Nicky English is the nom de plume of singer-songwriter Nikita Hasis, who arrived at the anglophilic sobriquet after watching Brit film director Guy Ritchie's Snatch, where Jason Statham's character explains: "My name is Turkish. Funny name for an Englishman, I know."
"English – funny name for a Russian dude," explains the singer-songwriter.
His favorite groups include a roster of UK groups, including the Stone Roses, Oasis and Primal Scream. "I also listen to quite a bit of gypsy jazz – Django Reinhardt, The Rosenberg Trio, Moreno… and French stuff, like Francis Cabrel, Joe Dassin..." The influence of the latter manifests on the track "Cherchez la Femme" from English's Seven Love Songs for the End of the World EP. At just over two minutes, the tune has an indelible pop lilt and suitable carefree lyrics: forgetting all your troubles with just one smile / cherchez la femme. The track "Rock and Roll," speaks more to his interest in Brit rock, with a synth groove not far removed from the later-year stylings of New Order. The EP was released not long after English's Seven Love Songs for a Liar EP, though the two were never intended to be complementary.
"The two records are kind of adopted siblings," says English. "They weren't meant to even have similar titles at first, but the second one just went the 'theme' route, and I thought might as well keep the names similar." Both records are rife with synth-derived orchestration layered on dozens of individual tracks, all the brainchild of English, the sole – and prolific – songwriter. End of the World, in particular, could be readily transformed into a dance hall friendly collection of remixes. If many English lyrics are not as they seem, the track "Verses" is deliberately obtuse: "Since I was really going for an apocalypse feel on the EP, I figured what text warns about the end of the world better that the Bible? The words, whether one buys into them or not, are incredibly intense. Perfect fit."
"Call you Back" has a lounge-y breeziness, call-and-response harmonies and a thumping chorus, snappy drums and clean, understated guitars to carry the verses. It's comparatively raw, and the vibe works to great effect, adding a liberal splash of charisma.
"I want my solo stuff to sound very different live than on the CD," says English. "'Call You Back' is a perfect example of that; I've never done an electronic arrangement of it, but if I did, it would probably sound very different to how the band plays it.
"I think it's a challenge to the boys, because on a solo recording I'll have 25 tracks running, and live we have five or six instruments. It's kind of on them to create the same intensity with minimal instrumentation. They do a damn good job."
WATCH + LISTEN: Nicky English - "Call You Back"
"Live From Bad Racket" is a monthly music video series that invites local acts to perform in Adam Wagner's Bad Racket studio in Cleveland. To watch Cleveland's Founding Fathers perform at Bad Racket click here. To watch Signals Midwest exclusive Bad Racket performance click here.
On February 24th, 2011 @ 12:39:pm,
wonderful stuff guys. thank you! and you can find more on nicky english at www.nickyenglish.com ♥