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-
Nikki Awesome
- Female
- Toronto, Ontario
- Canada
- Valley of the Dolls meets 80's…
- Blogs (7)
- Discussions (3)
- Casting Calls
- Interest Groups (2)
- Photos (64)
- Photo Albums (1)
- Videos (1)
Nikki Awesome's PinupLifestyle Page
Interview
- What best describes your role in the industry?
- Musician, Performer
- What creative phrase would you use to describe your style?
- Valley of the Dolls meets 80's excess with a GlamourKiller facade. Look out. xx
- Tell us a little about yourself! (details or get declined)
- singer-songwriter-celebutante extrordinaire, sing and rap in a wicked dope band called THE ROYAL SOCIETY -- which is going on tour with FLO RIDA this summer, you can check our 40's inspired video YOU SAY (It was supposed to be) in my blog.
BUY ME ON ITUNES!!!!!!!!!!
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=31166...
http://www.myspace.com/theroyalsocietyx
and find out more about me at
http://twitter.com/hrhnikkiawesome
and
http://nikkiawesome.com
Here's my bio from my fan page
Raised on a strict diet of diamond shards and sugarfree champagne, nikki awesome was born from the pop-cultured delusions of a posh ex raver's neon spinal tap. Melodic synth-pop juxtaposed by lyrics bred in the brain of a self-confessed impermanance addict, Miss Awesome's style stretched elastic from electro to hiphop.
BACK IN THE DAY...
Making up song and dance routines to Madonna, Salt-n-Pepa and Technotronic in the playground, sporting cross colors and Ewings with hoop earrings and slap bracelets were simply a typical byproduct of public school in Scarborough, Ontario in the early 90's. Another? Writing raps for class projects in both English and French while backed up by classmates beatboxing through paper towel rolls.
However, nikki awesome’s musical journey truly began full throttle upon reciept of a 13th birthday Fender Squier Stratocaster. She thus developed an impassioned ambition to get beyond simply butchering Nirvana's NEVERMIND. From the albums of the day (H***, Smashing Pumpkins, Beck) and a stack of old vinyl (Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, The Stones, The Police), she began to carve out a repetoire against which her pop vocals seemed to pop askew...
Fast forward two or three years to Toronto's underground club and rave scene, nikki awesome became enamoured with the soulful vocals of classic house, the deep vibrations of drum and bass and dub and ultimately falling in love with the poppy, bubbly sound of U.K. garage. Musicians like Breakbeat Era, The Artful Dodger, Aphex Twin and Squarepusher were now hitting the awesome radar alongside often sampled classics such as Peter Tosh and Barrington Levy.
At the same time, commercial pop music was hitting a new stride -- acts like Britney Spears, Monica, Destiny's Child and Aaliyah were hitting the charts hard next to seasoned, tried and tested acts like Madonna, TLC, Janet Jackson and Mariah. nikki was absorbing pop and it's subsects of mainstream alt rock and hiphop (Think Digable Planets, The Beastie Boys, Rage Against The Machine) at an alarming rate, filtering, repackaging and stopping only to rinse, repeat.
STUDIO CITY
nikki awesome’s first chance at recording was in the late 90’s with a Drum and Bass producer and a Ragga MC. The track has since disappeared never to surface again, but the bug had been caught. With no formal musical training other than brief stints in musical theatre, failed piano lessons and a few willing long-haired shaggy guitar players, nikki began writing, first exclusively on guitar, some indie rock tracks borrowing heavily from The Pixies and The Velvet Underground.
Bored and finding the recording process of these tracks melancholy and sullenly introspective, nikki set up a jamspace in her bedroom that linked poorly-made early 90’s keyboards to a series of distortion, phaser and flange pedals, accompanying drum loops on guitar (now a 1974 Epiphone Les Paul Standard – Black on Black) run though beat up guitar amps as PAs. It was there she began writing neo-disco new wave tracks about going out drinking and running into ex-boyfriends. Among the influences she counts at this time were Nine Inch Nails, The Smiths, Rough Trade, Bloc Party and Gary Numan. This new sound would be the catalyst for the subsequent songs recorded at Syndicate Studios in Toronto over the next two years, which would themselves be morphed into something completely different...
You can find nikki awesome sipping champagne in the same places you found her before.
Only now it’s called slumming.
- Official Website or Tumblr Link:
- http://nikkiawesome.com
- Facebook or (gulp) MySpace Link:
- http://www.myspace.com/theroyalsocietyx
- Twitter: (Example: @Pinuplifestyle)
- hrhnikkiawesome
- How did you find PL? (Who referred you?, What site was the link on? What keywords did you search?) Be detailed, It helps us advertise and thank people!
- you found me on twitter
Here's my most recent interview with Unemployedandfabulous.com
the original is Here
There have been some rumours of another video hitting MuchMusic?
Unemployed and Fabulous, I didn’t take you for buying into the gossip pages! This is how rumors get started! YES, we are working on the next video with a very talented team. It’s going to be very design heavy with lots of colour this time. So don’t start thinking you know us from the last one, we live to switch it up.
I have been working really closely with my amazing designer from Black Circle Industries to get some concepts out of my brain and turned into clothing. Lately I’m loving kind of a royal-industrial-bondage kind of a look. Does that even make sense? *laughs* We’re probably over the period costume thing. Like, we don’t want to be “the band that does the 1940’s thing”. We’re cool with letting Katy Perry have that scene. *Laughs* We want to switch it up a little bit and we like stuff that’s maybe a little bit more obviously DIFFERENT… Though I would LOVE to do some kind of Dangerous Liasons kind of costuming down the line. I think Bloke and Breeze would look dope in those men’s garters and fluffy wigs. *laughs* We like costumes and illogically structured garments, so you will probably see some more of that in our next video.
Can we get a hint of the storyline for the video?
Now, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret, would it!? We like to keep our videos under wraps until they drop… some X FILES s***! Multiple scripts! Need-to-know storyboarding!
What is the next single? Where can we hear it?
The next single is called ALL THE LITTLE THINGS. It’s kind of a stalker’s anthem. *laughs* Sort of like The Police’s “I’ll Be Watching You“, but it’s about hot girl who seems a little bit crazy.. Maybe following you home or something and you can’t decide if it’s really sexy or really scary. It’s a lot darker than the first single but it mixes in well with our club set, which is high energy pop offset by 90’s freestyle and rap. We have been performing this sound for the last year, onstage we’re like RUN DMC mixed with AQUA right now, so it’s a lot of fun to perform.
I’m really excited about the new single, it’s the first time I have written a song as an actor.. So it was really written about this character, rather than an experience I had myself. I remember the night we wrote it I was like “Ummm I don’t know if i can actually put this out.” Recording it was a bit creepy.. Like I kind of felt a bit like Hannibal Lector in the sound booth. *Laughs* I think it was really a jumping off point for some of our newer material and definitely set the tone for some of the stuff we are recording for the upcoming release…
Where can the Royal fans catch you live in the near future?
We have been playing clubs all over the GTA and in Quebec, and have a bunch of dates coming up. St Catherine’s at White Haut on April 17th, an appearance (sorry, not a performance!) at Rockwood in Toronto on April 20th, Oshawa at Big Sexy on the 25th of April as well as an all ages show at the same venue on the 8th of May. Also just booked Halifax for June, so you can check the myspace for all dates for the summer as we’re adding new dates all the time.
Are you single? Taken? Complicated?
*Laughs* I love that status. “It’s Complicated”. I feel like we’re all going to look back on that in a few years and be all “it was SOOOO facebook. So 2007.”
It’s really difficult to have a relationship while working so hard on music. You’re basically running from studio, to soundcheck, to show, to the hotel, to the next venue. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for candlelight and violins. Being THE GIRL in the group means I have two big blockers – I mean BROTHERS *laughs* so it’s lucky if guys even get to talk to me after a show or when we go out! I definitely date, but usually it’s almost like a kiss-n-run kind of a thing for me. Probably why musicians all date each other! *Laughs* Its hard to return a text when you’re dealing with labels and producers and being places on time, so I usually get in trouble for being a bit unavailable..
Current Celebrity Crush?
OOH There are so many to crush on! Can I just list a bunch? I have my different levels of crush. Like there’s the full on “OMG YOU ARE SO HOT”, like my Leo DiCaprio, James McAvoy, Mos Def or Jim Sturgess. Andre 3000 and Josh Hartnett are big ones for me because they’re vegetarians. Then you have the total talent crushes, like James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem, Kanye, Trent Reznor, Ryan Gosling. Then there are just people that you want to hang out with, like Quincy Jones, Trey Parker, Charlie Kaufman. The list goes on!
What does a guy have to do to get a date with you?
Ok this has got to be good… *thinking* Well, I think most girls are into the grand gestures.. They might not admit it, but all girls love that s*** secretly… It also helps if the guy is hot and interesting. And fashionable.
I HATE the whole thing where guys act like they are being clever by being sarcastic instead of witty. To be honest it just makes me think you’re charmless and boring. Socially inept. So yeah. Don’t be a jerk. Be charming, make grand gestures. I like to go out and DO SOMETHING. Something DATEY. Showing up with flowers and stuff is optional, but I’m so down for getting picked up, going out and doing an activity, like going to a gallery or ice skating or whatever. Don’t take me to a steakhouse if you expect to get kissed. Don’t take me out for the stuff you do with your guy friends, unless you and your friends have courtside seats. And don’t EVER bring me to a pub. Girls don’t wear Chanel to come out smelling like onion rings.
Where will you be living in 5 years (city)? Why?
If I could forecast that, I’d be living there now! *Laughs* I am definitely a city girl, but a bigger city than my hometown, I hope. Cue the haters! *Laughs* I like places that are rich in history and architecture. I wouldn’t mind being in the South of France or Vienna, but who knows, I haven’t been to Tokyo or Fiji yet, so I wouldn’t cross them off the list!
Is the Canadian Music scene breaking through…. or slowing down?
It’s a difficult time for music in general, never mind Canadian music. In the wake of the collapsing economy and filesharing being the norm, I think we have raised and continue to raise a generation of people who don’t see the value in paying for music – they’ve just never had to. And as a result, new bands are not moving units the way they might have done in the mid-90’s, so a lot of wicked new bands get slept on or remain underfunded and undeveloped and we end up with a pretty homogenous Canadian musical identity. The bands that do well in sales get all the accolades and continue to define the “Canadian” sound, which doesn’t necessarily accurately reflect us. You know what I’m talking about. In my opinion we tend to see Canadian music reflected in the mainstream as being primarily Jock Rock. It’s a shame, really, because there are so many talented artists who pop up and ultimately disappear for lack of funding, not lack of interest. So support your indie artists, Canada! Or don’t get mad when we move away! *Laughs* Don’t get me wrong though, I love a lot of Canadian artists. I’m so proud of Feist and Kardi and Nelly. I love Hot Hot Heat, KIDS ON TV, Metric, Billy Talent, Esthero and Kreesha Turner. Of course I couldn’t be prouder of my homegirl Care from Die Mannequin. It’s not that I mind being represented by rock – just BAD rock. So… I HOPE we’re about to break into a new episode in Canadian music. I’m… Cautiously optimistic? I think the music will speak for itself and I think the fans are starting to see that there is more to offer than the tried-and-tested, on an international level. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see Canadian music blow up and be a little more diverse. Fingers crossed.
Lastly, how can our fans get your hit single on their iPods?
It’s a little thing we like to call iTunes.ca. 99 cents isn’t a lot to keep artists you like making music.
www.myspace.com/theroyalsocietyx
Check out Nikki Awesome’s Current Single “You Say” out now on iTunes
the original is Here
There have been some rumours of another video hitting MuchMusic?
Unemployed and Fabulous, I didn’t take you for buying into the gossip pages! This is how rumors get started! YES, we are working on the next video with a very talented team. It’s going to be very design heavy with lots of colour this time. So don’t start thinking you know us from the last one, we live to switch it up.
I have been working really closely with my amazing designer from Black Circle Industries to get some concepts out of my brain and turned into clothing. Lately I’m loving kind of a royal-industrial-bondage kind of a look. Does that even make sense? *laughs* We’re probably over the period costume thing. Like, we don’t want to be “the band that does the 1940’s thing”. We’re cool with letting Katy Perry have that scene. *Laughs* We want to switch it up a little bit and we like stuff that’s maybe a little bit more obviously DIFFERENT… Though I would LOVE to do some kind of Dangerous Liasons kind of costuming down the line. I think Bloke and Breeze would look dope in those men’s garters and fluffy wigs. *laughs* We like costumes and illogically structured garments, so you will probably see some more of that in our next video.
Can we get a hint of the storyline for the video?
Now, if I told you, it wouldn’t be a secret, would it!? We like to keep our videos under wraps until they drop… some X FILES s***! Multiple scripts! Need-to-know storyboarding!
What is the next single? Where can we hear it?
The next single is called ALL THE LITTLE THINGS. It’s kind of a stalker’s anthem. *laughs* Sort of like The Police’s “I’ll Be Watching You“, but it’s about hot girl who seems a little bit crazy.. Maybe following you home or something and you can’t decide if it’s really sexy or really scary. It’s a lot darker than the first single but it mixes in well with our club set, which is high energy pop offset by 90’s freestyle and rap. We have been performing this sound for the last year, onstage we’re like RUN DMC mixed with AQUA right now, so it’s a lot of fun to perform.
I’m really excited about the new single, it’s the first time I have written a song as an actor.. So it was really written about this character, rather than an experience I had myself. I remember the night we wrote it I was like “Ummm I don’t know if i can actually put this out.” Recording it was a bit creepy.. Like I kind of felt a bit like Hannibal Lector in the sound booth. *Laughs* I think it was really a jumping off point for some of our newer material and definitely set the tone for some of the stuff we are recording for the upcoming release…
Where can the Royal fans catch you live in the near future?
We have been playing clubs all over the GTA and in Quebec, and have a bunch of dates coming up. St Catherine’s at White Haut on April 17th, an appearance (sorry, not a performance!) at Rockwood in Toronto on April 20th, Oshawa at Big Sexy on the 25th of April as well as an all ages show at the same venue on the 8th of May. Also just booked Halifax for June, so you can check the myspace for all dates for the summer as we’re adding new dates all the time.
Are you single? Taken? Complicated?
*Laughs* I love that status. “It’s Complicated”. I feel like we’re all going to look back on that in a few years and be all “it was SOOOO facebook. So 2007.”
It’s really difficult to have a relationship while working so hard on music. You’re basically running from studio, to soundcheck, to show, to the hotel, to the next venue. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for candlelight and violins. Being THE GIRL in the group means I have two big blockers – I mean BROTHERS *laughs* so it’s lucky if guys even get to talk to me after a show or when we go out! I definitely date, but usually it’s almost like a kiss-n-run kind of a thing for me. Probably why musicians all date each other! *Laughs* Its hard to return a text when you’re dealing with labels and producers and being places on time, so I usually get in trouble for being a bit unavailable..
Current Celebrity Crush?
OOH There are so many to crush on! Can I just list a bunch? I have my different levels of crush. Like there’s the full on “OMG YOU ARE SO HOT”, like my Leo DiCaprio, James McAvoy, Mos Def or Jim Sturgess. Andre 3000 and Josh Hartnett are big ones for me because they’re vegetarians. Then you have the total talent crushes, like James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem, Kanye, Trent Reznor, Ryan Gosling. Then there are just people that you want to hang out with, like Quincy Jones, Trey Parker, Charlie Kaufman. The list goes on!
What does a guy have to do to get a date with you?
Ok this has got to be good… *thinking* Well, I think most girls are into the grand gestures.. They might not admit it, but all girls love that s*** secretly… It also helps if the guy is hot and interesting. And fashionable.
I HATE the whole thing where guys act like they are being clever by being sarcastic instead of witty. To be honest it just makes me think you’re charmless and boring. Socially inept. So yeah. Don’t be a jerk. Be charming, make grand gestures. I like to go out and DO SOMETHING. Something DATEY. Showing up with flowers and stuff is optional, but I’m so down for getting picked up, going out and doing an activity, like going to a gallery or ice skating or whatever. Don’t take me to a steakhouse if you expect to get kissed. Don’t take me out for the stuff you do with your guy friends, unless you and your friends have courtside seats. And don’t EVER bring me to a pub. Girls don’t wear Chanel to come out smelling like onion rings.
Where will you be living in 5 years (city)? Why?
If I could forecast that, I’d be living there now! *Laughs* I am definitely a city girl, but a bigger city than my hometown, I hope. Cue the haters! *Laughs* I like places that are rich in history and architecture. I wouldn’t mind being in the South of France or Vienna, but who knows, I haven’t been to Tokyo or Fiji yet, so I wouldn’t cross them off the list!
Is the Canadian Music scene breaking through…. or slowing down?
It’s a difficult time for music in general, never mind Canadian music. In the wake of the collapsing economy and filesharing being the norm, I think we have raised and continue to raise a generation of people who don’t see the value in paying for music – they’ve just never had to. And as a result, new bands are not moving units the way they might have done in the mid-90’s, so a lot of wicked new bands get slept on or remain underfunded and undeveloped and we end up with a pretty homogenous Canadian musical identity. The bands that do well in sales get all the accolades and continue to define the “Canadian” sound, which doesn’t necessarily accurately reflect us. You know what I’m talking about. In my opinion we tend to see Canadian music reflected in the mainstream as being primarily Jock Rock. It’s a shame, really, because there are so many talented artists who pop up and ultimately disappear for lack of funding, not lack of interest. So support your indie artists, Canada! Or don’t get mad when we move away! *Laughs* Don’t get me wrong though, I love a lot of Canadian artists. I’m so proud of Feist and Kardi and Nelly. I love Hot Hot Heat, KIDS ON TV, Metric, Billy Talent, Esthero and Kreesha Turner. Of course I couldn’t be prouder of my homegirl Care from Die Mannequin. It’s not that I mind being represented by rock – just BAD rock. So… I HOPE we’re about to break into a new episode in Canadian music. I’m… Cautiously optimistic? I think the music will speak for itself and I think the fans are starting to see that there is more to offer than the tried-and-tested, on an international level. So I wouldn’t be surprised to see Canadian music blow up and be a little more diverse. Fingers crossed.
Lastly, how can our fans get your hit single on their iPods?
It’s a little thing we like to call iTunes.ca. 99 cents isn’t a lot to keep artists you like making music.
www.myspace.com/theroyalsocietyx
Check out Nikki Awesome’s Current Single “You Say” out now on iTunes
Nikki Awesome's Photos
Nikki Awesome's Videos
Nikki Awesome's Blogs
I really really need this to be linked to my site..
Posted on October 8, 2012 at 5:18pm 0 Comments 0 Loves
PERIOD DRAMA EPISODE 2: EMERGENCY PROCEDURES
Posted on February 1, 2010 at 11:30am 0 Comments 0 Loves
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http://nashvillevoodooradio.podbean.com/
Always looking for new Music!
Love your hangover joke! I had one yesterday. By the way, your latest video is absolutely stunning! Anytime you can get to Kingston, I'll be thrilled to work with you.
Hair/Makeup ArtistSalena Renee said…
hmmm...speaking of...wish I knew how to put some music on my page, LOL!!!
Have a great week!!!
Hair/Makeup ArtistSalena Renee said…
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