Nicky Youre is back with another immediate hit to show you exactly why he’s rising to stardom.
California native, Nicky Youre has taken the world by storm over the last two years with his good-vibes-only summer pop songs.
Nicky is only 21 years old but already saw his second single Sunburn reach a colossal 50 million streams independently before being signed by Columbia Records.
Now, the young sensation has released a delicious collar with David Hugo, Never Go Wrong which Nick said he wanted to feel like a 90s rom-com and well, he fricken nailed.
We caught up with Nicky to chat about his writing and creativity and what it’s like to be a young muso that quits their job to focus on their passion.
HAPPY: You wrote Sunroof in your bedroom at college. So does your car actually have a sunroof?
NICKY: Technically yes, but the sunroof in my car has been broken for the past like 4 years lol – which is tough because I can’t make any videos using my sunroof.
HAPPY: Do you do much production from your bedroom as well, or is it mostly just writing?
NICKY: I mostly just write and sing. I play a mean mouth guitar but I’m not the best actual guitar player/producer, but I’m learning. I’d love to be able to start demos with my guitar and then finish songs with a producer.
HAPPY: (If you do) What’s your home studio setup like?
NICKY: I have a super basic home setup. I honestly never work out of there. I mainly use it for videos and content at this point. I make all my new music with friends/producers at their places. I do still write in my room though!
HAPPY: You were making EDM music before you started making the sun-soaked tunes you’ve been dropping recently. What made you decide to change direction musically?
NICKY: I got into music my sophomore year of high school. We pretty much only listened to pop EDM music. We listened to Louis the Child all the time and tried making stuff like them. So once I started making pop music, it was easy since I was already writing pop-leaning EDM. Sex and Lemonade was the first pop song I did, and I pretty much knew instantly that I needed and wanted to make more of it
HAPPY: Sunroof is blowing up right now, what was the moment like when the track first moved into the Billboard top 100? (Where were you and what was your feeling/reaction?)
NICKY: I’ve had a lot of firsts (when it comes to music) this year. It’s been one of the crazier, if not craziest, years of my life. I remember when the song hit 500k streams while we were shooting the music video (my fastest 500k and first music video ever). It’s been surreal. Hitting Billboard top 100 was no different. Each milestone feels more insane than the last and the next milestone always feels more impossible than the one before. If I’ve learned anything from this experience, it’s that with big enough dreams and a lot of hard work, you can literally do anything you set your mind to.
HAPPY: It’s getting a lot of love from Australia too, have you ever been to Aus before (What did you get up to while you were here if so?)
NICKY: I’ve never been. I have lots of Australian friends from my time playing water polo here in California. I’d love to get out there and see some of my AUS buddies in their natural habitats.
HAPPY: It’s rare to have such a massive hit so early on in your career, now that you’ve reached so many ears, what’s next for you as an artist?
NICKY: I never imagined having a song do this well so quickly in my career. I didn’t even know it was possible at all if I’m being honest. I just knew that I had to give music a real shot so that I wouldn’t have any regrets when I’m older. That being said, I still have so much more that I want to do. Right now I’m trying to connect with as many people as I can. What I’m most excited about is new music this summer. I’m sitting on tons of songs that I’m incredibly happy with. I can’t wait for people to hear them and for the world to see what else I’ve got up my sleeve. I’m just getting started, that’s a promise.
HAPPY: Choosing to make music full time can be a massive decision to make, when did you decide to go down that path?
NICKY: I was working a 9-5 job and then going straight to music sessions after that. I started having a super hard time focusing at work because all I wanted to do was music. So I knew it was time to quit, especially with everything that was happening with Sunroof. I knew that if I wanted to make music a full-time thing, I had to take the risk. I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’ve done so far if I hadn’t quit. It has been the best choice I’ve made as an adult by far. It has also made me way happier being able to only do music.
HAPPY: What’s your advice to any aspiring artists who might be toying with the idea of focusing on music full time?
NICKY: I would tell people to trust their guts and to make as much music as they can. Music is something that you get better at by doing. There are no real rules to it, you just gotta keep trying things till something feels good to you. Something I always wondered was if these big artists that I loved only made good songs. I’ve learned that’s definitely not the case. It’s impossible to always make stuff you are proud of. Just don’t put out the bad stuff that you make!!
HAPPY: What’s the story behind your latest track Never Go Wrong?
NICKY: Never Go Wrong was a fun one I made with David Hugo. I’m a huge movie fan. I wanted to make something that referenced that a bit. We imagined the opposite of the saying “it’s too good to be true” and came up with the idea of a relationship that’s so perfect that nothing could ever go wrong. We thought about a picture-perfect person walking off a movie screen and into your life and having everything go the way you hope it would. For the music video, we tried making it look and feel like an old 90s rom-com. With the ending being that everything actually did go wrong.
HAPPY: It seems like a few people have already asked why you went with the combo of Sex and Lemonade to describe a good pairing in your first single. If you wrote it again, is there a different combo you’d put in instead, or are you sticking to your guns?
NICKY: Haha, I love this question. It’s definitely a really random combo, but for some reason, it makes sense to me. When I wrote it with my friend (Laiki), the original lyrics that I came up with were “we go like ICE and lemonade.” I knew it was kinda lame but then Laiki told me to change it to Sex and Lemonade… which made it way cooler. I don’t think I’d ever be able to change the combo because it’s the thing that made me realize that I wanted to make music for the rest of my life <3
Never Go Wrong is out now.
Interview by Lochie Schuster.
Photos provided.
