Nikita

Nikita is one of the most acclaimed electronic artists in Poland, and is now breaking into the UK music scene with her single ‘Tonight’, a total winner. I reviewed it some weeks ago and completely fell in love with its vibe. It sounds like nothing out there right now, and although electronic music is not as radio-friendly as most of the stuff in the charts right now, this track is addictive. So I decided to find out a little more about this intriguingly different artist. She has an amazing background and all her influences sum up into a unique style of modern music.

You’re originally from Poland. Tell us about the music there and why you decided to move to the UK.

Poland has an amazing music heritage. The Polish Jazz scene is very interesting and has been throughout the communist times. However, I found the pop music industry quite insular at times. Language can be a little bit of a barrier. I wanted to grow as an artist and go beyond the language barriers and national taste. But there are some great projects slowly emerging . I've been away for a while now and I think things changed quite a lot since!

What do you think you have to offer to the current music scene?

I was brought up in such an unusual environment, you know it was actually music that brought the political change about? It meant so much to people and the lyrics of the biggest hits and biggest bands were all about how to sneak the anti-system message that the audience could read between the lines and the censorship couldn't put their hands on!

So everything was being said in codes, metaphores... I have been very lucky to have worked with some amazing people since I left Warsaw and I learnt a lot but I never lost that fresh perspective of an outsider. I am a purist too. I can't do something pop for the sake it it being pop, I think it should happen naturally, be still from the heart.

The music panorama is dominated by pop right now. Do you think electronic music is some kind of alternative style?

I think anything that people connect with is generally pop! It seems to be going round in circles doesn't it? For me it's about finding the balance between the live sound and the electronic, but we are a computer generation, and the computers are just sophisticated instruments.

How would you describe Trip Hop?

It's tag that I was given ages ago because my first album was actually the first electronic record released in Poland in the late 90's. I don't really know! Journalists are better at tagging! I guess it's when the music's affair with samplers decided to slow down the beat and reach for a female vocal.
You have been described as an artist that likes to experiment with music. That can sometimes be quite risky, don’t you think?

There would be no progress in music without taking risks!

You’ve worked with Joe Cross. How did that come up? How was the experience?

We got on really well. Also the fact that we worked on the album in Warsaw gave it such a unique sound. it was huge inspiration to us both - for him to taste a little of that "Bowie in Berlin" vibe, and for me to go back, filter my UK influences through the greyness of the Eastern Block, walk down the same street where i used to go to school...

I sent Joe a bunch of demos he really liked. Then he put together a couple of tracks and I loved the vibe where he was planning to take it. But Warsaw definitely gave it a fresh spin.

Explain the process of writing and arranging a song?

You wake up with a melody in your head. Or you walk down the street and catch a word on a shop front or on somebody's book. Then you start playing with it in your head, apply it to your state of mind. Then you put the two together. You take out a recorder and do it, then, there; otherwise it may get lost forever. You come home, drop the bag and pull out a new session on the laptop. Then come the harmonies, the lyrics, and there it is! The arrangement comes later, with the production, which makes is even more exciting. But it starts from a spark, a tick in my heart... I am always working on songs. I constantly tune in to the world and look for inspirations.

If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be?

I get asked that a lot, but there are too many to mention!

What are your musical influences?

Anything from classical, jazz, electronic, psychedelic, post punk. Although I also have influences from electronica and current pop.

What lies in the future of Nikita?

Finishing the album, then the visual artwork and then hopefully gigs. I am just letting it flow... we will see!

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Writing more, recording more, working with amazing people and being given better budgets so more can be done, I am looking into the possibility of acting too, I am preparing something quite uncompromising actingwise!