|
Click on any of the following to view the different articles and reviews: Ever Faithful Reviews (CD out of print) Musician's "passion' showcased on national TV (Marlborough/Hudson Community Advocate) Musician's Dream Finds a Home ( Michael Nickolas and Ever Faithful featured on web based magazine
Featured
Artist: Ray Greene and Michael Nickolas “We Got By” is an intimate musical affair, featuring only Ray Greene’s soulful singing and Michael Nickolas’ tasteful guitar playing. The two worked together in High Function, a horn-driven R&B ensemble. They then formed Universal Language, another popular Boston-area band. This time, they left the big sound of a group behind for a more low-key project. Greene, who has worked with Aretha Franklin and Natalie Cole, has a warm, expressive voice. Nickolas’ playing is always palatable. They combine their talents on an eclectic mix of songs, ranging from Gershwin to Fleetwood Mac, from Van Heusen to Dylan. Their maturity and longtime experience are evident as they gracefully handle the diverse material. They work especially well on Ronald Miller’s “Heaven Help Us All.” Greene and Nickolas find such a nice, easy rhythm together that the addition of other musicians would have spoiled the moment. They also do a solid job on Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” which will surely bring back memories for a whole generation of listeners who grew up with the song. If you
are looking for something off the beaten path, try “We Got By.” From the Marlborough/Hudson Community Advocate, Friday December 8, 2000 Musician's "passion' showcased on national TV By Ed Karvoski, Jr. Contributing Writer Marlborough- A lot of people work out of their homes these days. All you need is a computer, a fax machine, maybe a file cabinet, and you're in business. Musician and composer Michael Nickolas works out of his Marlborough Home, but in his case he needed to build a personal recording studio. It was in his own studio, where Nickolas composed and recorded a musical piece that was recently licensed by NBC-TV and aired on the daytime drama "Passions". The at-home studio is, indeed, the epicenter of this artist's personal passion- making music. While "Passions" is videotaped in a
television studio that might seem worlds away from Nickolas' Meanwhile, clients come to his studio, named Studio
Nine Productions, for projects ranging from creating a CD, to editing audio
tapes, to recording voice-over narration. His past clients, from A wall at Studio Nine Productions is covered with mementos reflection Nickolas' musical connections. "I grew up with music in my family," he noted, pointing to an early-1960s photo of his dad's singing group, The Royals. The group also included an uncle from his mom's side of the family, who played guitar. Another photograph shows Nickolas at age eight strumming a red, plastic guitar, "It seemed like something I was suppose to do," he said of his natural inclination. Originally from "In your hometown you might be one of a handful of guitar players who are proficient. Then you come to Berklee and suddenly you find yourself surrounded by people from all over the world that are very good. That was humbling," he acknowledged. "A lot of people don't make it there; they drop out after a couple of semesters." But Nickolas stayed the full four years. In fact, he graduated cum laude in 1984. After college, Nickolas was a founding member of
High Function, a successful Boston-based band that played extensively
throughout He's currently a member of Universal Language,
which received the Boston Music Award for "Outstanding Local Rhythm
& Blues Band". Among the prestigious venues where they've played are
the In 1996, Nickolas and his wife Faith, a professor
of early childhood studies at The couple also found a house that was perfect for them. As new homeowners, the immediately got to work. "We found out we had skills we never knew existed," Nickolas said, "We worked 15 hours a day, scraping and painting this place". Additionally, Nickolas credits his wife for supporting his dream to build a studio in their home. A myriad of musical sounds has been produced at Studio Nine Productions, and the owner sees other uses for the studio on the horizon. "One of my goals is to get corporate work,
recording audio for CD-ROM training programs, that might be available from
the many big industries here in Another personal goal for the musician is to perform locally more often as a solo guitarist. Additionally, he hopes his music will find its way onto the TV airwaves again soon. Nickolas has released his own CD, titled "Ever Faithful," which included his solo guitar interpretations of jazz standards, as well as R&B staples. The title track, "Ever Faithful," is an original composition. A musical sample from the CD, as well as information about Studio Nine Productions, is available online at www.studionineproductions.com. Of course, "Ever Faithful" was recorded
in Nickolas' own at-home recording studio. From "SoundCheck Boston", Volume 3/Issue 24 9-song CD What we have here is an instrumental, acoustic jazz type of CD. My From
Northeast Performer Magazine RECENT
RELEASES... Mike Nickolas offers up nine tracks of pleasing solo-acoustic guitar. From the Marlborough Enterprise March 19, 1998.
MUSICIAN'S
DREAM FINDS A HOME By Bethany J. Edwards Staff writer. For as long as Michael Nickolas can remember, pursuing a career as a guitarist and opening his own music studio were dreams he wanted to fulfill. Those dreams came true last month for the "I started playing the guitar when I was nine years old," said Nickolas, 36. "It was just one of those meant-to-be things. I don't ever remember not playing" Ever Faithful is a collection of nine arrangements of jazz and rhythm and blues standards for solo nylon string guitar that are played with complexity and feeling. "I've picked tunes that I have enjoyed listening to for years," Nickolas said. "I hope that being comfortable with the material allowed for more expression and diversity in the music." Adopting his father's love of performing music when he was a young boy - his dad sang in the group The Royals from 1959-1963 - Nickolas eventually moved to Boston in 1980 to attend the Berklee College of Music. Following graduation, he got his first job playing guitar with a wedding band. He then formed his own band, High Function, and played at clubs and colleges throughout New England. "That's the first time I saw I could really make a living at this," Nickolas said. After leaving High Function, Nickolas co-founded Universal Language, which won the Boston Music Award for R&B bands. The band has played a The House of Blues in Cambridge, the Boston Garden and the Fleet Center. Nickolas continues to play with the band. "Universal Language put out a CD two years ago and one of the filler pieces between the songs was a solo, one-minute guitar piece I did," Nickolas said. "The reaction to that was great and a goal of mine was to do a solo nylon string guitar CD. This project was really to accomplish that goal for myself." Nickolas said the title, Ever Faithful, represents his belief in remaining faithful to your dreams. The title is also a tribute to his wife, Faith, whose nickname is Faithful. Nickolas and his wife decided to move to Marlborough in 1996 because of the city's closeness to Boston and its easy access to Connecticut where their families are from. "We also wanted a lot of house for the money, " Nickolas said. "We found an 1850's house and it was my wife's dream to fix up an old house." Part of the remodeling of their Marlborough home included the construction of a two-room recording studio where Nickolas operates his business, Studio Nine Productions. The studio includes a recording area, a vocal isolation booth and a control room. "It took a year to build the studio," Nickolas said. "I do voice over work, multi-media pieces for computers and band and singing demo projects. "With my years of experience playing and recording, (the bands) can get more quality then other small places," Nickolas said. Nickolas said his equipment also allows him to make CDs for bands. "They bring in their tapes, I clean them up and transfer them to CDs so they can give them to radio stations," he said. "At $25 an hour (for the recording time), it's great for bands because they can come and work on ideas and get the basics down for an upcoming CD before they go to the big studio which charge them $100 an hour" Nickolas said. |
|||||||
