Louisa Nicklin has just released her new album, The big pout, produced by none other than Shayne P. Carter. Louisa played with Shayne in the last dimmer Reunion and maybe you have seen them on stage with The Mermaids as well as.

Marty Duda from “The 13th Floor” thought it was time to talk to Louisa about her own music…

MD: Tell me how The big pout came together. When did you start thinking about making a record and when did it become what it is?

Louisa: I think we made demos for some of these songs in early 2022, it took almost 18 months, two years. And I would have asked Shayne (Carter) To become a producer, probably around mid-2022. And then we recorded in March 2023, then finished recording in late 2023 and here we are. So it’s been quite a long process… long for me. I can be quite impatient.

MD: What kind of producer is Shayne? What does he bring to the mix?

Louisa: I think his greatest value was in pre-production. I would bring him the songs and he would help me shape them so they worked better and I would get out of some of my songwriting habits. That can be good, but when you’re doing that all the time, it’s nice to have someone who notices them and can get you out of them a little bit. And his arrangements and stuff were really great. So yeah, it was really great working with Shayne.

MD: Because you played with him with Dimmer, right? So how far back do you go?

Louisa: We haven’t known each other for very long. He got in touch when he heard one of my songs from my EP, so quite a long time ago… maybe not that long ago, 2018 or something. And we had a bit of email contact. I didn’t really know him and had sent him a couple of other songs, and, you know, that kind of dynamic. And then he asked if I wanted to play on it dimmer for the reunion tour, which kind of came out of the blue and was really cool. I was excited. And it was a lot of fun. And yeah, I got to know him through that and became friends with him, got to know him more as a person than as this random musician that I would email sometimes, you know? And yeah, I really liked working with him and liked the way he talked about music and thought about it and the way he… I don’t know… kind of… the way we worked. And so I asked him if he wanted to produce my next record. And he was interested, so I was excited. I think he really helped me make this record significantly, significantly better.

We recorded the first part… we went to Coromandel… we were there for maybe two weeks. And then in September or October last year we recorded the last songs with Emily Wheatcroft Snape in a studio in Auckland. So it was kind of a mix, but it was cool to have that time in between where we recorded most of the songs and arrangements and then take some time to come back to it from different perspectives. So it was recorded over many sessions.

MD: And how were the sessions? How did you feel? Was it celebratory? Was it stressful? Was it intense?

Louisa: Oh, I don’t find it too tense or anything. I don’t find it stressful. I find recording mostly enjoyable. I find it difficult sometimes when I’m doing my own parts, like playing guitar or something. Sometimes I get a bit in my head and can find that, you know, a bit stressful. But I love the process… especially the overdub process or when you’re doing live tracking. I really enjoy that. So we did a bit of live tracking for some of the tracks. I think we tracked live Feel and followed live Get some sleep. And I like when you can just get into the flow of the music and not think about it so much. Whereas sometimes when I’m just recording a guitar piece by myself, you can, you know, get into your head a little bit and feel… yeah, I enjoy the process.

MD: You mentioned Feel like me, that’s the opening track of the record. Why did you put it there? Did you put a lot of thought into the track list?

Louisa: Yes, I definitely think about the track list, especially on vinyl. So I think about the end of side A, the beginning of side B and things like that. I really think about that sort of thing. And Feel felt like a good opening track. I think it’s not a big showstopper. It’s not like it’s, you know, coming across really hot or anything. But I like that it kind of unfolds very delicately. And it’s a pretty simple song, pretty repetitive. But I think it just sets the scene for the record or, like, that atmosphere. It just felt right. I don’t know if it felt like it would work as an opening song.

MD: And I see you have a video that is supposedly inspired by the Porter Wagner Showfor Can’t see. Tell me about it.

Louisa: Um, I started looking at old things. Dolly Parton videos on that show. And I just loved that he was kind of cheesy with his really bad fake tan and the sparkly outfits, and then there were these weird backgrounds that they sang against… that Dolly Parton that we would sing against. I don’t know, there’s something really charming about that and I wanted to create something like that with our own interpretation of it. Not just copying it completely, but yeah, I thought it would be cool to do something like that… it’s almost like a live TV performance for a show that doesn’t have a lot of money and is kind of a little sleazy, but it’s… yeah, yeah.

MD: I think there was a part at the end where you were playing in a red room, and that kind of reminded me of a David Lynch Scene.

Louisa: Oh yeah. Where I just sing to myself and then come back to the live performance. Yeah, it was fun to record that too, to film it, because it was very… we tried to film it all in one take, with like two cameras, and it was all very well rehearsed and stuff, but then one of the cameras didn’t work when we went to record the whole thing. So that was a real shame.

MD: That’s it. There are always technical glitches,

Louisa: Yes, but I think it all came together and it still feels like a live TV performance.

MD: And instead of sounding like Dolly Partonwhich nobody does except Dolly, I don’t know if anyone has ever compared you to Nico? Did that even come up in the conversation?

Louisa: Yes, I think I once did a cover of a Nico Melody that someone suggested. Maybe it was because they thought our voices had some similarity. But yeah, I mean, that’s great… I love that similarity. Yeah, it’s cool.

MD: And you have another video for Thick where there is plenty of jelly salad.

Louisa: That was really fun. It was fun making all the jelly. I especially like doing it when you’re just inspired by how it looks and don’t worry about how it’s going to taste.

MD: I think I have seen you in different situations and with different people. You mentioned dimmer thing, but with MermaidsI think I saw you play a few times at the Wine Cellar. I also think I saw you open for Shining eyes at Powerstation. And I think you have Sea of ​​Love during this show. Is that right?

Louisa
Oh yes, I did. I did a cover of Sea of ​​Love. I think I did the cover of a cover.

MD
I was wondering which version you know, because it’s from the ’50s.

Louisa
Yes, I listened Cat power Version.

MD
I thought so,

Louisa
But the original was also really awesome.

MD
And then the time had come? Robert Plant I did it somewhere along the way too.

Louisa
Yeah, yeah, it’s quite a cover song. But I mean, it’s a beautiful song.

MD
I saw you at the Wine Cellar. Have you seen the new Double Whammy place that sort of replaced it?

Louisa
Yes, I was at the opening. It looks great. Yes, I’m excited to play there. Yes, it’s spacious and I think it will be fun. Yes, it will be good. Big space!

MD
And it seemed to be a big stage, from the looks of it.

Louisa
Yes, a big stage, so hopefully there will be a few people there. And yes, it will be good.

MD
So there are shows coming up.

Louisa: Yes, yes. The tour starts in Nelson and then goes on to Christchurch and Dunedin. On September 13th I’ll play the Moon Bar in Wellington and then finish the tour in Auckland at the Double Whammy.

MD: And who plays with you on these shows?

Louisa: In Nelson I Team Spooky Opening and then Christchurch, I have TG ShandAnd in Dunedin we have Death and the Girl… I first saw them about 10 years ago and I totally fell in love with that sound. So it’s really quite exciting. I have Linen Opening in Wellington, that’s really cool. And then for Auckland I Group chata pretty young, cool trio that I saw playing at BFM, a great new band, and I thought they were awesome. It was so great. So I asked them to play and then Green Grovewho is Durham Fenwickand he actually played on the album, so it would be cool if he was the opening act.

MD: Great, and who is in your band?

Louisa: My band is Mason Fairey, who plays in every band. And Eamon Edmundson-Wells And Ali Burns So that’s the band for Auckland and Wellington, and it’s kind of my core band. But when we play on the South Island, Eamon has a little baby, so he can’t come. So Kat Tomacruz will step in as bassist for the South Island League of the tour.

MD: Ah, that sounds pretty exciting. Very cool, very cool. And we look forward to seeing you on the Double Whammy. Check out how the room sounds with you.

Louisa: It will be fun, I’m looking forward to it.

MD: All right, is there anything else we should know about the album? Do you have a favorite song you want to talk about or anything else you want to say about the album before we stop?

Louisa: Ohhh, it’s hard to choose a favorite song. I think some of my favorites would be Do you want your mother And Can’t seeI find.

MD: What can you tell us about these tracks?

Louisa: Yes, Do you want your motherI wrote it…that’s probably one of the first songs I wrote for the album. I remember I made a demo of it almost two years ago, and it’s more about somebody I knew at the time who really, really didn’t like being an adult, I think. And she was really struggling with that and struggling with the responsibility of not being a kid anymore. And I guess she just found life quite stressful and was quite sad, but um, yeah, I wrote that song about her. She doesn’t know…I don’t think she needs to know that it’s about her. I don’t know her anymore.

MD: Excellent. OK. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me.

Louisa: Thank you. Thank you for talking to me.

Tickets for Louisa Nicklin’s Tour at undertheradar.co.nz