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Turning pebbles into pearls: A Nikka Costa InterviewBy 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 ov
ercoming 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.
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 ov
ercoming 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
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