Nicholas Fisher
Polymaths in the world of the international arts are remarkable in ways that are hard (even for pop culture writers & editors) to describe, let alone encapsulate in most conventional terms or definitions. These are the folks that move the bar of multidisciplinary adherences, academics & focuses further into to those new evolved arenas by way of innovative artifice & progressive expansions upon a medium. Embodying this is multi-instrumentalist, emcee, producer, engineer & everything artist Nicholas Fisher who delivers the world premieres of the new tape Proper Massive that exhibits a more solo effort from the Stockton by way of the Bay Area audio director/designer. With an ongoing tradition of releasing batches of new works during the Thanksgiving holiday, we here at Impose keep the celebration chandeliers lit with cheer, warmth & new future leaning vibes.
Marking a departure from previous works like the lauded Peach Handkerchief which exhibited a collaboration between hometown 209 heroes Justin Paul Vallesteros of Craft Spells, Frankie Soto of Surf Club, Kenny Yates & more; Nicholas Fisher shines a light on the solo, stripped down, DIY production facets of his craft on Proper Massive. Producing the entire tape himself, the artist’s conversational quips are strewn throughout in sampled sound bite stems with trademark colloquial bars heard on cuts like “Zumba Class” & “LOWERCASE”. Made in a variety of environments between Oakland, Lathrop, Stockton, various houses, apartments, in bedrooms, living rooms, hallways & vehicles by means of smart phones & laptops—Nicholas’s latest collection offers a snapshot of the artist in states of on-the-go transit where the temporal narrative told through improvised & inspired techniques. “I’ve lived in like, six places these past two years,” Nicholas explained to us, “all these tracks were made in different places, devices and done with little input from anyone. When you’re alone & creating you’re free to focus on a sound you want to make that isn’t necessarily informed by anybody else.” Where utilitarian necessity can be heard here as the proverbial mother of invention, Fisher’s solo pointed latest focuses illustrate the artist as producer & nomad that transforms the canvas of their environment & surrounding world as one big studio of their own.
The new tape Proper Massive, Nicholas Fisher elevates the dialogue further into the grand production scheme. The lead-in track “Proper” mixes found home-spun dialogue bits with sentimental synths & conversational sound bites that are sent into a pensive & tranquil sequenced of lounge-laying percussion. The ever-indulgent yearning desire to take atmospheres into higher echelons of hedonism are further reverberated on “Alone”, where solace is spelled out through the emotive keys that are treated with warped & whirling mixing considerations. Wind chimes chrystalize slowed-vocal stems that all collect together in stair-step metrics that measure the Nicholas’s own penchant for prosody with their own mastery of angling unconventional melodies together into the whole. “Zumba Class” is an interesting study of understanding where the throwback backpackers & NYC schools of smart beat production intersects with today’s future seeking artists that strive to make sounds & shapes to shatter the old mode.
And just when you think you have it all figured out, Nicholas Fisher invites you to the abstract underworld heard on “ChoclatePeanutbutter” where those chimes are put on the forefront as a plethora of post-industrial dissonant noise fills in the ambient sections of the mix. At only 44 seconds, the track refuses to stay its welcome while leaving the listener who & what else could be added on top of the brain twisting instrumental track. All of these previously discussed aesthetic items of ethos & passion are heard on the uppercase titled “LOWERCASE” where dramatic synths steal the show, followed by those wind-breathed bells, vocals that cut in & out of the production along with a host of other experimental items. The post-modern quagmire of the contemporary age are further entertained with the reiterated quip of Kanye loves Kanye, where iconography of self-saboteurs & pop provocateurs are exhibited in Nicholas Fisher’s mind beguiling beat-boutique.
Like the title of the track “Alone” off the tape, interested in hearing about the balancing of roles as both a producer, emcee, director & more.
That’s me on “Zumba Class” and “LOWERCASE” rapping…my buddy Bri did the vocals on “Alone” and I did all the production I think made the beat for “LOWERCASE” on that flight [featured in the photo below:].
Tell us about what was different making Proper Massive versus Peach Handkerchief.
Proper Massive is me creating on my own, without the opinions of others necessarily influencing. With Peach Handkerchief you had Justin, Kenny & Frankie involved. Most of the production was done in my car & most of my vocals were done on my phone.
I made all that shit off of tethering my phone, and putting this phone speaker next to my computer and recording that way it was a situation. and I think making music and doing it that way, I don’t know, I hate to use that weird real or authentic. You’re just doing it, no one’s telling you.
Just making it without anyone forcing.
One of the hallmarks of your versatility in everything from musicianship to lyrical expression is the colloquial delivery & art of the beat & bar of itself. The audience can see where the monologue becomes a dialogue.
A lot of the lyrics I wrote and the samples I choose…there’s a common theme with the Kanye sample & some of the other samples, there’s a commonality to it.
And a lot of it’s over the past year, lot of the Trump shit, a lot of this classist shit, it’s like when folks first see me, they see a black dude. In the black culture you have to represent that properly or in a way that people are used to, you can’t be the weirdo, you can’t be seen as normal. You have to be seen as a positive side or a negative side. Never in the middle. You’re either a piece of garbage or a god. And it’s rough. in their minds you’re this or you’re this. There’s no gray and that is so frustrating when all you want to do is be mediocre, and personally you’re just shooting for middle and people see you as garbage, you can’t be middle.
The concept of the black creative, and all the concept of being the self-saboteur. It seems like that artists I enjoy the most have the smallest catalog. And I just wonder where their heads are at, and why do they do the things they do, why do they release one album that is critically acclaimed and then they don’t touch music ever again What makes them do that? What makes them cut that parts of their lives out? It’s something I’ve been wondering about for a long time, the self-saboteur because so many strong black creatives will do that. And I speak for myself, and I want it to feel genuine and I only want to release music when I’m inspired and I wonder if that’s how they do it, not trying to compare myself to that. It’s just a thought, something I’ve been wondering for a long period of time. If it’s in me I need to put out, but if it’s not in me why do it.
And it is received as something real & genuine. Interested to about your own imposed isolation from the industry & other aversions, like staying away from pop culture presses and that sort of thing.
I don’t hear music like mine anywhere.
You’ll kill yourself trying to make a Lil Yachty beat. I won’t look for it, but I enjoy it, all the mumblecore, is there a type for that music that isn’t degrading? Those kids are talented, for me personally I have to stay away. I’m not asking for interviews, and commercial placements.
And like all the other illusional [sic] & delusional and if you’re on the positive you can make music that is inspired & genuine.
What do you want to hear from people out there in the world?
Stop trying to be John Lennon, Brian Wilson…stop trying to do that.
For booking and beats contact Nicholas Fisher via Bookingfisher@gmail.com.
