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Interview: Dark Waves

Nick Long has been in bands before, but it is the success he is finding in his new project Dark Waves that is bringing him the most notoriety. His new EP Dark Waves has tracks that have been streamed over two million times on Spotify and fans have been turning out nightly in support of his opening slot for the talented Brooke Fraser on their current tour. I recently caught up with Nick to talk about his new EP, his plans for a full-length album and what it is like being a musician from Los Angeles.

Me: You’ll be supporting Brooke Fraser from now until the end of February across the Nation. How stoked are you to finally get out on the road and play some new songs live?

Nick: We played a couple of warm up gigs in L.A. and San Diego. This is a project I have been working on for a while. I recorded a bunch of songs with different friends of mine and it took a little longer then I would have anticipated to get off the ground, but I’m really happy with where thing are at now. I started playing shows a couple of months ago, so it feels like something I have been working on for a long time but I’m excited to finally take it to the next level and get on the road.

Me: You said you had been working on these songs for a while. Were these songs left over from another project or were they written strictly for this? Take me through the process for the new EP Dark Waves.

Nick: When I started writing for it, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was writing for another band and the other band kind of fell apart. I wouldn’t leave my house for days and I would just hole up and write music. I started hanging out in my buddy’s studio and developing these ideas that I was coming up with. When my band was falling apart, it kind of took me a few months to warm up to the idea of starting another band. I was just kind of exhausted. There wasn’t a clear vision when I started but I think it has definitely taken shape and developed it’s own style over the last year or so.

Me: Will there been a full release in 2015? What are the plans for that?

Nick: We are looking for a full release in the summer time. I have a stupid amount of songs written. I would love to just put music out but I’m trying to not just throw out music on the Internet; I actually have a plan.

Me: On Spotify, I Don’t Wanna Be In Love and The Heart The Soul have received over a million and two million streams. That’s got to give you a lot of confidence going into the full LP, right?

Nick: Oh yea. It feels so good. With any art, you do what you believe in and once you put it out there it is out of your control. You never know how people are going to respond or if they are going to respond at all. Honestly, it just feels really good. I’m excited.

Me: What was the inspiration behind the EP? The video for I Don’t Wanna Be In Love is great.

Nick: Thank you. That was probably one of the last songs I wrote for the EP. Honesty, I was dating this girl for a couple of years and we broke up actually a couple of months after I had written the song. Sometimes I’ll write songs and then later down the road they will take on a different meaning. It was just kind of me coming to terms with that. Taking a look at this relationship I was in, being honest with myself and taking a fearless look at it.

Me: Are you always in some sort of writing mode or do you have to plan out when you’re going to write a song?

Nick: I’m always writing. I’m constantly getting out of bed to record ideas on my phone. It’s strange to me when people go to a studio and write a record there. I don’t really get that.

Me: Coming out of LA, there is so much music and it’s the hub for everything in the industry. What is the overall vibe of being a musician from LA?

Nick: It’s great. There are so many different things going on here. I grew up in Santa Barbara and I remember moving here and realizing that so many people come here to do things like this. There are a lot of really talented people here and like you said it is a hub for everything. It’s really inspiring to be around people who are producing cool stuff. However, it’s important to take breaks in Los Angeles because it’s a crazy place.

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