<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMake sure you get really close to him\u2026he speaks very quietly.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man who\u2019d usurped my interview time with Nick Hakim<\/a> was now giving me journalistic advice. What gall! It was nothing some fried chicken and bourbon couldn\u2019t mend, not to mention the company of my sexy best friend\u2026she\u2019s a real olive branch that one.<\/p>\n

I got to Baby\u2019s All Right <\/a>at 6:25 sharp, after taking a cab four blocks because I got lost on the way, a common incompetence I\u2019m not proud of. \u00a0I sheepishly asked the bartenders where Nick was and they directed me to the Green Room where aforementioned man was still interviewing him. \u00a0I stood there like a large, idiot deer in leather shorts and lipstick, hoping my creepy presence would initiate a wrap up. \u00a0No such luck. \u00a0But a lovely employee ushered me to the bar where I shed my pre-probe jitters into a tumbler of Whiskey. Must have been fate.<\/p>\n

I popped my head around the Green room curtain twice, trying to maintain an acceptable blend of politeness and passive aggression.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust five more minutes!\u201d The other <\/em>interviewer pleaded.<\/p>\n

Another whiskey you say? If I must. Nick eventually came out at 6:55.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry about that. You ready?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, yes, but, don\u2019t you have soundcheck at 7?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh shit, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

After soundcheck it would have to be.<\/p>\n

When I sat down with Nick, he seemed a bit shy, and a lot sweet. Misled by the articles I\u2019d read up on him, I imagined he\u2019d moved to Brooklyn from his native D.C. only weeks before.<\/p>\n

NH: Oh, nah, I\u2019ve been here since September.<\/p>\n

AF: Oh, other interviews make it sound like you\u2019re fresh off the Mega Bus. Most people\u2019s first years in New York are rough\u2026how has yours been?<\/p>\n

NH: It was a mix\u2026there\u2019s been cool things, but I was just trying to figure out how to pay rent.<\/p>\n

AF: What\u2019s your favorite part about the city so far?<\/p>\n

NH: I just like being around my friends, I have a lot of friends down here. Obviously New York is like, the Mecca of everything\u2026we all come here for a reason.<\/p>\n

AF: You studied at Berkley College of Music in Boston. There is a lot of dissent on this among musicians, but do you think that a formal music education has helped or hindered your songwriting?<\/p>\n

NH: It\u2019s interesting because there are a lot of things I\u2019ve learned studying music that I feel like helped my musicality or my production but I also think it\u2019s important that you take it [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][formal music education] with a grain of salt.<\/p>\n

AF: What were you mostly listening to when you were writing the EP? Did you find stuff influenced your songwriting?<\/p>\n

NH: Yes and no\u2026I don\u2019t think I really thought about it like that. I kind of don\u2019t remember, it was so long ago. I wrote these songs like three years ago so I\u2019m kind of over the whole process of when it went on, but I was listening to a lot of Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions<\/a> and Marvin Gaye<\/a>, and Harry Nilsson<\/a>.<\/p>\n

AF: Yeah I\u2019ve read in a lot of interviews that you\u2019re a big Harry Nilsson fan\u2026did you ever watch The Poin<\/a>t <\/em>growing up?!<\/p>\n

NH: Not growing up but I heard the album before I saw the movie\u2026I have it on DVD now. It\u2019s a really amazing cartoon; it\u2019s really fun.<\/p>\n

AF: I hear that you\u2019re heading to Europe in September, have you ever been there before?<\/p>\n

NH: Yeah I\u2019ve been to Amsterdam. Last year I played a festival out there.<\/p>\n

AF: But you\u2019re going to London and Germany as well.<\/p>\n

NH: Yeah, London and Germany and the Netherlands and France.<\/p>\n

AF: You excited?! You have some buddies out there?<\/p>\n

NH: Yeah, I have friends in London and Paris.<\/p>\n

AF: Where are you most excited to go?<\/p>\n

NH: Ah man, um, Paris. I\u2019ve never been and it\u2019s such a romanticized city and I just feel like I really want to see what the whole place is about.<\/p>\n

AF: What\u2019s your favorite song on the EP?<\/p>\n

NH: I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t think I have a favorite one anymore.<\/p>\n

AF: I think \u201cCold\u201d is getting the most press.<\/p>\n

NH: Yeah, there\u2019s a lot of different ways I\u2019d like to play that song.<\/p>\n

AF: I think \u201cPour Another\u201d is my favorite.<\/p>\n

NH: Yeah?<\/p>\n

AF: Yeah, it\u2019s like, the weirdest one to me\u2026it\u2019s a little stranger, I like that.<\/p>\n

NH: Yeah it\u2019s a little more airy.<\/p>\n

AF: I read that your whole family is musical!<\/p>\n

NH: Yeah, both of my brothers, my folks are. It was just a hobby for my folks, like it wasn\u2019t a profession; they were both in bands though. My little brother plays in a band in Philly and I grew up listening to my older brother play drums in a bunch of punk bands.<\/p>\n

AF: Yeah, DC has a pretty solid Punk scene. Did you ever find yourself in any particular music scene as a kid?<\/p>\n

NH: Yeah I went to a lot of GO-GO<\/a> shows and then I went to a few hardcore shows\u2026the whole hardcore scene in DC is pretty small and I definitely had a lot of affiliation with a lot of those guys.<\/p>\n

AF: So having spent so much time in DC and Boston and New York, do you feel pretty at home on the East Coast, or do you feel like you\u2019re still finding your home?<\/p>\n

NH: I\u2019ve never been to the West Coast so I don\u2019t really have that experience. I\u2019m definitely an East Coast kid.<\/p>\n

AF: I get that; I\u2019m an East Coast transplant.<\/p>\n

NH: Where are you from?!<\/p>\n

AF: I\u2019m from the West Coast! But I got the fuck outta there!<\/p>\n

NH: (Laughs) I want to check it out.<\/p>\n

AF: No, you definitely should, it\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

So, are you nervous to play tonight?<\/p>\n

NH: No.<\/p>\n

AF: (Laughs) You don\u2019t get nervous?!<\/p>\n

NH: Well, I get nervous in a different way I think. It\u2019s weird because I used to have the biggest stage fright, but I\u2019ve gotten used to playing and I still get a little nervous and I still get little chills and whatever\u2026little oogly wooglies. But I\u2019ve learned how to channel it in a different way.<\/p>\n

AF: Do you see the audience or do they just go into one big blur?<\/p>\n

NH: They go into one big blur but it depends. Sometimes I perform without my glasses on or without contacts, so I can\u2019t see anything. It helps me kind of get lost in my own little head. Which is fun. I mean it\u2019s like a blackout kind of for a second. I mean, I remember parts of it but\u2026<\/p>\n

I would never expect that as Nick played with precision and fervor, that all he saw before him was a blur. In the interview he seemed bashful and endearingly humble, but on stage he became a professional–more man than boy as his beard would also suggest. Nick\u2019s stage presence is engaging and grateful. Within the first ten minutes he\u2019d introduced his entire band: a crew of guys each as adorable as they were talented.<\/p>\n

The crowd Nick drew said a lot about his appeal as a musician. As the kick-off show to his month-long residency at Baby\u2019s All Right, the floor was packed, but there was no defining trait that connected one person to another. Though Hakim\u2019s sound is certainly traceable to particular genres–jazz, soul, R&B, to name a few–his true triumph as a composer is his universality. It must be difficult to dislike his music\u2026I can\u2019t imagine someone honestly shunning it. This was apparent by the hoards of people dancing at the show. Some had on collared shirts, some leather pants, others sported massive afros. The only thing we had in common was a love of this music, this damn-fine, sexy, sad, gorgeous sound.<\/p>\n

Nick\u2019s EP is produced so tightly, I was curious if a live performance could top it. It did. Between the seamless, well-oiled performance of his band and the love he threw the audience (at one point he called us all his \u201cbabies.\u201d), it was a pleasure to witness the launch of Hakim\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

During his last song-a mash–up I hesitate but must refer to as a \u201cjam-session\u201d– Nick\u2019s reserved nature burned away as he fell to the floor with his guitar, writhing away and shrieking more like a Birthday Party-era Nick Cave<\/a> than a subdued man of soul. Perhaps there is some residue from the DC Hardcore scene in Nick after all. Whatever the case, I\u2019m excited to hear what\u2019s next from this kid. He certainly has something going for him.<\/p>\n

Check out Nick’s EP1 below, and hold your breath for EP2<\/p>\n