18yr old London producer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nick Mono proves why he is a creative force to be reckoned with as he releases new single ‘Rusty’ out now
The song, which was premiered by Jack Saunders as a Next Wave on his coveted Radio 1 ‘Future Artists’ show, was written and co-produced by Nick himself. Inspired by the likes of Tyler, the Creator, Brockhampton, and Childish Gambino – ‘Rusty’ is the sound of an artist making the kind of genre-defying music that he loves, whilst providing some much-needed representation for South Asian music fans.
Talking about ‘Rusty’, Nick Says “This was the first time I took a song I was working on and let someone else come in and bring their perspective to it. ‘Rusty’ is pretty much about not really knowing where someone else’s head is at and I feel like the process of collaborating is pushing through that misunderstanding to reach the same end goal — so in a way there’s lots of parallels with how the song was created and what it’s actually about which is cool to me.”
‘Rusty’ is the first taste of his upcoming project – a collection of songs that will lay down Nick’s musical foundations, with the majority of the tracks being entirely self-produced. Merging the London stylings of people like Blur, King Krule and Jamie T with the alternative hip hop that Nick is obsessed with, his sound is rich with hazy soundscapes, woozy guitars and Nick’s ability to craft tight, memorable melodies.
Growing up in West London to Punjabi-Indian parents, Nick was a music obsessive from an early age – writing and releasing music all through secondary school. The song that propelled him to that next level is ‘Effy Stonem’ – named after a character from the iconic teen drama Skins – the track began to blow up on TikTok, with creators like Bella Poarch and the Skins actor April Pearson using the song in their videos. And now, with a support slot for hot LA duo Paris Texas lined-up on Oct 13th, Nick is showing why he is fast becoming the new artist to watch in 2021.
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My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago