Nolie
Los Angeles-based artist Nolie has just dropped his new single “Think Back” and it will become one of new favorite Summer tunes. Produced by Christofi, the single reminisces on those younger years.
Fun, uplifting and catchy, “Think Back” is the kind of tracks that gets better each listen and that kind of tracks you’d want to play on repeat, just because it feels good and nostalgic.
The new single follows the release of his latest EP Dontyoumind which included his successful debut single “Come Over”.
“Think Back” is available now :)
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
A veryyy long one, but for now, I’m Nolie, born & raised in Southern Indiana based out of Los Angeles, California and I make a lot of things, but mostly music.
How would you define Nolie, the artist?
Nolie is a conversation to a younger/future self and a complete creative outlet for myself and hopefully for others, as well a way for them to unlock that inner child & dreamer or your way to keep at peace even when things don’t always go the way you planned.
"Think Back" is your new single - what's the inspiration behind this song?
The track was the initial inspiration, it was SO bright and poppy, it put me in this sort of Empire Of The Sun headspace as far as the energy I was hearing in the verses. Lyrically, I had been really wanting to write about my younger years and that time period in my life, all while being a few weeks from finally seeing people getting back out in the world again and getting what felt like another shot at things.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this song? How was it like to collaborate with Christofi?
Christofi has been my main producer & writing partner since the first single I released ‘Come Over’ This was one of the last quarantine writes that him and I had before getting back to being in person and around the time we were writing this song, I was going through a bit of uncomfy transitioning in management etc. and he continually showed up for me as a collaborator and friend, at this point in our workflow we have really gotten the hang of one another’s sensibilities and I feel very lucky for that.
What did you feel when writing this song?
I just felt very...cool if that makes sense. It's that sort of self-reflection, conversation to a younger me feeling, saying “look how far you’ve made it” from some of the more heavy subjects of my family life during my childhood and teen years and the literal geographical location of where I grew up in Indiana.
What's your favorite thing about this song?
Just the whole energy of it, it’s a very very bright and uplifting sounding track and for me a very fun vocal performance, I'll be so excited to hear this one live soon.
What made you want to release "Think Back" as a single?
Think Back was originally not set to be in this first batch of releases and slowly but surely, I started coming back to it more and more and began really loving how it was making me feel, the energy it brought out of people I was showing around me always kind of surprised me and it just seemed perfect for leading off these next records.
What can you tell us about the artwork?
This is my most, I guess “conceptual” artwork, originally having me clearly in the rearview mirror with the flowers all around me, my managers, Tal & Erin and I spent the afternoon jamming flowers in the dash of Tal’s car, fighting to try and get everything into proper focus and in the end, I fell in love with the out of focus takes, really helping with that Thinking Back feeling.
As an artist, what is the hardest part? And what is the best part?
I think for me, it’s the understanding that this is a business and you really have to choose how you want to delegate, now all while saying that is “hard” outside of the obvious feeling when you know you’ve just written something you love, building a team and learning how to be a more well-rounded artist and collaborator has been so rewarding/ translates to so much of my life.
What did your time as a photographer/videographer teach you as an artist?
It taught me so much more than I could explain here haha I had around 10 or so full U.S. tours completed in the 3 years before I decided that I wanted to focus full time on my artist project and It really gave me a passenger’s seat/crash course to the music industry (I specifically shot for musicians) and the friends that I made during that time, some very specifically gave me incredible support all the way down to producing for me and trading beats or songs for work once I began this project.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
I can’t really say I know what I would change. It’s definitely interesting hearing people say they are writing songs specifically for Tik Tok but I surely understand. It’s like at any point we have the ability to upload our creativity to the world’s main radio & television stations without any barrier other than an account. It will be interesting to look back in a few years at it all.
What biggest life lessons have you learned so far?
That I’m learning every day of my life, and that’s okay/sometimes the best part.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
More education and support for our educators.
What message do you want to deliver to the world?
I just really hope that when someone comes to listen to my music, or something that I’m creating or representing, they feel strong and most importantly that they feel like they have a place in the world that they belong to and can dream without limitation.
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