Singer draws upon raw emotion
Nick Yiakoumatos sings during a performance. Photos submitted
By Tom Victoria
Nick Yiakoumatos expresses raw emotion through song.
The California musician described his style.
“My music is very genre-blending,” he said. “It's a mix of pop, rock and some rap elements. It's very dark and raw and organic, and it talks about love, heartbreak, sadness, just really deep, raw emotions.”
Nick, 16, of Los Angeles explained why music is his passion.
“Music is my way to communicate,” he said. “When I first started doing music, I was 4 years old. I had a communication disorder, so I wasn't able to fully talk until I was about 8 years old. Music was my way to express myself and be able to share what I was feeling, because you didn't need words. You just need notes, rhythm, an instrument, just anything really, and you could be able to share your feelings and your thoughts. You could connect with people. For me, it's about communication and sharing that with others.”
Nick’s newest release is The After After Party.
“The After After Party is a dance song,” he said. “It's about the experience of an after party vibe.”
Nick’s previous release was Don’t Forget About It.
“It's a sad song,” he said. “It's still high energy, but the main message is about accepting your pain and your grief. That moment where you realize there you're no longer in denial about it, so you're really facing it head-on and realizing that not everything is great.”
The songs are from Nick’s album.
“The songs are part of a bigger album that's called The After Party,” he said. “It's about an after party. It's just that vibe.”
Nick will release more music following the album’s October debut.
“I plan to release an EP and more music and just keep going,” he said.
Nick draws upon a variety of sources for musical inspiration.
“Just about anything inspires it,” he said. “I do take a lot from my personal life, but I also do take a lot from books and movies, especially when coming up with themes and stories.”
Nick’s process typically starts the same.
“Most of the time it'll be melody,” he said. “Sometimes, it is lyrics, but most of the time I find myself writing melody first.”
Nick can surprise himself with what he creates next.
“A lot of the newer music I'm doing that's releasing now is, it's a lot different from my old stuff,” he said. “I didn't intend for that to happen. It was just a shift in my creativity. I started leaning into a different sound, and I surprised myself with that. I thought I would always stick to my older style of music, but I shifted into a newer area.”
Nick said it’s easier to write melancholy tunes.
“It's definitely a lot easier to write sad songs because the emotion is easier to tap into,” he said. “It's a lot stronger emotion, so it is a lot easier. Happy songs, it's a special place. It's like its own art in itself.”
Nick always seeks opportunities to perform live.
“All the time,” he said. “I perform whenever I can. It's one of my favorite things to do.”
Nick savors the interaction with a live audience.
“That's probably my favorite part of the process,” he said.
Nick said it’s not always beneficial to be an artist in L.A.
“It is and it isn't,” he said. “What's really hard about it is there's so many people trying to do it all at once. You can find places to perform, but it's really hard to get in. A lot of times it is pay-to-play. It is easier because there are a lot of venues, but it's also harder because there's a lot of people.”
Nick hopes to achieve a successful music career.
“As much as I can make, as far as I can go,” he said. “I'm fine with famous, not famous, as long as I can make a career out of it.”
Nick remains cognizant of his audience.
“That's definitely something that's always in my mind,” he said. “It shifts as you age and as you change as an artist, but there's some continuities throughout.”
The first song that impacted Nick as a youth was one by a renowned pop singer.
“What I can remember was Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never,” he said. “I remember that song came out, and I was absolutely in love with it. I wanted to be like him. I saw the music video, and I saw him perform it live. I was like, that's who I want to be like. That was my original inspiration to want to be an artist.”
Nick realized being a musician was his path a few years ago.
“The moment that made it my sole focus, narrowed everything down was three years ago now,” he said. “I performed at my school's dance. That was the most high energy, best experience of my life, being able to perform for my friends and classmates. It was that energy and that feeling. That's when I knew that that's what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
Nick is now inspired by two solo artists and a band.
“Current musical inspirations would be Montell Fish,” he said. “He's a really great artist, singer/songwriter. The Weeknd would be another. And then I also really like a band by the name of The Neighbourhood.”
Nick takes care of his voice.
“There's basic upkeep, staying hydrated using humidifiers,” he said. “Keep the vocal cords nice and humid so that they don't get too dry. You can injure yourself that way, doing vocal warmups and stuff. Just the basics.”
Nick would like his music to be remembered one way more than any other.
“Just the unfiltered organicness of it, coming from a really raw place,” he said. “I know I use that word a lot: raw. But really, I think it describes it well. Letting it all go. Just the center of human emotion.”
Nick plays the instruments most adaptable for virtually any song.
“I started on guitar and piano, and I'm still on guitar and piano,” he said. “Once you learn piano, then you can get into synthesizers and DAW (digital audio workstation) stuff. And then once you learn guitar, you can do bass. You can do a bunch of string instruments with some minor changes, but they're the entry level into instruments.”
Nick said social media has pros and cons to market oneself.
“That's a controversial one,” he said. “There's a lot of people who don't like it. A lot of people who do. It's a little bit of a love-hate relationship. It's not the best thing. But compared to how it used to be, it is a lot better. It used to be the record labels would find people and they would make them stars, and you would have to be that lucky person to get picked.”
Nick said it’s harder for the industry to ignore talent.
“Nowadays, you still have to be lucky, but there's a better chance,” he said. “You can just post your music and it'll be seen by people, and you can grow community. You can get noticed by the record labels and buy an audience. You don't even really need a record label anymore. At a certain point, you do. But to get started and to really start making money and make a career, you just need your phone and an app in your hand. It's a helpful tool. There's a lot of negativity, a lot of stress that comes with it. But it's really simple, and it helps a lot.”
Nick keeps it real for his social media content.
“If it feels authentic to me and it feels authentic to my music and I feel like it's something I want to share with people, then I post it,” he said. “If it feels like me and it feels if I'm 100 percent confident in it, then I post it. It's what feels right.”
Nick advocates writing music an artist feels is good more than being marketable.
“I mainly focus on what's good for the song, what feels right,” he said. “If you try and write it so that it'll be popular, it'll be obvious you're chasing a hit. But if you're just honest with your artistry and what the song needs and what feels right, then that'll come across and it'll be a better song.”
Nick plans to transition into being a full-time musician upon graduating.
“At this point, my plan is to go right into a music career after high school,” he said. “I'm planning on two gap years for college to try and see what I can make happen. And then after two years, reconvene and see maybe go to college for music, go to college for entrepreneurship or something else, music business, something music-related. But for now, the plan is to go right into the industry.”
Creating music keeps Nick motivated.
“My whole motivation comes from the song itself,” he said. “If I have a good song at the very core, it's a good melody, good lyrics, good backing, then that's good enough to carry me through. When it comes to writing, before I even have a song, just the wantingness to make a good song, always chasing the next song and doing better and new ideas, new sounds. It's the idea of the next thing keeps me going.”
Nick presents himself differently as an artist than in his private time.
“It's definitely different from how I normally am,” he said. “I do have to dress differently and keep that image in mind in my videos and when I perform. Whenever I'm an artist, I tend to dress in more darker colors, more vintage look. In real life, I'm very much just sweatshirt, sweatpants kind of person. I'm much more confident when I'm doing my music stuff. It's definitely a different persona.”
Nick offered advice to aspiring musicians.
“My advice would be to just do it,” he said. “A lot of things when it comes to stressing music is it just takes doing it. So many people get lost in all the details. How do I do this? How do I make an image? How do I market myself?”
Nick said musicians must go through a process.
“It's a lot of trial and error and just putting it out there,” he said. “You just learn as you go. You find the things you don't like, find things you like, and you piece it all together and you find what works. Just put everything you have into it, put it all out there and then see what happens.”
Nick’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickyiakoumatos/
Nick’s website: https://nickyiakoumatos.com/
Nick’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3kGbKiGJCuj75gD7fZHgDA