As an artist I catch a lot of the limelight, but I can’t create my albums just by myself. I could not do it with a team of supporting cast members, and I have one of the best. It takes many steps to take some songs from an idea I have to the finished CD the listener can enjoy.

Wolfgang Amadeus

It starts with the recording process, where I relied on my friends Greg Watmore who helped me with getting guitar sounds, Wolfgang Amadeus who recorded my acoustic guitar and lend me additional mics and gear I needed, and Eddie Brown to help me with arrangement ideas.
Then there are the players: Ricky Lawson, may he rest in peace (I miss you my brother), laid down some incredible grooves. He was always a step ahead at the sessions and new exactly what I wanted or needed on a track.

Ricky Lawson

Clydene Jackson and Oliver Brown have been my core band members since I produced their Gravity 180 CD. Cly’s tasteful keyboard parts and Oliver’s exciting percussion grooves are just a phone call away.

Johnny Britt happens to live just around the corner and was always ready to laydown a horn section, vocal or keyboard part if needed. Nate Harasim lives all the way in the Detroit area, but that did not prevent him from laying down some killer keyboard parts. Furthermore he took time out of his busy schedule to mix a track for me when I was under a crunch. Dov came by and did overdubs on violins and violas to create a live string section.

Nils, Clydene Jackson and Oliver C. Brown

Yes, I suppose anyone could have hired musicians and studio engineers to record and play the parts. But my friends came for the love of the music, and it’s hard to put your finger on it exactly, but I believe one can hear it on the recordings. Bassist Darryl Williams said: “I really love these tunes you have me play on” , “ and you made them sound so much better”, I replied. It’s the mutual appreciation of each other’s talents that strengthens our friendship.

Nils – Styling by Dion Julian

When it came to the album cover, my friend and stylist Dion Julian made me two custom suits for my photo shoot in less than 2 days. He would have just let me use the outfits for the shoot, but I ended up buying the suits from him anyways.

My friends at Pax Stereo TV: Meko Williams, Victor Allen and Mario Hemsley helped me with getting the word out about the new CD by putting us on their program.
Then there are my live band musicians like Tony Moore, Donnell Spencer Jr, Reggie McBride and Roberto Vally always go the extra mile and make sure the shows are rockin’. They brought their A-game when we performed our first two CD release concerts, and the raving reviews are the proof.
We also just shot video for Gravity180 and myself with film director Len Rosen, a incredible talented film maker and friend who just donated his time.
Life is great. It seems I have amazing talent available on tap. And for an artist, composer and producer there is nothing more valuable than that. These are relationships I nurtured over years, it takes work , dedication and mutual support. Now I am harvesting the benefits. So I am incredible thankful to all who helped me on my current project Alley Cat. This also includes Kathryn Bostic, Malcom McPearson, Reggie Codrington, Carsten Schmelzer, Eric Marienthal, Dave Rideau and I ask for forgiveness for anyone I might have forgotten to mention.
I might be the one on the front cover, but it takes a whole tribe. I could not have done it without a little help of my friends.
Thank You

Last year’s Rush was further extreme, because Kathryn ( Bostic) came in with two movies at the same time. She scored, I played, guitar, mixed and helped produce the score tracks. The movies were “Dear White People” which created quite a buzz, and a documentary about August Wilson.
 
This year I am again involved with a movie with Kathryn, which has to be done before the 23rd. So I am happy to see her doing so well.

I am also working on productions for 4 clients. Fortunately the deadline is not as brutal and it’s just ongoing work.
  

But mainly I am pushing myself to get my own project up to the next level, before Christmas. I want my record label to hear it and vibe on it over the holidays. I am working on an acoustic album and I still have two more songs to write, besides recording all my main guitars. I have been contacting different companies and friends, to get my hands on different instruments for a tonal variety. My friend and engineer Wolfgang “Amadeus” Aichholz agreed to help me with some of the engineering. Wolfi has killer mics and preamps, so I am excited to hear what my guitars sound like through some old vintage tube mics.

Is it a curse of them self-employed? Do people working a 9-5 job feel the same? Or is it just me?  
It seems to be a constant occurrence every year. The frenzy starts the first week of Dec and doesn’t end until Christmas. I think it has to do with the finality of the year coming to an end, and also with the business mostly shutting down over Christmas. So there is a break in my work flow. I want to step aside, concentrate on my family and not care about the music business for a few days. Then when I look back of what I have accomplished this year, it just feels better having all these things done and checked off.

Over the years I learned how to deal with THE YEAR END RUSH a lot better. It doesn’t stress me out anymore. I just plan my days and divide them for different projects.
Mondays I deal with my business affairs, Tuesdays and Wednesdays I record guitars for my CD, Thursdays I work on productions, Fridays and Saturdays I work with Kathryn, Sundays I try to catch up with anything that did not get done during the week. That means no break until Christmas, but I know that all the projects are covered. And this takes the anxiety and panic away.
At least it does for me. I realize everybody is different.
I’d be interested to hear if you, the reader, experience something similar or is it totally different? Feel free to leave comments and let me know.
In the meantime Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and all that Good Stuff

NILS

Reality Check:
Today is Sunday, the 11th, Christmas is in exactly 2 weeks. We recorded drums for David’s project at Ricky Lawson’s studio yesterday. I wanted to schedule the bass session for Monday , but David insisted to be present, and we had to move it to Wednesday. Two of the songs need still guitar (no problem) string and/or horn arrangements and all three need lead and Bg vocals. The thing that I can’t influence is the time it takes to get a good lead vocal. Once I have it, I know Clydene can do all the BG vocals in one afternoon. and I will also need 3 to 4 days to mix. So it’s still possible but it’s gonna be tight.

  

Dov’s project will need more work. I finished arranging the first two songs and started with the third, but I don’t think I will be able to get all the overdubs done until probably January. Especially, since he is working on a 4th song. I am going to record guitars for him this week and schedule a drum session. 

Michole came to me with a Jazz tune, but I am taking into the direction of Erikah Badu, Jill Scott and D’Angelo. However she is still not happy with the drum break, she wants a two bar drum solo. So I will have to go back to Ricky and ask him to do it and send it to me. Once that is finalized, I got Alex Al stand by to do the bass and Leon for the Fender Rhodes parts.

Oh and did I mention, my friend Kathryn (composer and artist) is coming in tomorrow and have me work on the documentary she is scoring. I will be playing guitars and then mix. This has to be finished by the end of the week.
There is plenty of work, but only very little time. My problem is: “When will I have time to go Christmas shopping?”