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Interview: Nick Valentini Collective talks new EP

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The Nick Valentini Collective is a critically acclaimed eight-piece, fusion musical collective born in Los Angeles, California.  Blending art rock and experimental psychedelic soul; the band has received critical acclaim from many high profile media outlets.
The collective consists of Nick Valentini (singer, keyboard), Erik Shibowski (bass), Hugo Shibowski (tenor sax), Nate Schwartz (guitar), Nicolo Scolieri (flute), Nick Velez (drums), Gabriel Wheaton (string orchestration) and Tyler Wennstrom (keyboard/percussion).  The group formed a little over six months ago and have quickly made a name for themselves in the Southern California music scene attracting large audiences to their dynamic live shows.
Their debut EP No Time for Today is set for release of 5th November and showcases Valentini’s deliberate melodies, strong hooks and unique musical arrangements.  On the single Carousel Valentini’s soulful vocals are layered over smooth piano riffs and experimental clashing guitars for a truly captivating sound.  “Worms” highlights the collective’s signature cinematic sound with lush piano, deep bass and soaring vocals. You can check out the band’s latest single Worms below!
We managed to catch up with Nick Valentini as he talked about the latest single, new EP, gigs and more!

So how has the release of Worms gone?

Since the release, we have received plenty of positive feedback and there seems to be a growing intrigue about the band. To be honest, we try not to get too caught up on number of views but from what I’ve seen it seems to be getting a lot of hits.

Tell us a little bit about the track:

Being one of our earlier songs, it is the band’s first real attempt at forging genres and forms together. The band is at such an early stage that our sole goal is to write music that is honest and progressive. Worms comes from this place of nonconformity and attempts to portray this emotion musically and lyrically.

What you say inspired you the most to write this?

To pinpoint my inspiration for writing “Worms” is as tough as asking myself why I wake up in the morning. My inspiration for writing songs comes from my aspirations of the future. I am constantly writing to almost prove to myself that I can write a better and more complete song than the next. I wrote Worms at a time when I felt a bit constrained by labels and misconceptions. At some moment everyone feels like they are a walking stereotype, and it is a constant battle to escape from these demons (or worms in this case).

So you’re releasing a new EP soon, what can you tell us about it?

The Debut EP is titled No Time for Today and will be released on November 5th. We are thrilled to finally release the six-track EP, and you will be able to find it on all music streaming sites, including Spotify, Apple Music, etc. “No Time for Today” is the 3rd track on the EP but we felt it deserved to be the title of the collection because it is symbolic of our rejection of the crazy reality we currently live in. We hope to slow this world down with our music.

Is there any tour dates this year?

No big tour plans YET but we will be playing in the LA County throughout the rest of the year and into the New Year. We are constantly looking to challenge ourselves by playing with other amazingly talented musicians.

If you could work with any band, who would it be and why?

Oh man, I can’t be representative of the whole band because I know everyone has their own artist that they would like to work with. But for me personally, I’d have to go with Sigur Ros because you can tell they perform some crazy voodoo shit in the studio. Everything they put out is so thoroughly thought out and purposeful. I love it.

So what is it like working alongside each other? Eight members is rather unique:

It’s actually been amazing writing and collaborating with everyone because each of us brings a unique approach to the music. I think we all view music and its importance in our lives the same so that makes everything a hell of a lot easier when writing and performing together.

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