Pebble to a Pearl: Nikka Costa Interview (Nu-Soul Magazine)

Turning pebbles into pearls: A Nikka Costa Interview

By Marcus Scott

In the electric mist of a phone line, there’s a voice. It’s remarkably refreshing, high in spirits and with spurts of sporadic energy so strong and charismatic it’s like a black hole pulling the cosmos in. That voice can only come from Tokyo-born soul aficionado Nikka Costa. Only a few years her music laced the soundtrack of motion picture Blow and the Mark Ronson produced hit single “Like A Feather” played on MTV rotation. Of course, only a few people have that power: Mostly, artists with a unique vision. Here vision came from the past. Bringing back the heyday funk mystique of the Vietnam-torn rock Woodstock/Motown era, Costa stirred up a cauldron of groovy tunes. The ginger-haired spitfire spoke to Nu-Soul about her efforts in music, where she is in life, her laid-back style and new release Pebble To A Pearl though laughs and self-discovery.

Nu-Soul: Did you have a lot of trouble releasing this record? If so, explain some of bad experiences with record companies, your experience with your old label mate and your current experience as an artist in conjunction with Stax Records.

Nikka: I actually I had trouble with the last record, while I was at Virgin. Because I had four different presidents when I was there and that made for a kind or fractured promotion. So, it was difficult but I was still so thrilled to get out of the label. Then I was really left to my own devices as an artist and had to figured out what I wanted to do. Basically this new record that’s coming out—all on my own and self-funded and everything—I didn’t think I wanted to be signed to another label with so much freedom. The people at Stax, they heard a record was coming out and they showed they were really big fans and wanted to hear it. So, they heard it and really loved it. After talked it seemed like really good fit. The stamp of Stax is great for me because they’re relaunching it. What did for as for artists introduced to the world historically is thrilling. The fact that they wanted to sign me on the merit of the record that I had already been made, so in other words, I didn’t have to compromise as an artist for the first time with a label.

Nu-Soul: Your father, Don Costa, was a huge and influential record producer, who worked with Rat Pack greats Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. How has this experience influenced your soulful music fashion?

Nikka: I think growing up around that caliber of musician and [listening] to sound checks and [sitting in] the studio doing my homework while a 60-piece orchestra recording, it was kind of filtered in. I was really young so I wasn’t really focused on it. But do think it seeps in. Its really hard to draw direct comparisons that came from being influenced by the music that my dad did. I also had an immense appreciation for that standard of music and jazz, and that bar is hard to what I want to strive to create.

Nu-Soul: The new album has an interesting title. What is the meaning behind the title of the record? What separates a pebble from a pearl?

Nikka: What separates a pebble from a pearl? (laughs) Obviously it’s a metaphor that I thought was sitting as my evolution as an artist and also being free from the last ten years of being with a record label that wanted me to kind dim myself or dumb down. They wanted me to do music that I didn’t necessarily agree with. There was a lot of struggle to try to keep my integrity, and so it was kind of my evolution. The song “Pebble To A Pearl,” really is based off of Nelson Mandela’s Inauguration Speech which was originally quoted from Marianne Williamson that’s basically saying don’t dim yourself so other won’t feel insecure, and don’t be afraid to shine the brightness you possibly can because that’s the way to kind of add to the world. I felt that was a good reminder to me while I was making the record, and to anyone that’s kind of growing up.

Nu-Soul: Since the sexy-funky American exposure of “Like A Feather,” your music has been featured in various advertisements however, you’ve remained severely hidden from the spotlight. How is the record being promoted?

Nikka: Well, it’s only just begun. It comes out October 14th. It’s being promoted on the internet; I’m going out on a nationwide tour in October, then I’ll be going over to Europe. Because I really think my live shows are really my best promotions. I take real pride in my live shows. I have a great band and a horn section and we have a great time. People bring their friends. Any body who doesn’t know who I am, they’re like, “Oh my God! I had no idea! We had a really great time.” It’s a really good time, and obvious the record company and Giant Step are doing their side of it as well.

Nu-Soul: What’s this about your “dream band”? Why did you and producer Justin Mitchell Stanley add these talent artists to the record? How did you get in contact with them?

Nikka: We were just looking around and we thought [about] what were the most amazing musicians we could think of to play these songs all in one room. Because that’s how recorded everything. We did 15 fifteen songs in five days. Obviously, James Gadson is a legend and as played on so many historic records. We started from him and just kind of went down the list of people we love that we thought were very versatile and could really take the songs to totally different level. It was just an amazing five days that when we made this record. Everyone was really into it and worked really hard. It was a really great experience.

Nu-Soul: Describe the songwriting process of the record. What was the inspiration behind the notion of your lyrics and song concepts?

Nikka: I think obviously it was the situation of being free, worrying about anyone’s opinions on it. I didn’t think about people liking it or rather it would be played on the radio. All the little seeds of doubt that inevitably other people plant, it was very organic. We wrote all these songs in a month without studio time, and we just put our heads down and went for it. It was really like a haze (laughs) that was a complete focus that I can’t describe. I knew what I wanted to make musically, I was really stick to that form. I knew I wanted it to be soulful, and with horns. I knew I wanted it to have an alive kind of feeling so it could just flow. Song by song, it’s about life, obstacles and overcoming them, and all that.(laughs)

Nu-Soul: What would you describe your sound as to person whose never heard of Nikka Costa?

Nikka: this record, I use the term organic a lot because there’s like a rawness to it. It’s all live, it has real human feeling, its definitely soul. This record is definitely up-feeling, and happy and joyful and kind of gritty rock soul.

Nu-Soul: “Can’t Please Everybody” reminds some listeners of the acid days of Woodstock but based on research, it’s deeply personal. What does this song mean to you?

Nikka: I was feeling free. Its kind of like a mantra to do what you do for yourself and don’t worry about other people’s opinions because it will run you ragged. At the end of the date even if you try to appease everyone, there will still be people that will have some opinion that’s contrary to what you defend. Basically no one wins in that situation. So creatively and even in life, its just to my manta: to do what you do and just enjoy life and do it for yourself.

Nu-Soul: Some songs on the record range from romance to political. Every song can be interpreted differently. What’s your favorite song on the album? Why?

Nikka: (hums) They’re all like my little babies. God, It’s really hard to say. I’d like to say “Pebble To A Pearl” because its got real great groove and kind of an inspiring and intimately. And I love “I Love To Love You Less,” as well because its kind of tongue-in-cheek and kind of shows a since of humor in a setting that doesn’t sound like it would have one. Its sounds like a normal kind of standard ballad, but if you listen to the lyrics its very tongue-in-cheek.

Nu-Soul: The record is a lovely, contemporary piece. You should be proud. Do you feel the album is unfinished?

Nikka: No, if I felt it was unfinished I wouldn’t have put it out. (laughs)

Nu-Soul: So. Lastly, what’s next for Nikka Costa?

Nikka: Well, a tour in October. I’m going across the states and into Canada. I’m really really excited because I love playing live, and that’s really that’s why I make records, so I can get out on the road. Then I’ll be going to Europe in the New Year, and touring over there, which is going to be great. So really, the new year I’m going to playing and getting it out there.

For the edited original and published interview, go here: http://blog.nu-soulmag.com/?p=828

a Nikka Costa CD Review (Nu-Soul Magazine)

60s flowerchild or 70s disco Queen?

"Nikka Costa's "Pebble To A Pearl," is all the rage!"

By Marcus Scott

With the espousal of the 60s wild party Woodstock era encrusted in her latest recording Pebble To A Pearl, fiery contralto Nikka Costa has did the impossible: she’s found a way to manipulate metamorphosis through music.

Costa embraces her inner flower child with a sound familiar but abstract to previous releases Everybody Got Their Something and can’tneverdidnothin’, which sounded more discothèque and dance-rock oriented than this touching confessional.

The churchy but 60s Motown psychedelic shock funk sounds of lead single “Stuck To You” is a testimony to the record’s sound. The bluesy doo-wop backup a la Andrews Sisters by Costa is also an additional sexy bonus to the song, giving it that extra pop that would other make the song fizz out before the sultry bridge. With its jingle drum progression, handclap backbeat and Costa’s feisty belts, this song is a force to be reckoned with.

Trailing the first song is the Janis Joplin-esque acid-jazz anthem rock “Can’t Please Everybody.” Arguably the standout track on the album, Costa’s iron-clad husky-soul vibrato is like a chainsaw piercing through fine china as she reminds listeners that not everyone all at once is ever pleased. A simple message with Costa’s balls-out approach may back some into a corner while inviting others to the mosh pit.

The record, like most records, has its ups and downs. The problem: merely the arrangement of songs. The record which has a more soul-rock edge gets cooled down by the 70s disco-funk tunes that are like ice cubes in the white hot jungles of Costa’s high-energy music. Songs “Cry Baby,” “Keep Pushin’,” and the album’s title track are among the songs that branch between Studio 54 glitz and Woodstock rock, oddly sprinkled in sweet 60s glam. Nonetheless, even with the oddly-arranged ambient-like 70s tunes, the record oddly stays afloat without flat lining.
Honestly, there’s not a badly written or badly produced song in the bunch. Some of the most memorable are the least commercial. While “Bullets In the Sky,” a melancholy and atmospheric call-and-response between Costa and backup sounds like schoolhouse recess at its best, its more soundtrack than Top Ten single. Other songs “Damn I said it First,” and “Keep Wanting More” are high points. While the former is a sexy-sensual torch song, its downtempo may keep it only on chill-out radio, while the “Keep Wanting More” would need one hell of a music video for today’s cyber enthusiasts.

Nonetheless, this is Costa’s best effort in years. While finding a spunky creative energy to create such work, she may never be as commercial as some recording artists. However, where most artists have thrived, Costa has a card up her sleeve: This album would make one hell of a live performance. Think MTV Unplugged.

To see the original, go here: http://blog.nu-soulmag.com/?p=825

Dyme of the Month

This Carolina Honey is loving and living her life to the fullest. While Ms. Candice Monique says that she's still really new to the game, her poses and pictures show otherwise. Behind her fun smile lies the beauty, grace, and the "not a force to be reckoned with" attitude that every model is known to have. This North Carolina native talks about the rewards of modeling, both good times and hard times, and how to do what you got to do.

Ms. Monique is currently working with Carolina Honeys and Innovative Modeling. One of the best rewards of being a model, besides being featured in Diva Dymes Magazine, is being able to do a sexy photo shoot. Even though she’s used to being sort of tomboyish and goofy, Ms. Monique stated that a sexy photo shoot can change how you look at yourself. “Seeing myself in lingerie that is tasteful makes me feel proud and sexy about my body and curves,” she said. She is just as funny and friendly now as she was growing. “I was actually an outcast, nerdy, goofy, a little feisty,” she said. “But I stayed in my own lane and was cool with many.” Ms. Monique has always had an interest in modeling and went on various appointments, only to arrive home with some disappointments. “I went to model calls and was told I was either too short or had too many tattoos,” she stated. After she came across the work of photographer Chris McBrown, who works include some “Jet Beauties of the Week” for Jet Magazine, she signed up for a chance to be a beauty of the week and see what happens. Today, Ms. Monique feels that she feels that she really has a crossover appeal because of her ability to specialize in urban fashion, print and commercial, swimsuit, lingerie, and glamor modeling.

Ms. Monique also holds down a job as a medical assisting instructor, but she talks of how she would love to use her modeling career as means to use it for the greater good. She states that she would love to make a name for herself and then open up a community center or non-profit organization for low-income children whose parents are addicted to drugs. She also feels that with the right help, a young girl can overcome many and any obstacles and turn lemons into lemonade. Ms. Monique has definitely turned her sour hardships into sweet success after fighting some of her own battles. “I have overcome sexual and mental abuse, gangs, drugs, marrying at a young age and divorce … but I’m a trooper,” she said. “I take my testimony in stride and try to use it to help other brothers and sisters who need my insight.” Ms. Monique had some great friends to support her in her successes and trials, but how awesome is it to be married to your best friend?

Ms. Monique and her husband, Christopher, have known each other for four years prior to their marriage and he is her biggest fan. “Our foundation as friends makes a world of a difference, we have each other’s back no matter what,” says the model. Ms. Monique also states that the unselfish support from her husband makes her feel very blessed. When life gets hectic with work, social life, and home life, Ms. Monique believes that life can be both trying and humbling. God and her family are the main priorities in her life. She ends her thoughts with these strong words, “When you try to keep your spirit golden and put Jah first, everything else will fall into place.”

To learn more about Candice Monique, check her out atwww.myspace.com/1candicemonique.

To see the original article, check out www.divadymes.net.