Irish/Dutch artist Nicolaas Walle has released his new track, Scorpio. We asked him the BIG questions . . .
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The song is a collaboration between Nicolaas and Austrian singer Lisa Patscheider. Despite never meeting in person, the duo connected through Instagram over a shared love for progressive rock.
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
I am half-Irish and half-Dutch and living now in The Hague, in The Netherlands after living in Ireland for 14 years and several other countries before that.
I am an audio engineer, producer and musician who studied at IADT Dun Laoghaire and BIMM Dublin, from which I have a 1st-class-honours BA degree in Creative Music Production and an MA in Popular Music Practice, respectively, so I produce, mix and master all of my own music.
The singer on my new release, Scorpio as well as the previous single, Irony Of Fate, lives in Austria and we have never met in person.
How would you describe your music?
My music is eclectic for sure, which is perhaps a cliched way to begin describing it, but it's true. Instrumentally, it is quite guitar-and-bass-based as those are my main instruments. Style-wise, I take a lot of inspiration from progressive and art rock from the 70s as well as jazz fusion (I especially love Japanese Fusion) but aim to make music that is also accessible and sincere and avoid the labels of "pretentious" so often unfortunately associated with progressive genres. It’s supposed to be a bit groovy and unusual, but warm and lift people up.
Who are your musical inspirations?
I’m inspired by musicians such as Yes, Peter Gabriel, Rush, Gary Moore, Camel, Tame Impala, Vulfpeck, King Crimson, Steven Wilson and countless more. Other artists I like a lot at the moment would be the likes of Rachael Jean Harris, Knower, Joe Bonamassa, Pond, Lucy Rose, Louis Cole and once again, many more.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
The first gig I went to was Slash and Myles Kennedy in the 3Arena in Dublin.
What was the first record you ever bought?
The first record I ever bought with my own money was the half-speed Remaster of Peter Gabriel’s second solo album, nicknamed "Scratch" after the clever Hipgnosis-designed album art (although the first four albums were all named simply Peter Gabriel). It’s an underrated one in his catalogue I think, perhaps because it’s not very cheerful overall, and lacks a clear hit on the level with Solsbury Hill, but I find it a great album, also production wise. My favourite track on the album is Exposure for the passionate, frantic vocals, ambient Frippertronics, driving drums and of course the ridiculously funky odd time bass groove.
What’s your favourite song right now?
My favourite song at the moment is Onward by Yes, and it has been for a while. It’s stands out in their catalogue as a more simple and straightforward song compared to epics like Close To The Edge or The Gates Of Delirium, but it has a beautiful honest sincerity and poeticism to the lyrics and the melody and arrangement are sweetly performed, especially with Jon Anderson’s distinctive alto-tenor voice.
Favourite lyric of all time?
Probably a choice between "When we lift the covers from our feelings, we expose our insecure spots. Trust is just as rare as devotion, forgive us our cynical thoughts" from Emotion Detector by Rush, or from the same song, "It’s true that love can change us, but never quite enough. Sometimes we are too tender, sometimes we’re too tough". Neil Peart, their drummer, was a genius lyricist in general in my eyes.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Probably Close To The Edge by Yes, because it’s 18 minutes long and because the calm, atmospheric part in the middle is absolutely beautiful and I love the huge musical payoff it builds up to. It took me a couple of listens to warm up to this song honestly and for it to really "click" with me, especially the more chaotic sections, but now I think it would take a very long time for me to grow tired of it.
Where can people find your music/more information?
My music is on major streaming services such as Spotify, I am on Instagram at @nicolaasjohanneswalle and I would encourage people to check out my website at https://www.nicolaaswalle.com/ where they can find out more information about what I do, including how I can help as a composer and/or audio engineer, get in touch and maybe join my mailing list to keep up to date as well.
Alan Corr
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