a club in San Diego.  It was so great!  A lot of the people who saw me at ADA and Medtronic turned out for my show at Lestats.  They are really great and supportive of me and I'm supportive of them.  We work together.

AM:  And this is because you yourself were diagnosed with diabetes as a child right?

NL:  June 28, 2011 was my nine year anniversary of being diagnosed. 

AM:  You are a great example of someone living with diabetes who is very healthy.  It must have been frightening when you were nine to find this out.

NL:  It was really terrifying mostly because I had never known anyone with diabetes and it was so out of nowhere.  I was on summer vacation and got really sick.  After learning everything about it and realizing there were so many other people that had the same thing I embraced and accepted it as part of me.  Just like my music, it's the struggles that make you who you are.  It makes me stronger. 

AM: Maybe this even inspires you to go after your dreams more.  What is your goal as an artist?

NL:   My goal is to reach and inspire as many people as possible.  I just want to touch people's lives. 

AM:  Do you think you can handle being a superstar?

NL:  Oh I definitely can!   (laughing)

AM:  It looks like it could happen.  I heard you are on a celebrity name list.  How does that feel?

NL:  It feels pretty good!  It feels great to be on a list with Nick Jonas and Brett Michaels. 

AM:  You have a lot of fans already don't you?

NL:  I do.  I get fan mail from Germany and random places all over the world.  When I was in Ireland some girl saw me and recognized me from the internet where she told me she heard of me a year ago.  She told me she loves my music.  The music gets around but it takes a little time. 

AM:  Is the 'Bros Before Hos' video new?

NL:  Yes it's only about a month old. 

AM:  I fully expect you to be a big hit! 

NL:  I hope so.

AM:  Last question, who do you listen to?

NL:  I listen to Alannis Morrisette, Joni Mitchell...

AM:  I knew you listened to Joni Mitchell because I can hear her influence in your music!

NL:  Yes, Joni is my girl.  Other than her I also like Fiona Apple, some James Taylor folk-like music, but I'm also inspired by a lot of punk rock from the Seventies and Eighties.  I really like the band X and Smashing Pumpkins, the harder stuff too.

AM:  Would you record music that sounded harder like that?

NL:  Yes, I have a lot of songs that will be on my next EP that are a little harder, edgier and raw.

To learn more about Nikki please visit her website http://www.nikkilang.com/