Interview with Nick Sterling

      As you guys know, I wrote an article a couple of months ago about the guitarist Nick Sterling. If you didn't see it make sure you check it out! Nick is an absolutely amazing guitarist. He is currently working with former Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach, whose new album Kicking & Screaming will be released on September 27th.
     I was lucky enough to get an interview with Nick where he talked about how he got started in the business, working with Sebastian Bach, and his plans for the future. Enjoy!




Front Paige Metal News: When did you begin playing guitar? Also, what inspired you to do so?

Nick: I started playing guitar when I was just about 7 years old. Music was going on around the house growing up before that though. My dad played some and had been really into playing and listening to blues stuff at about the time that I received my first guitar, a Fender "Duo Sonic". When I got it, he started to teach me some basic stuff: barre chords, pentatonic scale, you know, enough to be able to play together. That's really how I got started and inspired to keep learning and playing.


FPMN: Did you always know that you wanted to play rock, or was there another genre that interested you?

Nick: Well, like I said, it all started off initially more Blues based, but I was definitely a kid who grew up playing and listening to Rock stuff. Nowadays I listen to everything. I'm a lot more open minded than I was when I was younger. Another thing that might have shaped me musically, a little bit, was being a part of an orchestra from 4th grade through graduation. I played the upright bass. I loved being in orchestra, and I learned a lot from it.


FPMN: Who are your favorite artists? Are there any new artists you think my readers should check out?

Nick: I've been listening to a lot of Sly Stone lately. He is probably one of my all time favorite artists. Also, I've been really into Shuggie Otis, Prince, and Steely Dan.


FPMN: When writing music, from what do you draw your inspiration?

Nick: I'm not sure. I try to write as often as I can, but I never want to force anything. I've been working on a lot of instrumental stuff currently; not sure if I'll add lyrics to some of the ideas I have, we'll see what happens. Usually I write the lyrics and the music separately.


FPMN: What has it been like working with Sebastian Bach? How did that come to fruition?

Nick: It's been great working with Sebastian. He's so passionate about the music he wants to make, and he wants to keep on putting out new music, not just riding the nostalgia thing, so I have a lot of respect for him in that matter. Also, he is just a great singer. He treats his voice so well, and he inspires me to become a better singer. He asked me to join on actually; initially, he saw an advertisement for a company I work with in Guitar World magazine with a picture of me. He looked me up online, liked what he heard and saw, and got in touch with me by phone. We started talking in November of 2009. We did our first tour in December through Europe.


FPMN: I mentioned in the previous post I wrote that you have worked with many great musicians. Who do you feel made the greatest impression on you, either musically or on a personal level?

Nick: Playing with Bobby Jarzombek is great. Bobby is so professional, such an amazing player and a really good dude. Touring is hard! For me, just getting into that side of this business, it's really wonderful to be around someone like Bobby.


FPMN: What artists do you hope to work with in the future?

Nick: In the future I would love to work with Steven Drozd from the Flaming Lips, he just seems like a really talented guy, and I think we would get along musically well. If it were a different time, I would have loved to do something with Sly or Brian Wilson.


FPMN: I know that you released your first album, Ten, when you were, of course, 10 years old. What was that experience like?

Nick: It was really exciting for me to get the opportunity to record a demo at such a young age. It was tracked in Chicago actually. We recorded the five tracks on TEN in one day with some great studio musicians. I don't remember too awful much about that day, but the record shows a place in time in my musical career.


FPMN: I know that you followed up your debut album with Life Goes On... and Invisible. How would you say you have grown musically from one album to the next?

Nick: Well, I'm not sure how to describe the change between albums go. I suppose it's just me growing up, maturing musically. I've been influenced by so many different artists growing up, and each of the albums show a different kind of taste. I'm very excited to start up on the next one though! It will be very different from anything I've ever done before. 



     Thanks to Nick for the interview! I hope you all enjoyed it. I will be seeing Nick in concert with Sebastian Bach later this month. I will be posting a full recap of the show. Wanna see them for yourself? Check out www.sebastianbach.com  If you would like to know more about Nick, you can check him out on Facebook, MySpace,  & YouTube.

~Paige

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