LET THE INNER MONSTER OUT!
NIC ROLLO ANNOUNCES NEW SINGLE & VIDEO MONSTER
Perth based producer and songwriter Nic Rollo has today announced his driving, eerie new single Monster, about identifying and quelling the monster within us all, set for release on February 5. Accompanying the track is a dark, revolving film clip, directed by Alex Montanari (Cub Sport, What So Not, Khalid) and Matthew James. Monster follows the 2019 release of Nic’s brilliant, iridescent EP What Happened to the Kid.
Monster will feel familiar to anyone who has said something in frustration or anger that they regret after the fact – the track is an introspective interrogation of that remorse, and what it’ll take to tame the inner monster who is responsible for those biting remarks. Reminiscent of synth-pop auteurs M83 and indie rockers The Wombats, and mastered by pop royalty Chris Gehringer (Harry Styles, Rihanna, Halsey), the track is buoyed by glistening synths, hooky guitar and driving percussion – while Nic’s gentle vocals and arresting lyrics take centre stage. Reflecting on the inspiration behind the track, Nic explains, “Monster was written during a previous relationship of mine when things were a bit shaky. There were a few times that I’d said something to my ex that had started to cause fractures in the relationship and unnecessary conflict. Monster is about that side of myself that I don’t always like - the part that is impulsive and lashes out when I should just hold my tongue instead.”
The video for Monster feels like the beginning of a horror film – there’s a sense of suspense, as though the calm atmosphere of the night-driving scenes will not last for much longer. It’s a beautiful watch, too – the lights passing in the night as the song plays out feels like a perfect representation of the moody nature of the music. Speaking about the clip, Nic says, “The video for Monster is a narrative based video that features a lot of driving and aims to be aesthetically pleasing. Matthew James, Alex Montanari and I came together to think about the video a few months back and we all had this vibe of the song revolving around driving and having dark colours. The story itself is supposed to be slightly confusing - am I driving to the burial or from the burial? Am I burying the monster or is the monster burying me?”
The release of Monster is a killer way to kick off 2020 for this exciting young artist, as he enthuses, “It feels fantastic to finally be releasing Monster. I wrote the song over a year ago and have been sitting on it for what feels like forever now. To date, it is probably my favourite song that I’ve written, and I’m super stoked to finally be able to share it with people.”
Monster is out February 5.
Q&A Interview with Nic Rollo.
Q; What’s the inspiration behind your new single Monster?
A; I wrote Monster during a pretty turbulent time in a previous relationship where it felt like I kept saying things that would damage it, and inevitably caused fractures in the relationship itself. The song is also commenting on how often, we shouldn’t be worried about other people, we should be more cautious of our own monsters. I think the song came from the guitar line that goes throughout the song - I vaguely remember coming up with it whilst in the studio with a band I play in and instantly knew I could write something around it.
Q; Who are your greatest musical influences?
A; I used to listen to so much Radiohead when I was younger that I’m sure they’re still impacting some of my musical decisions today. I think there’s something exciting about having weirder elements in pop music, so Radiohead definitely helped a lot there. In terms of synth sounds and all of that, bands like Tears for Fears, Fleetwood Mac and Tame Impala all gave me a look into that world about 5 years ago (starting with Tame). More recently artists like The Weeknd, Drake, Charlie Puth (and many others) have been really big influences on me as I’ve gotten more and more into writing pop music.
Q; What do you bring to the live stage?
A; Aside from INCREDIBLE musical prowess (I’m kidding), I feel like the live show is pretty fun. We’re all just up there having a good time, trying to not mess up too badly. I’m planning on upgrading the live show over the next few months with another member and potentially starting to look into incorporating lights and visuals, which I’m super pumped about. I’ve always been so fascinated by lighting and visuals in music.
Q; How was the recording process?
A; I love the recording process, I feel most comfortable when I’m in the studio. Working on Monster was good fun since I had been so fond of the song in its demo form. I was really excited to polish it up and see how it sounded. I recorded it at Blackbird Studio in Perth with Dave Parkin, and had Felix Parker with me (who played those ripper guitar solos). Some songs have historically been an emotional rollercoaster in the studio due to a number of reasons, but luckily Monster was pretty easy going.
Q; What was the inspiration behind the music video?
A; I caught up with Alex Montanari and Matthew James, who both worked on the clip, a few months before we were planning on beginning filming to figure out the story and what we wanted to achieve. Alex and I both had this idea in our heads about the film revolving around driving… something about Monster had a ‘driving a car’ kinda feel. After that point the hard part was figuring out how to incorporate driving into an interesting story line and keep the video interesting over nearly 4 minutes.
Q; How would you describe your writing process?
A; Sometimes it’s manic, sometimes it’s relaxed. I’ll typically just shit down at a keyboard and start playing chords until I come up with a chord progression or melody that inspires me to keep working on it. At that point I’ll begin to build a track from there. Sometimes I’ll write the bulk of the song in 20 minutes and be done with it (spending the next month or two producing it), other times I’ll spend 3 weeks trying to finish the actual songwriting (the chords, melodies, lyrics). I guess it can be hard to put a method to being creative, so to an extent you just have to let it happen as it does.
Q; Give us an interesting personal fact!
A; I’ll give you two - I’m a literal caffeine fiend, like I drink enough coffee to be considered ¼ coffee myself. It’s in my blood now. I also get a stupid amount of nose bleeds during summer, I think I have really weak nose lining or something, but damn does it suck. I’m surprised I’m not dead yet from blood loss.