While most folk would ask Mark Nichols to comb his hair, put down his guitar and surfboard and find a real job, Toast shook his hand, sat down with a drink and bothered him with some vaguely interesting questions.
As foretold by Sam Briggs
How are you today? Keeping busy?
Yeah, I’m really good. Got all my tour gear with me, bit tired, it’s pretty heavy.
You surf a lot. How does a local lad get involved in that?
I was 15, so about six years ago, I met some guys in Sheffield who were from Cape Town. They surfed and were in a band together, so that’s what inspired me, not just to surf but to play music as well.
Music seems to be taking you all over the world, where is your favourite place that you’ve played?
Sheffield [laughs]. Always the home town. My first London gig was pretty cool and I did a few festivals in the summer – it was nice to be outside playing. I wouldn’t say I have a favourite to play.
How about overseas?I haven’t performed abroad yet but I’ve done quite a lot of travelling. I lived in Cape Town, with the guys I met, for about three months. I spent quite a bit of time travelling up the coast of South Africa as well. I’ve been to Morocco, a few spots in Europe. Just chasing waves.
Being a solo artist gives you total control. How do you think the creative process differs to a band with multiple members?
I’ve never understood how a band can do it man. I’ve got such a strong, creative side to me. I tried to be in a band when I was first starting out but I just wrote the songs then they wrote accompanying parts. I’ve always been impressed by bands who write together. For me, I always jam music, music comes first and the lyrics second.
Tell Toast about your single, please.
It’s a two track single, with a couple of videos as well. It’s called ‘The Storm’ and it will be available in January. They’ve already been played a few times, BBC Sheffield and Introducing have played it and it’s been aired a couple of times in Devon and Cornwall as well. It’s to keep people keen for an EP in the spring.
How’s the EP coming along then?
Good, yeah. Everything is written and ready, I just need to save up and get in the studio [laughs]. I’ve got the tracks. It’s going to be another five track EP, like the first one.
Let’s talk financial. On your last tour you did a lot of your travelling on trains. Are you saving money, saving the world, or both?
The whole tour is on trains this time. I’ll show you now, this is my stack of train tickets for the tour. [pulls a wad out of his wallet that must be 30 deep. Toast would like to point out that while he is cutting his carbon emissions, an estimated 6% of the globe’s rainforest was in his wallet in National Rail guise] Yeah, all trains. I like to be green, that’s my approach. There were a few spots on the last tour, the festivals especially, where there was no public transport so I did have to take a car to those. I can drive, I just chose to use the trains.
When did your journey into music start then? The guys from Cape Town?
Yeah. Before I met them, I’d never even thought of playing music. I was creative at school; never too good at the academic side but I was alright at art and stuff. When I met them, they gave me bass lessons for a year and that kicked it off. From there I wanted to do more, I taught myself guitar and it’s gone from there. Do you think it’s harder for solo artists like yourself to get recognition, compared to a band?I can’t really compare it to a band having not been in one in the current market, but I’m finding being a solo artist is very competitive. There’s just so many people, so many of us trying to do it so it’s hard to be different and stand out. I do it because I love it, I try not to take it too seriously at the moment. I love travelling and playing music, so to combine them is a bit of a dream.
Tell Toast a little about your interests. Who influences you?
Bon Iver is a big influence. Mumford and Sons, I think they inspired this whole wave of singer/songwriters a couple of years ago when they boomed out. Dave Matthews Band is quite an old influence but I listen to a lot of them still. Then there’s Andy McKee and Newton Faulkner, who play percussive guitar, so they’ve influenced me quite a bit.
What’s happening in 2012 for Mark Nichols?
There’s the single right at the start of the year, so I’m just going to build on that. New EP sometime in the spring and touring as much as I can. I’m starting to get a bit of interest from Europe, so I’m hoping to combine that with a bit of a surf trip. Oh, and a few videos for the single and EP. Yeah, lots of new media, lots of travelling and gigs and gigs and gigs.
Have a virtual stroll over to Mark’s facebook page over here. He promises it’s the hub of his internet persona and you can find everything you’ll ever need there. ‘The Storm’ is out on the 9th January 2012.