July 7, 2025 • 49 mins
Nostalgix is the definition of a multi-talented artist—producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and performer—and she’s here to share the REAL story behind her rise.
We dive deep into:
- How she went from bedroom DJ to touring globally (without even planning on becoming an artist)
- The mindset shifts that took her from just having fun to fully committing to her craft
- Why burning out every week was part of the process—and how she finally learned to manage it
- Her journey to finding community, mentorship and her team
- The truth about building your own universe as an artist
- How her fans helped support through her darkest times
Whether you’re just starting out or already on tour, this one is packed with gems about grinding, leveling up, and staying connected to your WHY.
Tune in for a powerful reminder: You can do anything you set your mind to—but you can’t skip the steps.
Follow Nostalgix here:
https://www.instagram.com/nostalgixmusic
Follow Nik Cherwink here:
https://www.instagram.com/nikcherwink
And visit my site to join the mailing list or book a free coaching call:
https://www.nikcherwink.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nostalgix (00:00):
Very important to not really get caught up with like
(00:03):
the music industry and
Nik Cherwink (00:04):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (00:06):
of like, content this, content that, and like
Nik Cherwink (00:08):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (00:09):
like the deeper purpose of it.
And the reason that you're doingthis is because you wanna impact
people.
Nik Cherwink (00:25):
What's up everybody?
Welcome to the Headliner MindsetPodcast.
This week's episode is straightup one of the best conversations
I've had in a while because wego way deeper than just talking
about the business strategiesfor building a successful career
in the music industry and reallyget into what it actually means
to be an artist.
Like, why do we all get intomusic in the first place?
Because it moved us in some way.
It inspired us, and I have nodoubt in my mind that this
(00:47):
episode is gonna get you back intouch with that inspiration.
This is Nostalgics.
Nostalgics, welcome to the show.
I am so excited that you're hereand I want to first shout you
out because you are one of thevery cool people that I didn't
know, I didn't have arelationship with.
We just started following eachother on Instagram and I was
(01:08):
like, yo.
You down to hop on, no questionsasked.
Hell yeah.
Let's do it.
So thank you for, uh, just beingan easy fuck yeah.
And stoked to have you here.
Nostalgix (01:20):
Thank you.
I'm very excited to be on theshow, so thank you for having
me.
I was actually driving aroundone day, like getting to the
studio, and I put on yourpodcast, I think I was listening
to the episode that you did withGhastly, I just
Nik Cherwink (01:32):
Oh, cool.
Nostalgix (01:34):
so insightful and so well done.
So I immediately like had tofollow you after that.
Nik Cherwink (01:39):
Oh, well thank you so much and yes, shout out
Ghastly one of my favoritepeople in the music industry.
Such an awesome dude.
That is such a good episode.
If you guys have not listened tothe ghastly episode, like he was
one when I started this podcast,he was one of the first people
that I thought of because I knewhis story and like he just has
this.
Really wild inspirational story.
(01:59):
He's also a very just animatedperson.
So that's a, that's a really funentertaining episode.
If you guys haven't listened toit, go back and check it out,
but not before you finishlistening to this episode.
'cause this one is about to be afucking banger.
So.
Let's go ahead and dive in.
Uh, I would love to start offhearing about your journey as an
artist, because you're doing itall.
(02:20):
You're producing, you'resinging, you're songwriting,
you're rapping like you are atrue artist.
And so I just wanna know alittle bit about your history
with music.
How did you get started makingmusic in the first place?
Nostalgix (02:33):
Since I was a kid, I always loved art.
I was very artistic and I wasjust always drawn to expressing
myself through art, whether itwas drawing or making things or
making films or whatnot.
So I've always had a verycreative mind and for me, I
always get a lot of fulfillmentfrom making things.
That's just always been mything.
(02:56):
I always wanted to be in musicsince I was a kid.
I wanted to.
Be a drummer.
I wanted to be in a band.
I wanted to play guitar.
Um,
Nik Cherwink (03:04):
Hell yeah.
Nostalgix (03:05):
just wanted to do it all.
and when I was younger I didactually try to, you know, um, I
got a drum set when I was a kid.
I took guitar lessons, so, um, Idefinitely always tried to play
around with it, but I neverreally felt like music was like
my thing.
It always kind of felt like itwas.
My passion, um,'cause I justdidn't know how I could ever
(03:27):
make it into my thing.
You know?
I always thought you're eitherlike born with it or
Nik Cherwink (03:33):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (03:34):
are not, you know?
Nik Cherwink (03:35):
Yeah, for sure.
And so you were taking a stab atplaying guitar, playing the
drums, making music.
Um, when did it really grab you?
Like when did you really startdiving into it and taking it
seriously?
I.
Nostalgix (03:50):
when I was starting out in university, I was going
for film production and at thetime I'd fallen in love with
dance music and I'd spent a yeargoing to festivals, and it was
just my biggest love and thingthat brought me the most passion
and fulfillment and.
I kind of had this wild thoughtthat I was like, you know, I
kind of wanna play around withit for fun and learn how to DJ
(04:13):
and just, you know, try to maybedo like a show just to see what
it's like and then that's it.
That's all I'm gonna do and I'mgonna just leave it there.
I think it was like the firstmonth of university where I got
this little DJ mixer off ofCraigslist and.
I was in my dorm room justjumping around doing like the,
the worst transitions I couldpossibly do, but just having a
Nik Cherwink (04:33):
But, but loving it.
Yeah.
Just having a blast.
Nostalgix (04:37):
oh my, the, the worst.
The transition was the better Ithought it was like at the time,
just'cause I didn't know what Iwas doing.
So I was just,
Nik Cherwink (04:43):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (04:44):
having so much fun, just like a little mixer
blasting music and just havinglike a blast, honestly.
Nik Cherwink (04:52):
That's such a key ingredient, having a blast,
having fun.
You know, I think a lot ofpeople are kind of in the crowd
and have that awesome festivalexperience and they're looking
up at the DJ and they're like, Iwant to be up there.
I wanna like, it's like thesites are already set so high.
Like I want to be playing mainstage in front of.
20,000 people and I love that.
(05:13):
Like you kinda had a differentapproach.
You're like, I just kind of wantto fuck around and find out and
like just maybe, maybe just playone show and just have a little
bit of fun.
Nostalgix (05:21):
Yeah, that was kind of the, the goal.
I never like, I just didn'tthink you could do like what
Martin Garrick's is doing.
'cause I think at the time whenI was getting into production,
it didn't feel as accessible, Ithink.
I just thought that, you know,you're either Martin Garrick's
or you're not.
You know, I didn't
Nik Cherwink (05:37):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (05:37):
like all these different levels of it and you
can like work towards something.
So I was just doing it for fun'cause I just thought it was
really cool and I really loveddance music and my big thing was
I just wanted to learn about it'cause it was just so
fascinating to me.
So.
kind of just spent some timelearning how to dj and I had
(05:58):
this goal of just playing oneshow and I was like, I'm gonna
just do one show and then I'mdone.
That's it.
Nik Cherwink (06:02):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (06:04):
I was like, just one show, just to see what it's like
and then I'm gonna, you know,you know, put this away.
That's all I wanna do.
And then did the show eventuallyafter like three months of me
DJing and, and learning and.
It kind of just kept snowballingwhere one opportunity, it kept
leading me to the nextopportunity, then the next
opportunity.
And then somebody would've beenin that room and they saw and
(06:26):
they're like, Hey, we want youfor this.
And I just kept doing it and Ikept going and I just kept
getting better and better andbetter.
And I think seeing my progressand how I was actually like
really good at this thing andum, just seeing how much better
I was getting just.
Really fueled me.
I was like, you know what, likeI wanna see how good I can
(06:47):
actually get at this.
And I just kind of kept doing itfor fun for maybe like a year or
two until I got to perform mainstage at this festival called
parody.
So at the time I won this
Nik Cherwink (07:00):
Oh yeah,
Nostalgix (07:01):
you know, do you remember that festival?
Nik Cherwink (07:03):
I remember that.
Was that like Seattle orsomething?
Where was that at?
Nostalgix (07:08):
Is that the Gorge Amphitheater?
Nik Cherwink (07:10):
At the Gorge?
Yeah.
Okay.
So you, you said you won acontest and you got to play main
stage at Paradiso.
Nostalgix (07:17):
Yeah.
I got to do like the opening setat that festival,
Nik Cherwink (07:21):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (07:22):
there was like no one in the crowd yet.
The doors were basically closedfor my set, but.
I was just dancing around bigstage and security guards were
dancing with me.
And it just really made me lookat it differently because by the
time I walked off the stagethere was maybe like 30 to 50
(07:43):
people that were like runningdown and excited to like dance
to the set and see what I wasdoing.
And just walking off that stagethat day and being like.
I really wanna do this for realand make music that people are
about.
I love dance music so much and Iwanna have that song that really
(08:03):
makes people feel something.
Like when I go to a festival andI'm running around and I'm like,
oh my God, this is the song.
I can't wait for the artist toplay this song.
I wanna be able to do that forpeople and I want people to
really feel something from whatI'm creating.
So from then on I just shiftedmy entire mindset and I was
like, you know, I really wannabe a producer.
(08:24):
I wanna make really good music.
And then it made me actuallywanna be an artist and not just
a dj.
Nik Cherwink (08:31):
Yeah.
Cool.
I love that.
it's such a cool story because Ijust love that you were just
having fun and you weren't likesuper attached to this, you
know?
Huge dream or needing to, chasethis like huge level of success.
'cause that's what I see somuch.
And I think a lot of the peoplethat I work with as, as an
artist coach are just like,they're locked in on like, yo, I
(08:53):
want to be the fucking biggestartist in the world.
And sometimes that adds a lot ofpressure.
You know, it kind of can make itnot fun when you're putting all
this pressure on yourself.
Um, but you did make that shift.
You did make that shift from itbeing like, okay, I'm just kinda
having fun and I'm DJing.
But now you're starting to seesome success and starting to see
some potential of what actuallycan become, so how did your
(09:16):
approach change once you startedto shift into the artist mindset
and taking it more seriously?
Nostalgix (09:24):
I just started to realize how much.
Goes into it and I realized, howdifficult it is to learn Ableton
and how difficult it is toactually like make a good song.
So
Nik Cherwink (09:35):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (09:36):
really put my head down and work away at it.
There was a point when I waslearning Ableton and I was in,
um, this artist developmentprogram called Cosmic Academy,
where I was learning music
Nik Cherwink (09:49):
Uh oh.
Yeah.
Nostalgix (09:50):
more about the industry.
I was also working two or threejobs at the time, so I was like
just basically doing nothing butworking and making music.
Nik Cherwink (09:59):
You're grinding.
You're grinding.
It almost seems like that is aninevitable rite of passage for
artists, right?
Just to get good.
There's kind of no way aroundputting in the time, putting in
the energy, putting in thehours.
Especially most people have towork a job as well and pay the
bills.
So, how was Cosmic Academy?
I know a lot of people, I've hadclients that have done that
(10:21):
before.
I hear a lot of good thingsabout it.
What was your experience likethere?
Nostalgix (10:25):
Oh, they're absolutely amazing.
Justin
Nik Cherwink (10:28):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (10:28):
are just the best people and we still keep in
touch till this day.
amount of
Nik Cherwink (10:32):
Hell yeah.
Nostalgix (10:33):
guys have just called me just to check in and be like,
Hey, how's everything going?
How is, you know, how's music?
How's this, how's that?
Um, I think the great thingabout that program is you learn
a lot, but you also are put intothis community
Nik Cherwink (10:48):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Nostalgix (10:49):
lot of other people that are trying to learn and
just as hungry and just asexcited as you are.
But everybody in the community,so supportive and loving, so it
feels like you almost have afamily and you're not really
doing it fully by yourself, just'cause there's so much support
there.
Nik Cherwink (11:03):
It's so important.
I have a coaching program of myown, the Headliner Mindset
community.
Shout out Headliner Mindset fam.
I've got like 60 people in thiscommunity and it's like, it's so
important.
It's so important to havesupport, to have homies, to have
peers, you know, whether that'sin an official coaching program
or just your own circle, butespecially producing can be so
isolating.
(11:24):
It's just like you kind of.
Being a little gremlin in yourroom by yourself for like hours
and hours, you know?
And so we really need to connectwith other people and
collaborate and share resources,you know, and just motivate each
other.
Like if you are doing it all byyourself, um, it's gonna be
really hard and really lonely.
So definitely get plugged intosome kind of community that's so
(11:46):
important.
Nostalgix (11:47):
Yeah, I can definitely attest to that'cause
I've definitely experienced likethe loneliness that this world
can bring of you just workingaway and plugging away and just
having to give everything thatyou have and every minute that
you have to what you're doing.
So I think community and havingfriends and that kind of support
is honestly just so insanelyimportant.
Nik Cherwink (12:08):
Yeah.
So when you flipped that switchand you decided you really
wanted to go towards being anartist, you wanted to learn
making music, you're, you'regrinding, you said you're
working two jobs.
How did you prevent yourselffrom burning out during that
time?
Nostalgix (12:26):
That's a funny question because I think I, I
burnt myself out like probablyevery week or two weeks.
I think I was just really like.
I had a really high standard forlike what I wanted to achieve
and I had really big goals, so Ikind of just kept.
Going and going and going.
And I think at the time I madeso many sacrifices where, you
(12:46):
know, when my friends were goingout every single weekend and,
inviting me to come out tothings instead of going with
them, I was always like, Hey,like I, I have a lot of things I
need to get done, and I wouldstay home and just be, you know,
Saturday night I am on Abletonor I'm working this job or that
job and, I'm just pouringeverything that I have into this
one thing.
(13:07):
So, I feel like I definitelyspent a lot of time burning
myself out and it, it took maybetill, a couple years ago to, to
learn how to not burn myselfout.
Nik Cherwink (13:17):
Yeah.
Well, you know I think it reallydoes.
Validate just the inevitablereality that you gotta grind and
you gotta hustle and you gottareally be committed to, to make
this goal and this dream happen.
So besides working hard and whatI'm hearing is also like making
(13:38):
the sacrifices, you know.
Saying no to some of the things.
What are some of the other,requirements for artists that
are coming up?
You know, you have to behardworking, you have to make
sacrifices.
What else do you have to be anddo to really make it in this
industry?
Nostalgix (13:56):
I think the biggest thing is to create the
foundation properly.
Don't try to skip any steps, doit by learning and properly
laying the foundation of whatyou're building, because you
want that to be, to be strongand you wanna build and go from
there.
And there is no shortcuts orlike easy ways to like jump any
steps.
(14:17):
You know, you know that sayingof like, um, it takes 10 years
to make an overnight success.
Nik Cherwink (14:22):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (14:24):
Yeah.
Like you can't any of the steps.
You have to just keep.
Keep climbing and keep takingeach step.
Sometimes you'll get knocked offthe ladder and you have to like
go back up, but you have to justkeep trying and keep going.
think that consistency is a bigthing of just continuing to take
steps forward in your art andyour career and even on your
(14:46):
hard days, like if you do justlike one little thing that
pushes you forward, like you'vedone enough, think
Nik Cherwink (14:53):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (14:54):
Continuing to work towards your goals and having
compassion for yourself of like,if you are having hard days or
if things aren't going your wayto, you know, maybe just take
the day and then come back andtry again.
Nik Cherwink (15:09):
Yeah.
That's a really, really greatanswer.
You can't skip steps.
And when you talk about buildingthat foundation, what are the
ingredients of that foundation?
What are the pieces that peoplereally need to.
Focus on and give themselves thetime to really build, like what
(15:30):
does that foundation actuallyconsist of?
Nostalgix (15:34):
I think the foundation.
Consist of really knowing theins and outs of what you're
doing and really learning yourtools and the things that you
need to work with to be the bestthat you can be.
So for producers, I would say,if you use Ableton, really know
how Ableton works and make itwork for you.
Um, if you're posting on socialmedia, learn the best way that
(15:57):
you can do that, that'smanageable and that you can
maintain.
Learning just how things workwithin the music industry, how
you can make things easier foryourself, how you can take
pressure off your plate.
I think just learning andknowing as much as you can about
your craft.
I had a period of time, um, Ibelieve this was like two
(16:19):
summers ago now, where I hadleft my management team that I
was with and I was.
The busiest I'd ever been withtouring in my life at that
point.
I was trying to figure out whomy new team is gonna be, but it
was just, it was so much on myplate and I just, I didn't have
(16:41):
enough time to figure it out.
So I, I spent like six monthswhile I was touring during the
summer and doing festivals, justbeing like, okay, I am gonna
just, just manage myself
Nik Cherwink (16:51):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (16:51):
all this stuff out.
And.
As much as that was hard, ittaught me like what a manager
does.
It taught me
Nik Cherwink (16:59):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (16:59):
of what I didn't know yet about being an artist.
And, um, it just taught me somuch valuable information that I
didn't have before that now I, Itruly understand what, like, for
example, what my manager doesnow and what goes into their
day.
And I feel like, having thatunderstanding of everything that
I'm not involved with.
(17:20):
Makes my job a bit easier.
Nik Cherwink (17:23):
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, Henry Fung shared thesame thing when I did a episode
with him.
Another really early episode aswell, a good one for you guys to
check out, but same kind ofthing.
He switched managers and he waslike, oh, I have to actually
like, get all of my contractsand all these things that like I
haven't really looked at beforeand actually understand them
(17:44):
myself.
And, uh, it, it, it brings up areally good point because a lot
of.
Artists, of course, are wantingto get the manager because the
manager.
Has contacts and can open doorsand can help you with strategy
and also just do a lot of theheavy lifting for sure.
That's great.
Um, but at the end of the day,it is your business.
(18:05):
Like you own the business, youown the LLC, this is your thing.
Your manager is, I'm not gonnasay an employee, but they're a
partner.
They're a partner in thebusiness, but at the end of the
day that manager can come andgo.
It's very normal to have maybe acouple different managers
throughout your career, but atthe end of the day, it's your
business.
So it really makes sense thatyou should understand the
(18:26):
business from top to bottom.
How do all these things work?
All.
Nostalgix (18:29):
Absolutely, and I feel like.
you know how all those thingswork, it also allows you to
appreciate the right personbeing in that role and helping
you with those things even morebecause you know the nitty
gritty of what they're doingthat you didn't even know
Nik Cherwink (18:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that could be such athankless job.
You know, just the, the behindthe scenes, all the stuff that's
happening there.
It's like, it can very, verymuch be a thankless job.
So shout out to all the managersout there.
Thank you guys for doing allthe, all the paperwork, doing
all the tough conversations, andthe negotiations that, that we
(19:04):
don't always wanna do ourselves.
So we love you.
Thank you.
Nostalgix (19:09):
Absolutely.
I, yeah, all the paperwork, thecontracts, the,
Nik Cherwink (19:14):
Yeah,
Nostalgix (19:15):
I don't think I could, I would personally be
interested in being a manager.
'cause I know like what goesinto it's, it's so much work, so
much work.
Nik Cherwink (19:21):
yeah, yeah.
I did it for a while.
I was a manager for about fiveyears, and then I realized one
of the roles of being a managerwas also kind of to be a
therapist, to really help.
Artists with like, you know,the, when they want to jump off
a building and you gotta kind oftalk'em off the ledge and give
the motivational pep talks.
And uh, and then I realized, I'mlike, that's the part I actually
(19:43):
really like the most and I'mactually the best at.
I was like, I'm not the best atthe marketing campaigns, but
like this whole therapist thing,like I'm really good at that.
And so that's how I literallyjust created my entire career
was from just becoming like a, alife coach for artists.
'cause it's like.
Yeah, we need that.
We need that mindset piecereally.
Um, you know, it's a piece ofthe puzzle as well, so, yeah.
Nostalgix (20:07):
you realize that about yourself.
'cause I feel like that's onething that I feel like artists
need more of.
Is just that external support.
And I think being able to listento a podcast to get different
perspectives or different waysto, to think about things and
look at things, I think isreally important because
sometimes you just spend
Nik Cherwink (20:26):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (20:27):
time, no matter what level you're at in your career,
like if you're touring andtraveling alone by yourself all
the time too, it's like, it'sgood to hear different
perspectives and differentapproaches and things like that.
So I think it's very important.
Nik Cherwink (20:40):
Yeah.
What are some of the mindsetchallenges that you find
yourself being faced with onthis journey as an artist?
Nostalgix (20:51):
I think, uh, perfectionism is a big one for
me because I will just take somuch time with things sometimes.
Um.
And that's, that's something Idefinitely struggle with is that
I just really want everything tobe like, exactly like my vision
and I'm trying to be better.
And I, I feel like I haveactually gotten better at just
(21:12):
like putting things out andletting things be, even if
they're not feeling like they'reat a hundred percent because
I've recognized that, you know,my 90% is actually good enough
and people are gonna like, lovethe 90%, so it doesn't have
Nik Cherwink (21:26):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And in art, especially when the,with the actual music, it's such
an interesting thing.
'cause when is it ever reallydone there can always be another
thing tweaked, there can alwaysbe something added or taken out.
It's like you could work onsomething for years and have it
never really be, uh, befinished, you know?
(21:47):
So that's a very common one toget caught up with for sure.
Nostalgix (21:51):
That part is honestly pretty annoying because it is at
the end of the day, just youhave.
Having to abandon it and belike, this is good enough and
this is done and I'm gonna putit out and I'm gonna just be
proud of this.
though, you know, you couldalways just, you can always do
more and you can always keepgoing away at it.
Nik Cherwink (22:07):
yeah, yeah.
So I wanna just take a moment tocelebrate you, because there was
a point in your story where youwere like, you know, just.
Being a DJ saying, oh, I justwanna play one show, right?
And I just wanna have a littlebit of fun.
And then at some point you'relike, no, actually I really
wanna, I wanna go for this.
(22:28):
I want to really be an artist.
I wanna go full-time.
And now here you are, you'veestablished yourself, right?
You've got tour dates, you're afull-time artist, you've got a
brand and a reputation, and fansand followers.
So first off, congratulations.
Let's take a moment to celebratethat.
That's incredible.
Nostalgix (22:45):
Thank you.
I really appreciate that.
Nik Cherwink (22:47):
Uh, I'm curious about like, now that you are a
full-time professional artist,how is it different than you
maybe expected it to be in thebeginning?
Nostalgix (23:00):
Ooh, that is such a good question.
I think the part of it that'sdifferent from what I expected
is honestly just how much workgoes into it.
I feel like the, the
Nik Cherwink (23:08):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (23:08):
that you do this, and the better that you get at this,
the more you realize that youcan be doing, and you find out
there's different levels tothings.
So it's,
Nik Cherwink (23:17):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (23:17):
like there's so much that you could do with your show
to make your show better.
You, there's so much you coulddo with your music or your
marketing or, um.
visuals or things like that toalways be developing and
growing.
So like I always just kinda, Inever realized like how much
work it actually is to reallybuild like an incredible show
(23:39):
and, you know, to really get allthese little pieces right.
And I never realized how muchtime goes into all these things.
And I feel like the, the longerthat I'm in this and, and the
more that I learn, it obviouslymakes everything just easier
and, um.
get better at everything, but itdefinitely takes so much time to
really build out a vision andlike a project that you have.
Nik Cherwink (24:02):
Yeah.
That's super interesting tothink about.
I'd love to go a little bitdeeper into that because you are
at that point where yeah, you'rereally getting in front of an
audience and you're reallygetting to, not just like, kind
of get booked at the club andplay the opening slot, right,
where you don't necessarily havea lot of control.
You now have a bit more control,a bit more opportunity,.
(24:24):
Tell me a little bit more aboutwhat that looks like for you at
this level, at this stage inyour career.
When you talk about creating thevision, creating the show.
Like can you explain a littlebit more the detail of what that
actually looks like?
Nostalgix (24:40):
Yeah, I, I think for me, a really big goal that I
have.
As an artist and probably mymain goal is to put on the best
show
Nik Cherwink (24:48):
I.
Nostalgix (24:49):
can put on, and that entails the, the universe that
that show brings.
So what you feel when you're atthe show, what the visuals look
like, what the music soundslike.
And you know, I've been touringfor quite a while and I've
played crazy festivals and crazyshows and I feel like with
everything that I've done, it'sjust.
Inspired me to, to really worktowards like a bigger vision
(25:11):
that I have and a bigger showand, um, bigger thing that I
wanna create that really feelsimpactful to people and really
allows people to feel something.
Nik Cherwink (25:22):
Yeah.
So what is the vision of theNostalgics universe that you
want to create, that you'reworking on creating right now?
How do you level it up?
What's the next, what's the nextlevel of it?
Nostalgix (25:35):
That is basically what all my days right now are
going into.
Um, well I did my worldwide tourlast year.
That ended in about, like thefall.
I did so much touring last yearwhere I was doing like two or
three shows a week, you know,playing around the world,
playing like the biggestfestivals and the biggest shows
(25:56):
and, um.
It was really amazing and reallyexciting and I came back from
that tour and I was like, youknow what, like now I just
really wanna, take a step back alittle bit from touring and
doing so many shows because Ireally wanna build on a new show
I wanna build on, you know,making the show that I already
have like so much better andmore meaningful and you know,
(26:19):
build out the visuals, build outthe concept that I have in my
head and build out.
The music and, you know, tourwith a lot more songs and all
those things take so much time.
So I got like a studio space inLA and I've been much just
working away at that, like everysingle day since the start of
(26:39):
the year.
Nik Cherwink (26:39):
Yeah.
So what does it look like toactually be working on that?
Because I understand working onthe music, right?
I'm gonna go in, I'm gonna make,and that's, I think most
listeners are really justfocused on that.
I'm making the music.
I'm unable to never day gettingthe tracks done, but there's
this whole other level of, yeah,again, creating the show,
creating the universe.
you know, You said even juststarting with like the concept.
(27:02):
I guess, right.
Like, I'm curious about yourthought process when it comes to
that.
Is it like there's just a themefor the show?
Is there a journey that you'reimagining taking people on?
Like take me into the creativeprocess of that.
I find it so interesting.
I.
Nostalgix (27:17):
Absolutely.
Well, a little bit of backgroundabout me.
I do come from a background offilm production, so I've always
been very creative visually, sothat's.
One thing that I've always lovedand an aspect that I really want
to bring to my shows and areally big focus that I have for
the next years to, really bringthat to life, which is something
(27:39):
it takes a lot of time to buildout, but for me, I think the
next.
that I wanna move into is morestorytelling and really creating
an experience.
And I think that for me, allcomes from like a concept and a
story.
And for me, I have the storythat I'm, I'm building on, and I
(27:59):
think right now it's all thelittle moving parts of, you
know, what are the visuals thattie into that?
How does the story make sensewithin the realm of this world?
It's a lot of like, um.
It's a lot of moving puzzlepieces.
I guess.
It's just my brain is just likea jumble of like thoughts and
artistic things, and I have awhole book of like what I'm
(28:20):
writing out and, and working on.
But it's, it's kind of the, theworld that goes along with the
music and the experience thatyou'll get at the shows.
Nik Cherwink (28:29):
Yeah.
Universe building, right?
That really is that next level.
Now, were you thinking aboutthis when you were.
At an earlier stage, were youalready visualizing the big
picture of like, someday this iswhat I'm working towards?
Or is it only now that you'rekind of at this higher level,
(28:49):
you're further along that nowyou're starting to think about
that and really my real questionis, should people be thinking
about this?
From the beginning, right?
And maybe it's still three yearsdown the road or five years down
the road, but you know, does itmake sense to kind of be
building that universe even fromthe beginning or is it something
that you kind of don't need toworry about until later on?
Nostalgix (29:13):
I think it's good to have your eyes on a vision and a
goal.
I think when you're starting outas a producer, as an artist, I
think it's good to know like.
What do I want my music to makepeople feel?
What do I want people to thinkwhen they think of me?
What, what would I want someone,like say, if I'm like headlining
ultra, what do I want people tobe in the crowd for?
Nik Cherwink (29:35):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (29:36):
there?
Like, what are they there tofeel?
So I think it's good to thinkabout those things because even
like early days.
You're essentially creating allthese things, right?
You're creating all this music,you're creating videos, you're
creating visuals, and, all thatI think ties together.
And I think when you have it,have a bigger purpose and, tell
(29:56):
a story.
I think it's a great goal andthing to know like.
early on, but also as an artist,you learn so much while you do
this, that you know, in thebeginning there's just so much
that you don't know and so muchyou learn just through the act
of playing shows through makingmusic.
So in the beginning phases, Ithink it's hard to know exactly
what you want because you don'teven know what's possible yet.
Nik Cherwink (30:18):
Yeah.
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
And I imagine as well that, asyou start to grow, and I.
For, I think a lot of people wemight have the vision of like,
oh my God, I would love to haveall these lasers and I'd love to
like fly in on a rope swing.
And like, you know, like, likewhat?
Like your imagination can reallybe bigger than your budget
(30:42):
sometimes too.
So I, I imagine like, that's apiece of it too, is like
figuring out how do we actuallyexecute the vision and make it
come to life.
And, you know, there's gotta belike a financial investment in
that as well in terms of.
Actually creating that world andthat universe.
Nostalgix (30:58):
Yeah, absolutely.
Doing this stuff is definitelynot cheap.
You are
Nik Cherwink (31:02):
Yeah.
and that's something I've alwaysbeen.
Doing since the beginning of mycareer is just investing into
what I do and the art and thecraft and, it definitely is a
lot.
But I think the most importantthing is to just work with what
you have, because whatever youhave is enough to make it
happen.
You don't need to be overexpanding yourself or spending
all this money to make somethinghappen, because I feel like a
(31:23):
lot of the best things are justthe things that you can just
make organically.
Rather than needing to spend abunch of money, like obviously
when the money comes and you cando cooler, bigger things, that's
amazing.
But know, till you have that,there's so much more that you
can do.
Yeah.
It reminds me of, um, sippy isactually one of my coaching
clients, and I remember she wasdoing a couple shows in like New
(31:46):
York and LA and she was like,I'm gonna build my own set.
She was out in the alley behindher house, like spray painting,
like fake grass and literallyflying out to New York with
like, bags of stuff.
She was like building her ownset and, and it turned out
really, really dope.
So yeah, you gotta just get yourhands dirty sometimes and do it
yourself.
Nostalgix (32:06):
I, I think I.
Actually, I love sippy.
She's amazing.
Shout out sippy.
Nik Cherwink (32:09):
She is so dope.
Shout out.
Yeah, I've got literally my veryfirst episode ever.
Shout out.
Sippy.
Episode number one was with herand then we, um, kind of
recently did another one too,which was great.
Um, who are some artists thatyou look up to that are building
really cool universes with theirlive show?
Who are you inspired by?
Nostalgix (32:30):
That is a great question.
I think this honestly likechanges very frequently, but
right now I, I love, um, no twoand ISO XO are doing.
It just, it makes me so
Nik Cherwink (32:40):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (32:41):
and so excited to see what they're doing because I
feel like they're really pushingthe boundaries and creating
these crazy universes that areso like artistic where you could
see what they're doing andeverything feels so intentional
and that's what I personallylike really love about an
artist.
Um.
Res as well.
She's someone that
Nik Cherwink (32:59):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:01):
her shows are so cool, like she's doing, I think
it's called The Spiral,
Nik Cherwink (33:04):
The, the portal.
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:07):
portal, yeah.
Nik Cherwink (33:08):
Super cool.
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:10):
crazy.
Like it doesn't even look real,but she just imagined that and
she made that happen.
Nik Cherwink (33:15):
Yeah.
And that's one of those thingsthat too, where it's like, man,
like you gotta have the budgetthough.
You know?
It's like that's not a cheap,that's not a cheap portal.
Uh,
Nostalgix (33:24):
but she's been doing this for so long and has
Nik Cherwink (33:27):
yeah.
Nostalgix (33:28):
vision and is just so
Nik Cherwink (33:29):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:30):
she can make that happen, which is so
Nik Cherwink (33:32):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:32):
So just,
Nik Cherwink (33:33):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:33):
cool to see people doing such big things like that.
Nik Cherwink (33:37):
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
I think about, um, I rememberseeing seven Lions at a DC,
like, I don't know, it was yearsago.
But I remember that being a setwhere I was like, oh, shit.
Like, this guy just took us on ajourney.
You know, like the, just thewhole, all the visuals and the
story.
And it was like, he, it reallywas a universe that was an
(33:57):
artist that I remember, youknow?
'cause it's like you can justhave like.
Cool visuals playing, you know,and like, oh, that like, looks
cool.
But to actually really be takingpeople on that journey and
actually telling a story andhaving a real theme and a
concept behind it, you know, itstands out when people really
take that extra, you know,intention.
And yeah, do it moreintentionally.
It's cool.
Nostalgix (34:19):
And I think it also goes back to what you really
want as an artist, because youcould also not do that and you
could just have visuals playingand go DJ and do like cool big
sets or whatever.
And you know, not have that.
But I think if you wanna be thekind of artist that's more in
storytelling, like I think beingintentional and really thinking
about all these little things,does really matter.
Nik Cherwink (34:41):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (34:41):
these little things, I think just take time to figure
out.
Nik Cherwink (34:45):
Yeah, for sure.
How would you describe thenostalgic brand?
What is your brand all about?
'Cause you already have auniverse that you've created,
right?
How would you describe it?
What's it all about?
Nostalgix (34:57):
My brand is about empowerment and making people
like.
Their best selves and feelinglike they can overcome anything
and overcome whatever's going onin their lives to be the
strongest and best versions ofthemselves.
That's just something that Ifeel like I've just really
overcome a lot in my life, andsomething that's really
(35:20):
important to me is being able togive that back to people.
Allowing other people to reallyfeel powerful and feel like
their best selves and helping,um, with just what I've been
through or with my music orthrough the art that I put out.
Nik Cherwink (35:37):
That's beautiful.
I love that you have suchclarity around that
Nostalgix (35:41):
thank you.
Nik Cherwink (35:42):
I wrote a quote down, I saw this on one of your
posts.
You said, your new life reallydoes cost your old life.
Nostalgix (35:52):
Oh yeah, I know that post.
Nik Cherwink (35:54):
What's that referring to?
Nostalgix (35:57):
Over the past couple years, I've gone through a lot
of just big life changes outsideof, music.
And, um, you know, at the sametime that I was going through my
worldwide tour, I was also goingthrough the most difficult, um,
you know, hardest breakup thatI've ever experienced and, had
Nik Cherwink (36:15):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (36:16):
of heal while also touring alone and.
Um, making so much happen andputting out an EP showing up for
so many people.
And I'm like, you know, goingthrough it and I'm going through
the
Nik Cherwink (36:28):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (36:29):
like, dedicated to be like, I'm gonna my best with
these shows.
I'm gonna put everything that Ihave into this.
And I'm like, you know.
There was one day I cried inthree different states, so I'm
like falling apart while alsojust trying to, you know, go do
these shows and like really giveto people and, put out art and
(36:49):
stay consistent.
And, um, and I was, I was reallyset on making everything happen
and healing at the same time,which is, which is a lot to, to,
I think go through.
Nik Cherwink (37:01):
It's hard.
Yeah.
Nostalgix (37:03):
Yeah.
Nik Cherwink (37:04):
What kept you going?
Nostalgix (37:06):
I think the desire to want more and to want better.
Nik Cherwink (37:11):
Tell me more about that.
To want more what?
Nostalgix (37:15):
I think just wanting more for myself and wanting to
put myself in the bestsituations that I can put myself
in with my life.
And, you know, I have a dreamand I'm, I'm touring and I'm
traveling around the world.
And even though at the time itwas really hard because, you
know.
I'm going through a breakup andI'm feeling so lonely'cause of
that.
(37:35):
And then on top of it, like I'min airports during like around
Christmas time when everybody'swith their families and I'm like
Nik Cherwink (37:41):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (37:42):
alone and it's really difficult.
But I just knew that I was like,I just need to, to heal and I
just need to keep working onbeing the best version of myself
because I deserve that and Ideserve to give myself the life
that I've always wanted.
And even though it's hard, I'mgonna just keep trying and keep
taking steps forward.
Nik Cherwink (38:02):
Yeah, that's super powerful.
What would you say to somebodywho's going through something
similar right now?
Nostalgix (38:11):
It does get better somebody that was completely
falling apart and just hurtingso badly, it really does get
better.
You just have to give yourselftime and be patient and.
Just keep trying.
Even if you keep falling backdown and you can't get it right,
you have to just keep trying totake one little step forward if
(38:34):
that's the best that you can do.
That's, that's amazing.
Nik Cherwink (38:37):
Did you get support while you were going
through all of that?
Nostalgix (38:42):
Yeah.
I definitely leaned on myfriends and family a lot.
I
Nik Cherwink (38:46):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (38:46):
like.
There's so many nights on tour,it'd be like 5:00 AM like after
a show, and I'd be like on, onFaceTime with my dad and we'd
just be talking for like twohours and I'm like, this man
Nik Cherwink (38:56):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (38:56):
sleep.
But, um, I just, I just reallyheavily leaned on people and
like let people in on like howdifficult it was.
And,
Nik Cherwink (39:05):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (39:06):
yeah, looking back it definitely wasn't easy, but I
think over time too, it did.
It progressively just, it goteasier till it got, you know,
better.
Nik Cherwink (39:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Um, well shout out, dad, firstof all,
Nostalgix (39:20):
out
Nik Cherwink (39:21):
go Dad, for being there.
But that.
That vulnerability piece is soimportant, you know, and we're
going through tough stuff and wekind of have to put a face on
and be like, I still gotta showup.
I still gotta keep going.
I also have this, you know, thispublic facing image and I'm here
to entertain and show up and dothese shows and, and we need
(39:42):
support and, and I thinkespecially for us men that can
be a bit more difficult to likeactually, really admit.
That we're struggling andfalling apart and hurting.
But it's so important, you know,like we're not meant to just
white knuckle it and figurethings out on our own.
You know, we are like packanimals and tribal beings and we
(40:05):
are wired to work together andto support each other and to
love each other and to lean oneach other.
So, yeah, really important thatwe do that during those times,
those.
Inevitable times.
'cause it's all, it's gonnahappen.
You know, like there's always,there's gonna be, you know, life
is gonna life.
Uh, we don't get to escape that,you know, no matter what.
(40:27):
Even when you achieve all yourgoals and your dreams, it's like
you're still human that has todeal with human shit like
breakups and deaths andchallenges, right?
So.
Nostalgix (40:36):
Yeah, and it happens to literally everybody, so it's
not.
I think it's also nice to knowthat it's not just you, but it
happens to everybody.
And reaching out and gettingsupport is obviously the most
important thing becausesometimes we just need it and we
can't
Nik Cherwink (40:52):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (40:52):
through it ourselves.
And I think I was also reallyfortunate at that time though,
because I was touring, I alsostarted to kind of lean on the
support of my fans a little bit.
Obviously
Nik Cherwink (41:04):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (41:04):
like directly telling them that I was going through a
hard time, you know, after mysets, something I usually do is
like, I'll stick around to likesay hi to everybody, take photos
and hug people.
And on some
Nik Cherwink (41:15):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (41:15):
worst nights that I was having on tour, just, you
know, really going through it, Igot to have some of the best
conversations with fans that.
Just told me how much my musicimpacted them and how it helped
them get through a hard time,and we just got to have these
really deep conversations andloving conversations and I.
(41:36):
Was able to just really see howit was impacting someone else in
a time of just being so hurtmyself that it kind of
Nik Cherwink (41:44):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (41:44):
my mindset of being okay, I know I'm like really
hurting right now.
But also there's people in thecrowd tonight that are like
absolutely going through it.
Like this person could have alsobeen going through a breakup.
This person could have had thishappen.
Like, I don't know, like what'sgoing on in these people's
lives.
But they're here for a reasonand they're here because they
need a release and they need tohave fun and.
(42:04):
Maybe they really need this, andthe fact that I get to be the
person that gives them thatexperience and that release was
so empowering to me.
Nik Cherwink (42:15):
Wow.
That is so cool to hear.
The artist's perspective onthat, because I think we often
hear the fan's perspective oflike, oh my God, music saved my
life.
Music has healed me.
That listening to this artist orgoing to this show has helped me
so much.
But to actually see the effectthat can have on you as well as
(42:37):
the one that's getting to createthat and facilitate that and
also even receive some of thathealing back right when you need
it the most as well.
That's incredible.
Nostalgix (42:48):
Yeah, I think I'm honestly really grateful for
that because one thing that thatexperience showed me is just how
much love there really is in mylife, and you know, whether it's
from my friends or my.
Family.
I mean, if it's not coming fromthem, like my fans are just such
loving, amazing, supportivepeople that they really, really
care.
And the fact that they show meso much love just means like, so
(43:10):
much to me.
And I think that time likereally allowed me to connect on
such a different level because Iwas also just like, I think I
had a different level ofunderstanding of like what it
means to really go throughsomething difficult and like
really actually like, need,love.
Nik Cherwink (43:27):
Mm, and I think that it really is a reflection
of you and your personality, andyour spirit, and even your
mission.
To empower people, you know,like you're putting real love
into your artistry and you'reputting real love into your fan
base.
And they are all really justserving as mirrors of you back
(43:51):
to yourself and what you'veactually given them, which not
everybody is, you know, sopeople are, you know, they're
just putting out tracks, they'reputting out bangers.
We're just out, you know, we'rejust fucking partying and
drinking and having fun and, youknow, that's fine.
Nothing wrong with that.
But, uh, when you're really.
On a different mission as anartist, right?
Like you said, your, your brandis about empowering people and
(44:12):
like when you're putting thatkind of energy into the music,
into the project, into theintentionality of the show and
the theme and the concept andthe journey, like, yeah.
That gets reflected back to you.
Nostalgix (44:26):
That was so beautifully said.
Nik Cherwink (44:28):
It's cool, man.
It's cool.
Like music is so fuckingpowerful.
It's so, it, it's a spiritualexperience really.
You know?
I think most of us that areinvolved in this industry are
just, you know, real true likemusic fans and it's like we've
had like a spiritual connectionwith music.
It's touched a part of our soul,right?
It's, it's gone beyond just thebrain and really like yeah.
(44:51):
Into like the heart and the soulin a deep way.
I think that's what makes uswant to yeah, be a part of this
world.
So shout out to everyone outthere really putting their heart
and soul into this.
You know, we need more of that.
Nostalgix (45:06):
Yeah, absolutely.
I feel like, um, one thing aboutmusic is throughout my entire
life, even when, you know, myfamily moved from Iran to, to
Canada and I didn't even speakEnglish yet.
I feel like the thing that wasalways there for me, regardless
of what was going on in my lifeor where I was at, was always
just music.
And that's something that Icould always go back to that
(45:28):
made me feel like I fit in andmade me feel like I belong.
And really cool getting to,obviously now having a, a career
in music.
'cause I'm like, now I get to bethat person that gives back and
that gets to, you know, createthat feeling for other people.
And I can do it in such a big,impactful way.
Nik Cherwink (45:47):
Yeah, and I love that you mentioned being from
Iran and Yeah, not speakingEnglish.
And it's like music is theuniversal language, right?
It's the one language you can gointo any part of the world, but
it's like hearing melodies andsounds and beats and it's like
you can be in a room full ofpeople speaking all different
(46:09):
sorts of languages, but it'slike we can all really be.
Affected and impacted by thesonic vibrations, of music and,
um, Bond over that and be unitedover that.
And I feel like that's when wereally tap into like, like this
is like some spiritual magichere.
You know, this is more than justmaking beats on Ableton and
making content.
(46:29):
Like there's a power to fuckingunite people, you know?
And I think we've allexperienced that to some extent.
So, I don't know, just somethingcool to keep in mind as an
artist, as you're building youruniverse and as you're making
your music of just likeunderstanding you're almost like
a, like an alchemist, you know?
Like if you really tap into thepower that you actually have to
transmute energy right from theuniverse, you know, into.
(46:54):
Ableton and, and actually, moveout into the world.
Like it's a, it's a really, canbe a really deep and powerful,
process.
Nostalgix (47:03):
Yeah, and I, I think just.
The fact that you're able totake everything that you've ever
been through or take yourexperiences and put it into art
to try to make somebody elsefeel something or not even try
to, but regardless of you justmaking that, someone's gonna
listen to that and feel somekind of way you're gonna help
them through an experience orthey're just gonna like feel
(47:24):
something to your song.
And I think that's just honestlythe coolest thing and.
Very important to remember aswell, and to not really get
caught up with like the, themusic industry and like
Nik Cherwink (47:38):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (47:39):
of like, content this, content that, and like
Nik Cherwink (47:41):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (47:42):
like the, the deeper purpose of it.
And you know, the reason thatyou're doing this is because you
wanna impact people.
Nik Cherwink (47:50):
Whew.
Mic drop right there.
Well said.
Let's wrap up with this.
If a million people werelistening to this podcast, which
I hope they do, I hope this justabsolutely blows up.
What's your message to theworld?
Nostalgix (48:08):
My message is believe in yourself.
capable of doing everything thatyou set your mind to.
Just keep trying and you can doit.
Nik Cherwink (48:20):
Amazing.
Thank you so much for thisincredible conversation.
I think there's so much in herethat, yeah.
That I needed to hear, that Ineeded to be reminded of.
And, I just really appreciateyou taking the time and, being
open, being vulnerable, andgoing deep with me today.
That was really great.
Thank you.
Nostalgix (48:41):
Thank you so much.
I really appreciated thisconversation as well, and I feel
like there's so much that justhearing us talk about.
me about, so I'm definitelygonna be working on some music
tonight.
Nik Cherwink (48:54):
Let's go.
Let's go.
Very important to not really get caught up with like
(00:03):
the music industry and
Nik Cherwink (00:04):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (00:06):
of like, content this, content that, and like
Nik Cherwink (00:08):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (00:09):
like the deeper purpose of it.
And the reason that you're doingthis is because you wanna impact
people.
Nik Cherwink (00:25):
What's up everybody?
Welcome to the Headliner MindsetPodcast.
This week's episode is straightup one of the best conversations
I've had in a while because wego way deeper than just talking
about the business strategiesfor building a successful career
in the music industry and reallyget into what it actually means
to be an artist.
Like, why do we all get intomusic in the first place?
Because it moved us in some way.
It inspired us, and I have nodoubt in my mind that this
(00:47):
episode is gonna get you back intouch with that inspiration.
This is Nostalgics.
Nostalgics, welcome to the show.
I am so excited that you're hereand I want to first shout you
out because you are one of thevery cool people that I didn't
know, I didn't have arelationship with.
We just started following eachother on Instagram and I was
(01:08):
like, yo.
You down to hop on, no questionsasked.
Hell yeah.
Let's do it.
So thank you for, uh, just beingan easy fuck yeah.
And stoked to have you here.
Nostalgix (01:20):
Thank you.
I'm very excited to be on theshow, so thank you for having
me.
I was actually driving aroundone day, like getting to the
studio, and I put on yourpodcast, I think I was listening
to the episode that you did withGhastly, I just
Nik Cherwink (01:32):
Oh, cool.
Nostalgix (01:34):
so insightful and so well done.
So I immediately like had tofollow you after that.
Nik Cherwink (01:39):
Oh, well thank you so much and yes, shout out
Ghastly one of my favoritepeople in the music industry.
Such an awesome dude.
That is such a good episode.
If you guys have not listened tothe ghastly episode, like he was
one when I started this podcast,he was one of the first people
that I thought of because I knewhis story and like he just has
this.
Really wild inspirational story.
(01:59):
He's also a very just animatedperson.
So that's a, that's a really funentertaining episode.
If you guys haven't listened toit, go back and check it out,
but not before you finishlistening to this episode.
'cause this one is about to be afucking banger.
So.
Let's go ahead and dive in.
Uh, I would love to start offhearing about your journey as an
artist, because you're doing itall.
(02:20):
You're producing, you'resinging, you're songwriting,
you're rapping like you are atrue artist.
And so I just wanna know alittle bit about your history
with music.
How did you get started makingmusic in the first place?
Nostalgix (02:33):
Since I was a kid, I always loved art.
I was very artistic and I wasjust always drawn to expressing
myself through art, whether itwas drawing or making things or
making films or whatnot.
So I've always had a verycreative mind and for me, I
always get a lot of fulfillmentfrom making things.
That's just always been mything.
(02:56):
I always wanted to be in musicsince I was a kid.
I wanted to.
Be a drummer.
I wanted to be in a band.
I wanted to play guitar.
Um,
Nik Cherwink (03:04):
Hell yeah.
Nostalgix (03:05):
just wanted to do it all.
and when I was younger I didactually try to, you know, um, I
got a drum set when I was a kid.
I took guitar lessons, so, um, Idefinitely always tried to play
around with it, but I neverreally felt like music was like
my thing.
It always kind of felt like itwas.
My passion, um,'cause I justdidn't know how I could ever
(03:27):
make it into my thing.
You know?
I always thought you're eitherlike born with it or
Nik Cherwink (03:33):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (03:34):
are not, you know?
Nik Cherwink (03:35):
Yeah, for sure.
And so you were taking a stab atplaying guitar, playing the
drums, making music.
Um, when did it really grab you?
Like when did you really startdiving into it and taking it
seriously?
I.
Nostalgix (03:50):
when I was starting out in university, I was going
for film production and at thetime I'd fallen in love with
dance music and I'd spent a yeargoing to festivals, and it was
just my biggest love and thingthat brought me the most passion
and fulfillment and.
I kind of had this wild thoughtthat I was like, you know, I
kind of wanna play around withit for fun and learn how to DJ
(04:13):
and just, you know, try to maybedo like a show just to see what
it's like and then that's it.
That's all I'm gonna do and I'mgonna just leave it there.
I think it was like the firstmonth of university where I got
this little DJ mixer off ofCraigslist and.
I was in my dorm room justjumping around doing like the,
the worst transitions I couldpossibly do, but just having a
Nik Cherwink (04:33):
But, but loving it.
Yeah.
Just having a blast.
Nostalgix (04:37):
oh my, the, the worst.
The transition was the better Ithought it was like at the time,
just'cause I didn't know what Iwas doing.
So I was just,
Nik Cherwink (04:43):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (04:44):
having so much fun, just like a little mixer
blasting music and just havinglike a blast, honestly.
Nik Cherwink (04:52):
That's such a key ingredient, having a blast,
having fun.
You know, I think a lot ofpeople are kind of in the crowd
and have that awesome festivalexperience and they're looking
up at the DJ and they're like, Iwant to be up there.
I wanna like, it's like thesites are already set so high.
Like I want to be playing mainstage in front of.
20,000 people and I love that.
(05:13):
Like you kinda had a differentapproach.
You're like, I just kind of wantto fuck around and find out and
like just maybe, maybe just playone show and just have a little
bit of fun.
Nostalgix (05:21):
Yeah, that was kind of the, the goal.
I never like, I just didn'tthink you could do like what
Martin Garrick's is doing.
'cause I think at the time whenI was getting into production,
it didn't feel as accessible, Ithink.
I just thought that, you know,you're either Martin Garrick's
or you're not.
You know, I didn't
Nik Cherwink (05:37):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (05:37):
like all these different levels of it and you
can like work towards something.
So I was just doing it for fun'cause I just thought it was
really cool and I really loveddance music and my big thing was
I just wanted to learn about it'cause it was just so
fascinating to me.
So.
kind of just spent some timelearning how to dj and I had
(05:58):
this goal of just playing oneshow and I was like, I'm gonna
just do one show and then I'mdone.
That's it.
Nik Cherwink (06:02):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (06:04):
I was like, just one show, just to see what it's like
and then I'm gonna, you know,you know, put this away.
That's all I wanna do.
And then did the show eventuallyafter like three months of me
DJing and, and learning and.
It kind of just kept snowballingwhere one opportunity, it kept
leading me to the nextopportunity, then the next
opportunity.
And then somebody would've beenin that room and they saw and
(06:26):
they're like, Hey, we want youfor this.
And I just kept doing it and Ikept going and I just kept
getting better and better andbetter.
And I think seeing my progressand how I was actually like
really good at this thing andum, just seeing how much better
I was getting just.
Really fueled me.
I was like, you know what, likeI wanna see how good I can
(06:47):
actually get at this.
And I just kind of kept doing itfor fun for maybe like a year or
two until I got to perform mainstage at this festival called
parody.
So at the time I won this
Nik Cherwink (07:00):
Oh yeah,
Nostalgix (07:01):
you know, do you remember that festival?
Nik Cherwink (07:03):
I remember that.
Was that like Seattle orsomething?
Where was that at?
Nostalgix (07:08):
Is that the Gorge Amphitheater?
Nik Cherwink (07:10):
At the Gorge?
Yeah.
Okay.
So you, you said you won acontest and you got to play main
stage at Paradiso.
Nostalgix (07:17):
Yeah.
I got to do like the opening setat that festival,
Nik Cherwink (07:21):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (07:22):
there was like no one in the crowd yet.
The doors were basically closedfor my set, but.
I was just dancing around bigstage and security guards were
dancing with me.
And it just really made me lookat it differently because by the
time I walked off the stagethere was maybe like 30 to 50
(07:43):
people that were like runningdown and excited to like dance
to the set and see what I wasdoing.
And just walking off that stagethat day and being like.
I really wanna do this for realand make music that people are
about.
I love dance music so much and Iwanna have that song that really
(08:03):
makes people feel something.
Like when I go to a festival andI'm running around and I'm like,
oh my God, this is the song.
I can't wait for the artist toplay this song.
I wanna be able to do that forpeople and I want people to
really feel something from whatI'm creating.
So from then on I just shiftedmy entire mindset and I was
like, you know, I really wannabe a producer.
(08:24):
I wanna make really good music.
And then it made me actuallywanna be an artist and not just
a dj.
Nik Cherwink (08:31):
Yeah.
Cool.
I love that.
it's such a cool story because Ijust love that you were just
having fun and you weren't likesuper attached to this, you
know?
Huge dream or needing to, chasethis like huge level of success.
'cause that's what I see somuch.
And I think a lot of the peoplethat I work with as, as an
artist coach are just like,they're locked in on like, yo, I
(08:53):
want to be the fucking biggestartist in the world.
And sometimes that adds a lot ofpressure.
You know, it kind of can make itnot fun when you're putting all
this pressure on yourself.
Um, but you did make that shift.
You did make that shift from itbeing like, okay, I'm just kinda
having fun and I'm DJing.
But now you're starting to seesome success and starting to see
some potential of what actuallycan become, so how did your
(09:16):
approach change once you startedto shift into the artist mindset
and taking it more seriously?
Nostalgix (09:24):
I just started to realize how much.
Goes into it and I realized, howdifficult it is to learn Ableton
and how difficult it is toactually like make a good song.
So
Nik Cherwink (09:35):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (09:36):
really put my head down and work away at it.
There was a point when I waslearning Ableton and I was in,
um, this artist developmentprogram called Cosmic Academy,
where I was learning music
Nik Cherwink (09:49):
Uh oh.
Yeah.
Nostalgix (09:50):
more about the industry.
I was also working two or threejobs at the time, so I was like
just basically doing nothing butworking and making music.
Nik Cherwink (09:59):
You're grinding.
You're grinding.
It almost seems like that is aninevitable rite of passage for
artists, right?
Just to get good.
There's kind of no way aroundputting in the time, putting in
the energy, putting in thehours.
Especially most people have towork a job as well and pay the
bills.
So, how was Cosmic Academy?
I know a lot of people, I've hadclients that have done that
(10:21):
before.
I hear a lot of good thingsabout it.
What was your experience likethere?
Nostalgix (10:25):
Oh, they're absolutely amazing.
Justin
Nik Cherwink (10:28):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (10:28):
are just the best people and we still keep in
touch till this day.
amount of
Nik Cherwink (10:32):
Hell yeah.
Nostalgix (10:33):
guys have just called me just to check in and be like,
Hey, how's everything going?
How is, you know, how's music?
How's this, how's that?
Um, I think the great thingabout that program is you learn
a lot, but you also are put intothis community
Nik Cherwink (10:48):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Nostalgix (10:49):
lot of other people that are trying to learn and
just as hungry and just asexcited as you are.
But everybody in the community,so supportive and loving, so it
feels like you almost have afamily and you're not really
doing it fully by yourself, just'cause there's so much support
there.
Nik Cherwink (11:03):
It's so important.
I have a coaching program of myown, the Headliner Mindset
community.
Shout out Headliner Mindset fam.
I've got like 60 people in thiscommunity and it's like, it's so
important.
It's so important to havesupport, to have homies, to have
peers, you know, whether that'sin an official coaching program
or just your own circle, butespecially producing can be so
isolating.
(11:24):
It's just like you kind of.
Being a little gremlin in yourroom by yourself for like hours
and hours, you know?
And so we really need to connectwith other people and
collaborate and share resources,you know, and just motivate each
other.
Like if you are doing it all byyourself, um, it's gonna be
really hard and really lonely.
So definitely get plugged intosome kind of community that's so
(11:46):
important.
Nostalgix (11:47):
Yeah, I can definitely attest to that'cause
I've definitely experienced likethe loneliness that this world
can bring of you just workingaway and plugging away and just
having to give everything thatyou have and every minute that
you have to what you're doing.
So I think community and havingfriends and that kind of support
is honestly just so insanelyimportant.
Nik Cherwink (12:08):
Yeah.
So when you flipped that switchand you decided you really
wanted to go towards being anartist, you wanted to learn
making music, you're, you'regrinding, you said you're
working two jobs.
How did you prevent yourselffrom burning out during that
time?
Nostalgix (12:26):
That's a funny question because I think I, I
burnt myself out like probablyevery week or two weeks.
I think I was just really like.
I had a really high standard forlike what I wanted to achieve
and I had really big goals, so Ikind of just kept.
Going and going and going.
And I think at the time I madeso many sacrifices where, you
(12:46):
know, when my friends were goingout every single weekend and,
inviting me to come out tothings instead of going with
them, I was always like, Hey,like I, I have a lot of things I
need to get done, and I wouldstay home and just be, you know,
Saturday night I am on Abletonor I'm working this job or that
job and, I'm just pouringeverything that I have into this
one thing.
(13:07):
So, I feel like I definitelyspent a lot of time burning
myself out and it, it took maybetill, a couple years ago to, to
learn how to not burn myselfout.
Nik Cherwink (13:17):
Yeah.
Well, you know I think it reallydoes.
Validate just the inevitablereality that you gotta grind and
you gotta hustle and you gottareally be committed to, to make
this goal and this dream happen.
So besides working hard and whatI'm hearing is also like making
(13:38):
the sacrifices, you know.
Saying no to some of the things.
What are some of the other,requirements for artists that
are coming up?
You know, you have to behardworking, you have to make
sacrifices.
What else do you have to be anddo to really make it in this
industry?
Nostalgix (13:56):
I think the biggest thing is to create the
foundation properly.
Don't try to skip any steps, doit by learning and properly
laying the foundation of whatyou're building, because you
want that to be, to be strongand you wanna build and go from
there.
And there is no shortcuts orlike easy ways to like jump any
steps.
(14:17):
You know, you know that sayingof like, um, it takes 10 years
to make an overnight success.
Nik Cherwink (14:22):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (14:24):
Yeah.
Like you can't any of the steps.
You have to just keep.
Keep climbing and keep takingeach step.
Sometimes you'll get knocked offthe ladder and you have to like
go back up, but you have to justkeep trying and keep going.
think that consistency is a bigthing of just continuing to take
steps forward in your art andyour career and even on your
(14:46):
hard days, like if you do justlike one little thing that
pushes you forward, like you'vedone enough, think
Nik Cherwink (14:53):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (14:54):
Continuing to work towards your goals and having
compassion for yourself of like,if you are having hard days or
if things aren't going your wayto, you know, maybe just take
the day and then come back andtry again.
Nik Cherwink (15:09):
Yeah.
That's a really, really greatanswer.
You can't skip steps.
And when you talk about buildingthat foundation, what are the
ingredients of that foundation?
What are the pieces that peoplereally need to.
Focus on and give themselves thetime to really build, like what
(15:30):
does that foundation actuallyconsist of?
Nostalgix (15:34):
I think the foundation.
Consist of really knowing theins and outs of what you're
doing and really learning yourtools and the things that you
need to work with to be the bestthat you can be.
So for producers, I would say,if you use Ableton, really know
how Ableton works and make itwork for you.
Um, if you're posting on socialmedia, learn the best way that
(15:57):
you can do that, that'smanageable and that you can
maintain.
Learning just how things workwithin the music industry, how
you can make things easier foryourself, how you can take
pressure off your plate.
I think just learning andknowing as much as you can about
your craft.
I had a period of time, um, Ibelieve this was like two
(16:19):
summers ago now, where I hadleft my management team that I
was with and I was.
The busiest I'd ever been withtouring in my life at that
point.
I was trying to figure out whomy new team is gonna be, but it
was just, it was so much on myplate and I just, I didn't have
(16:41):
enough time to figure it out.
So I, I spent like six monthswhile I was touring during the
summer and doing festivals, justbeing like, okay, I am gonna
just, just manage myself
Nik Cherwink (16:51):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (16:51):
all this stuff out.
And.
As much as that was hard, ittaught me like what a manager
does.
It taught me
Nik Cherwink (16:59):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (16:59):
of what I didn't know yet about being an artist.
And, um, it just taught me somuch valuable information that I
didn't have before that now I, Itruly understand what, like, for
example, what my manager doesnow and what goes into their
day.
And I feel like, having thatunderstanding of everything that
I'm not involved with.
(17:20):
Makes my job a bit easier.
Nik Cherwink (17:23):
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, Henry Fung shared thesame thing when I did a episode
with him.
Another really early episode aswell, a good one for you guys to
check out, but same kind ofthing.
He switched managers and he waslike, oh, I have to actually
like, get all of my contractsand all these things that like I
haven't really looked at beforeand actually understand them
(17:44):
myself.
And, uh, it, it, it brings up areally good point because a lot
of.
Artists, of course, are wantingto get the manager because the
manager.
Has contacts and can open doorsand can help you with strategy
and also just do a lot of theheavy lifting for sure.
That's great.
Um, but at the end of the day,it is your business.
(18:05):
Like you own the business, youown the LLC, this is your thing.
Your manager is, I'm not gonnasay an employee, but they're a
partner.
They're a partner in thebusiness, but at the end of the
day that manager can come andgo.
It's very normal to have maybe acouple different managers
throughout your career, but atthe end of the day, it's your
business.
So it really makes sense thatyou should understand the
(18:26):
business from top to bottom.
How do all these things work?
All.
Nostalgix (18:29):
Absolutely, and I feel like.
you know how all those thingswork, it also allows you to
appreciate the right personbeing in that role and helping
you with those things even morebecause you know the nitty
gritty of what they're doingthat you didn't even know
Nik Cherwink (18:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that could be such athankless job.
You know, just the, the behindthe scenes, all the stuff that's
happening there.
It's like, it can very, verymuch be a thankless job.
So shout out to all the managersout there.
Thank you guys for doing allthe, all the paperwork, doing
all the tough conversations, andthe negotiations that, that we
(19:04):
don't always wanna do ourselves.
So we love you.
Thank you.
Nostalgix (19:09):
Absolutely.
I, yeah, all the paperwork, thecontracts, the,
Nik Cherwink (19:14):
Yeah,
Nostalgix (19:15):
I don't think I could, I would personally be
interested in being a manager.
'cause I know like what goesinto it's, it's so much work, so
much work.
Nik Cherwink (19:21):
yeah, yeah.
I did it for a while.
I was a manager for about fiveyears, and then I realized one
of the roles of being a managerwas also kind of to be a
therapist, to really help.
Artists with like, you know,the, when they want to jump off
a building and you gotta kind oftalk'em off the ledge and give
the motivational pep talks.
And uh, and then I realized, I'mlike, that's the part I actually
(19:43):
really like the most and I'mactually the best at.
I was like, I'm not the best atthe marketing campaigns, but
like this whole therapist thing,like I'm really good at that.
And so that's how I literallyjust created my entire career
was from just becoming like a, alife coach for artists.
'cause it's like.
Yeah, we need that.
We need that mindset piecereally.
Um, you know, it's a piece ofthe puzzle as well, so, yeah.
Nostalgix (20:07):
you realize that about yourself.
'cause I feel like that's onething that I feel like artists
need more of.
Is just that external support.
And I think being able to listento a podcast to get different
perspectives or different waysto, to think about things and
look at things, I think isreally important because
sometimes you just spend
Nik Cherwink (20:26):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (20:27):
time, no matter what level you're at in your career,
like if you're touring andtraveling alone by yourself all
the time too, it's like, it'sgood to hear different
perspectives and differentapproaches and things like that.
So I think it's very important.
Nik Cherwink (20:40):
Yeah.
What are some of the mindsetchallenges that you find
yourself being faced with onthis journey as an artist?
Nostalgix (20:51):
I think, uh, perfectionism is a big one for
me because I will just take somuch time with things sometimes.
Um.
And that's, that's something Idefinitely struggle with is that
I just really want everything tobe like, exactly like my vision
and I'm trying to be better.
And I, I feel like I haveactually gotten better at just
(21:12):
like putting things out andletting things be, even if
they're not feeling like they'reat a hundred percent because
I've recognized that, you know,my 90% is actually good enough
and people are gonna like, lovethe 90%, so it doesn't have
Nik Cherwink (21:26):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And in art, especially when the,with the actual music, it's such
an interesting thing.
'cause when is it ever reallydone there can always be another
thing tweaked, there can alwaysbe something added or taken out.
It's like you could work onsomething for years and have it
never really be, uh, befinished, you know?
(21:47):
So that's a very common one toget caught up with for sure.
Nostalgix (21:51):
That part is honestly pretty annoying because it is at
the end of the day, just youhave.
Having to abandon it and belike, this is good enough and
this is done and I'm gonna putit out and I'm gonna just be
proud of this.
though, you know, you couldalways just, you can always do
more and you can always keepgoing away at it.
Nik Cherwink (22:07):
yeah, yeah.
So I wanna just take a moment tocelebrate you, because there was
a point in your story where youwere like, you know, just.
Being a DJ saying, oh, I justwanna play one show, right?
And I just wanna have a littlebit of fun.
And then at some point you'relike, no, actually I really
wanna, I wanna go for this.
(22:28):
I want to really be an artist.
I wanna go full-time.
And now here you are, you'veestablished yourself, right?
You've got tour dates, you're afull-time artist, you've got a
brand and a reputation, and fansand followers.
So first off, congratulations.
Let's take a moment to celebratethat.
That's incredible.
Nostalgix (22:45):
Thank you.
I really appreciate that.
Nik Cherwink (22:47):
Uh, I'm curious about like, now that you are a
full-time professional artist,how is it different than you
maybe expected it to be in thebeginning?
Nostalgix (23:00):
Ooh, that is such a good question.
I think the part of it that'sdifferent from what I expected
is honestly just how much workgoes into it.
I feel like the, the
Nik Cherwink (23:08):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (23:08):
that you do this, and the better that you get at this,
the more you realize that youcan be doing, and you find out
there's different levels tothings.
So it's,
Nik Cherwink (23:17):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (23:17):
like there's so much that you could do with your show
to make your show better.
You, there's so much you coulddo with your music or your
marketing or, um.
visuals or things like that toalways be developing and
growing.
So like I always just kinda, Inever realized like how much
work it actually is to reallybuild like an incredible show
(23:39):
and, you know, to really get allthese little pieces right.
And I never realized how muchtime goes into all these things.
And I feel like the, the longerthat I'm in this and, and the
more that I learn, it obviouslymakes everything just easier
and, um.
get better at everything, but itdefinitely takes so much time to
really build out a vision andlike a project that you have.
Nik Cherwink (24:02):
Yeah.
That's super interesting tothink about.
I'd love to go a little bitdeeper into that because you are
at that point where yeah, you'rereally getting in front of an
audience and you're reallygetting to, not just like, kind
of get booked at the club andplay the opening slot, right,
where you don't necessarily havea lot of control.
You now have a bit more control,a bit more opportunity,.
(24:24):
Tell me a little bit more aboutwhat that looks like for you at
this level, at this stage inyour career.
When you talk about creating thevision, creating the show.
Like can you explain a littlebit more the detail of what that
actually looks like?
Nostalgix (24:40):
Yeah, I, I think for me, a really big goal that I
have.
As an artist and probably mymain goal is to put on the best
show
Nik Cherwink (24:48):
I.
Nostalgix (24:49):
can put on, and that entails the, the universe that
that show brings.
So what you feel when you're atthe show, what the visuals look
like, what the music soundslike.
And you know, I've been touringfor quite a while and I've
played crazy festivals and crazyshows and I feel like with
everything that I've done, it'sjust.
Inspired me to, to really worktowards like a bigger vision
(25:11):
that I have and a bigger showand, um, bigger thing that I
wanna create that really feelsimpactful to people and really
allows people to feel something.
Nik Cherwink (25:22):
Yeah.
So what is the vision of theNostalgics universe that you
want to create, that you'reworking on creating right now?
How do you level it up?
What's the next, what's the nextlevel of it?
Nostalgix (25:35):
That is basically what all my days right now are
going into.
Um, well I did my worldwide tourlast year.
That ended in about, like thefall.
I did so much touring last yearwhere I was doing like two or
three shows a week, you know,playing around the world,
playing like the biggestfestivals and the biggest shows
(25:56):
and, um.
It was really amazing and reallyexciting and I came back from
that tour and I was like, youknow what, like now I just
really wanna, take a step back alittle bit from touring and
doing so many shows because Ireally wanna build on a new show
I wanna build on, you know,making the show that I already
have like so much better andmore meaningful and you know,
(26:19):
build out the visuals, build outthe concept that I have in my
head and build out.
The music and, you know, tourwith a lot more songs and all
those things take so much time.
So I got like a studio space inLA and I've been much just
working away at that, like everysingle day since the start of
(26:39):
the year.
Nik Cherwink (26:39):
Yeah.
So what does it look like toactually be working on that?
Because I understand working onthe music, right?
I'm gonna go in, I'm gonna make,and that's, I think most
listeners are really justfocused on that.
I'm making the music.
I'm unable to never day gettingthe tracks done, but there's
this whole other level of, yeah,again, creating the show,
creating the universe.
you know, You said even juststarting with like the concept.
(27:02):
I guess, right.
Like, I'm curious about yourthought process when it comes to
that.
Is it like there's just a themefor the show?
Is there a journey that you'reimagining taking people on?
Like take me into the creativeprocess of that.
I find it so interesting.
I.
Nostalgix (27:17):
Absolutely.
Well, a little bit of backgroundabout me.
I do come from a background offilm production, so I've always
been very creative visually, sothat's.
One thing that I've always lovedand an aspect that I really want
to bring to my shows and areally big focus that I have for
the next years to, really bringthat to life, which is something
(27:39):
it takes a lot of time to buildout, but for me, I think the
next.
that I wanna move into is morestorytelling and really creating
an experience.
And I think that for me, allcomes from like a concept and a
story.
And for me, I have the storythat I'm, I'm building on, and I
(27:59):
think right now it's all thelittle moving parts of, you
know, what are the visuals thattie into that?
How does the story make sensewithin the realm of this world?
It's a lot of like, um.
It's a lot of moving puzzlepieces.
I guess.
It's just my brain is just likea jumble of like thoughts and
artistic things, and I have awhole book of like what I'm
(28:20):
writing out and, and working on.
But it's, it's kind of the, theworld that goes along with the
music and the experience thatyou'll get at the shows.
Nik Cherwink (28:29):
Yeah.
Universe building, right?
That really is that next level.
Now, were you thinking aboutthis when you were.
At an earlier stage, were youalready visualizing the big
picture of like, someday this iswhat I'm working towards?
Or is it only now that you'rekind of at this higher level,
(28:49):
you're further along that nowyou're starting to think about
that and really my real questionis, should people be thinking
about this?
From the beginning, right?
And maybe it's still three yearsdown the road or five years down
the road, but you know, does itmake sense to kind of be
building that universe even fromthe beginning or is it something
that you kind of don't need toworry about until later on?
Nostalgix (29:13):
I think it's good to have your eyes on a vision and a
goal.
I think when you're starting outas a producer, as an artist, I
think it's good to know like.
What do I want my music to makepeople feel?
What do I want people to thinkwhen they think of me?
What, what would I want someone,like say, if I'm like headlining
ultra, what do I want people tobe in the crowd for?
Nik Cherwink (29:35):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (29:36):
there?
Like, what are they there tofeel?
So I think it's good to thinkabout those things because even
like early days.
You're essentially creating allthese things, right?
You're creating all this music,you're creating videos, you're
creating visuals, and, all thatI think ties together.
And I think when you have it,have a bigger purpose and, tell
(29:56):
a story.
I think it's a great goal andthing to know like.
early on, but also as an artist,you learn so much while you do
this, that you know, in thebeginning there's just so much
that you don't know and so muchyou learn just through the act
of playing shows through makingmusic.
So in the beginning phases, Ithink it's hard to know exactly
what you want because you don'teven know what's possible yet.
Nik Cherwink (30:18):
Yeah.
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
And I imagine as well that, asyou start to grow, and I.
For, I think a lot of people wemight have the vision of like,
oh my God, I would love to haveall these lasers and I'd love to
like fly in on a rope swing.
And like, you know, like, likewhat?
Like your imagination can reallybe bigger than your budget
(30:42):
sometimes too.
So I, I imagine like, that's apiece of it too, is like
figuring out how do we actuallyexecute the vision and make it
come to life.
And, you know, there's gotta belike a financial investment in
that as well in terms of.
Actually creating that world andthat universe.
Nostalgix (30:58):
Yeah, absolutely.
Doing this stuff is definitelynot cheap.
You are
Nik Cherwink (31:02):
Yeah.
and that's something I've alwaysbeen.
Doing since the beginning of mycareer is just investing into
what I do and the art and thecraft and, it definitely is a
lot.
But I think the most importantthing is to just work with what
you have, because whatever youhave is enough to make it
happen.
You don't need to be overexpanding yourself or spending
all this money to make somethinghappen, because I feel like a
(31:23):
lot of the best things are justthe things that you can just
make organically.
Rather than needing to spend abunch of money, like obviously
when the money comes and you cando cooler, bigger things, that's
amazing.
But know, till you have that,there's so much more that you
can do.
Yeah.
It reminds me of, um, sippy isactually one of my coaching
clients, and I remember she wasdoing a couple shows in like New
(31:46):
York and LA and she was like,I'm gonna build my own set.
She was out in the alley behindher house, like spray painting,
like fake grass and literallyflying out to New York with
like, bags of stuff.
She was like building her ownset and, and it turned out
really, really dope.
So yeah, you gotta just get yourhands dirty sometimes and do it
yourself.
Nostalgix (32:06):
I, I think I.
Actually, I love sippy.
She's amazing.
Shout out sippy.
Nik Cherwink (32:09):
She is so dope.
Shout out.
Yeah, I've got literally my veryfirst episode ever.
Shout out.
Sippy.
Episode number one was with herand then we, um, kind of
recently did another one too,which was great.
Um, who are some artists thatyou look up to that are building
really cool universes with theirlive show?
Who are you inspired by?
Nostalgix (32:30):
That is a great question.
I think this honestly likechanges very frequently, but
right now I, I love, um, no twoand ISO XO are doing.
It just, it makes me so
Nik Cherwink (32:40):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (32:41):
and so excited to see what they're doing because I
feel like they're really pushingthe boundaries and creating
these crazy universes that areso like artistic where you could
see what they're doing andeverything feels so intentional
and that's what I personallylike really love about an
artist.
Um.
Res as well.
She's someone that
Nik Cherwink (32:59):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:01):
her shows are so cool, like she's doing, I think
it's called The Spiral,
Nik Cherwink (33:04):
The, the portal.
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:07):
portal, yeah.
Nik Cherwink (33:08):
Super cool.
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:10):
crazy.
Like it doesn't even look real,but she just imagined that and
she made that happen.
Nik Cherwink (33:15):
Yeah.
And that's one of those thingsthat too, where it's like, man,
like you gotta have the budgetthough.
You know?
It's like that's not a cheap,that's not a cheap portal.
Uh,
Nostalgix (33:24):
but she's been doing this for so long and has
Nik Cherwink (33:27):
yeah.
Nostalgix (33:28):
vision and is just so
Nik Cherwink (33:29):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:30):
she can make that happen, which is so
Nik Cherwink (33:32):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:32):
So just,
Nik Cherwink (33:33):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (33:33):
cool to see people doing such big things like that.
Nik Cherwink (33:37):
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
I think about, um, I rememberseeing seven Lions at a DC,
like, I don't know, it was yearsago.
But I remember that being a setwhere I was like, oh, shit.
Like, this guy just took us on ajourney.
You know, like the, just thewhole, all the visuals and the
story.
And it was like, he, it reallywas a universe that was an
(33:57):
artist that I remember, youknow?
'cause it's like you can justhave like.
Cool visuals playing, you know,and like, oh, that like, looks
cool.
But to actually really be takingpeople on that journey and
actually telling a story andhaving a real theme and a
concept behind it, you know, itstands out when people really
take that extra, you know,intention.
And yeah, do it moreintentionally.
It's cool.
Nostalgix (34:19):
And I think it also goes back to what you really
want as an artist, because youcould also not do that and you
could just have visuals playingand go DJ and do like cool big
sets or whatever.
And you know, not have that.
But I think if you wanna be thekind of artist that's more in
storytelling, like I think beingintentional and really thinking
about all these little things,does really matter.
Nik Cherwink (34:41):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (34:41):
these little things, I think just take time to figure
out.
Nik Cherwink (34:45):
Yeah, for sure.
How would you describe thenostalgic brand?
What is your brand all about?
'Cause you already have auniverse that you've created,
right?
How would you describe it?
What's it all about?
Nostalgix (34:57):
My brand is about empowerment and making people
like.
Their best selves and feelinglike they can overcome anything
and overcome whatever's going onin their lives to be the
strongest and best versions ofthemselves.
That's just something that Ifeel like I've just really
overcome a lot in my life, andsomething that's really
(35:20):
important to me is being able togive that back to people.
Allowing other people to reallyfeel powerful and feel like
their best selves and helping,um, with just what I've been
through or with my music orthrough the art that I put out.
Nik Cherwink (35:37):
That's beautiful.
I love that you have suchclarity around that
Nostalgix (35:41):
thank you.
Nik Cherwink (35:42):
I wrote a quote down, I saw this on one of your
posts.
You said, your new life reallydoes cost your old life.
Nostalgix (35:52):
Oh yeah, I know that post.
Nik Cherwink (35:54):
What's that referring to?
Nostalgix (35:57):
Over the past couple years, I've gone through a lot
of just big life changes outsideof, music.
And, um, you know, at the sametime that I was going through my
worldwide tour, I was also goingthrough the most difficult, um,
you know, hardest breakup thatI've ever experienced and, had
Nik Cherwink (36:15):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (36:16):
of heal while also touring alone and.
Um, making so much happen andputting out an EP showing up for
so many people.
And I'm like, you know, goingthrough it and I'm going through
the
Nik Cherwink (36:28):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (36:29):
like, dedicated to be like, I'm gonna my best with
these shows.
I'm gonna put everything that Ihave into this.
And I'm like, you know.
There was one day I cried inthree different states, so I'm
like falling apart while alsojust trying to, you know, go do
these shows and like really giveto people and, put out art and
(36:49):
stay consistent.
And, um, and I was, I was reallyset on making everything happen
and healing at the same time,which is, which is a lot to, to,
I think go through.
Nik Cherwink (37:01):
It's hard.
Yeah.
Nostalgix (37:03):
Yeah.
Nik Cherwink (37:04):
What kept you going?
Nostalgix (37:06):
I think the desire to want more and to want better.
Nik Cherwink (37:11):
Tell me more about that.
To want more what?
Nostalgix (37:15):
I think just wanting more for myself and wanting to
put myself in the bestsituations that I can put myself
in with my life.
And, you know, I have a dreamand I'm, I'm touring and I'm
traveling around the world.
And even though at the time itwas really hard because, you
know.
I'm going through a breakup andI'm feeling so lonely'cause of
that.
(37:35):
And then on top of it, like I'min airports during like around
Christmas time when everybody'swith their families and I'm like
Nik Cherwink (37:41):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (37:42):
alone and it's really difficult.
But I just knew that I was like,I just need to, to heal and I
just need to keep working onbeing the best version of myself
because I deserve that and Ideserve to give myself the life
that I've always wanted.
And even though it's hard, I'mgonna just keep trying and keep
taking steps forward.
Nik Cherwink (38:02):
Yeah, that's super powerful.
What would you say to somebodywho's going through something
similar right now?
Nostalgix (38:11):
It does get better somebody that was completely
falling apart and just hurtingso badly, it really does get
better.
You just have to give yourselftime and be patient and.
Just keep trying.
Even if you keep falling backdown and you can't get it right,
you have to just keep trying totake one little step forward if
(38:34):
that's the best that you can do.
That's, that's amazing.
Nik Cherwink (38:37):
Did you get support while you were going
through all of that?
Nostalgix (38:42):
Yeah.
I definitely leaned on myfriends and family a lot.
I
Nik Cherwink (38:46):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (38:46):
like.
There's so many nights on tour,it'd be like 5:00 AM like after
a show, and I'd be like on, onFaceTime with my dad and we'd
just be talking for like twohours and I'm like, this man
Nik Cherwink (38:56):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (38:56):
sleep.
But, um, I just, I just reallyheavily leaned on people and
like let people in on like howdifficult it was.
And,
Nik Cherwink (39:05):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (39:06):
yeah, looking back it definitely wasn't easy, but I
think over time too, it did.
It progressively just, it goteasier till it got, you know,
better.
Nik Cherwink (39:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Um, well shout out, dad, firstof all,
Nostalgix (39:20):
out
Nik Cherwink (39:21):
go Dad, for being there.
But that.
That vulnerability piece is soimportant, you know, and we're
going through tough stuff and wekind of have to put a face on
and be like, I still gotta showup.
I still gotta keep going.
I also have this, you know, thispublic facing image and I'm here
to entertain and show up and dothese shows and, and we need
(39:42):
support and, and I thinkespecially for us men that can
be a bit more difficult to likeactually, really admit.
That we're struggling andfalling apart and hurting.
But it's so important, you know,like we're not meant to just
white knuckle it and figurethings out on our own.
You know, we are like packanimals and tribal beings and we
(40:05):
are wired to work together andto support each other and to
love each other and to lean oneach other.
So, yeah, really important thatwe do that during those times,
those.
Inevitable times.
'cause it's all, it's gonnahappen.
You know, like there's always,there's gonna be, you know, life
is gonna life.
Uh, we don't get to escape that,you know, no matter what.
(40:27):
Even when you achieve all yourgoals and your dreams, it's like
you're still human that has todeal with human shit like
breakups and deaths andchallenges, right?
So.
Nostalgix (40:36):
Yeah, and it happens to literally everybody, so it's
not.
I think it's also nice to knowthat it's not just you, but it
happens to everybody.
And reaching out and gettingsupport is obviously the most
important thing becausesometimes we just need it and we
can't
Nik Cherwink (40:52):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (40:52):
through it ourselves.
And I think I was also reallyfortunate at that time though,
because I was touring, I alsostarted to kind of lean on the
support of my fans a little bit.
Obviously
Nik Cherwink (41:04):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (41:04):
like directly telling them that I was going through a
hard time, you know, after mysets, something I usually do is
like, I'll stick around to likesay hi to everybody, take photos
and hug people.
And on some
Nik Cherwink (41:15):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (41:15):
worst nights that I was having on tour, just, you
know, really going through it, Igot to have some of the best
conversations with fans that.
Just told me how much my musicimpacted them and how it helped
them get through a hard time,and we just got to have these
really deep conversations andloving conversations and I.
(41:36):
Was able to just really see howit was impacting someone else in
a time of just being so hurtmyself that it kind of
Nik Cherwink (41:44):
Hmm.
Nostalgix (41:44):
my mindset of being okay, I know I'm like really
hurting right now.
But also there's people in thecrowd tonight that are like
absolutely going through it.
Like this person could have alsobeen going through a breakup.
This person could have had thishappen.
Like, I don't know, like what'sgoing on in these people's
lives.
But they're here for a reasonand they're here because they
need a release and they need tohave fun and.
(42:04):
Maybe they really need this, andthe fact that I get to be the
person that gives them thatexperience and that release was
so empowering to me.
Nik Cherwink (42:15):
Wow.
That is so cool to hear.
The artist's perspective onthat, because I think we often
hear the fan's perspective oflike, oh my God, music saved my
life.
Music has healed me.
That listening to this artist orgoing to this show has helped me
so much.
But to actually see the effectthat can have on you as well as
(42:37):
the one that's getting to createthat and facilitate that and
also even receive some of thathealing back right when you need
it the most as well.
That's incredible.
Nostalgix (42:48):
Yeah, I think I'm honestly really grateful for
that because one thing that thatexperience showed me is just how
much love there really is in mylife, and you know, whether it's
from my friends or my.
Family.
I mean, if it's not coming fromthem, like my fans are just such
loving, amazing, supportivepeople that they really, really
care.
And the fact that they show meso much love just means like, so
(43:10):
much to me.
And I think that time likereally allowed me to connect on
such a different level because Iwas also just like, I think I
had a different level ofunderstanding of like what it
means to really go throughsomething difficult and like
really actually like, need,love.
Nik Cherwink (43:27):
Mm, and I think that it really is a reflection
of you and your personality, andyour spirit, and even your
mission.
To empower people, you know,like you're putting real love
into your artistry and you'reputting real love into your fan
base.
And they are all really justserving as mirrors of you back
(43:51):
to yourself and what you'veactually given them, which not
everybody is, you know, sopeople are, you know, they're
just putting out tracks, they'reputting out bangers.
We're just out, you know, we'rejust fucking partying and
drinking and having fun and, youknow, that's fine.
Nothing wrong with that.
But, uh, when you're really.
On a different mission as anartist, right?
Like you said, your, your brandis about empowering people and
(44:12):
like when you're putting thatkind of energy into the music,
into the project, into theintentionality of the show and
the theme and the concept andthe journey, like, yeah.
That gets reflected back to you.
Nostalgix (44:26):
That was so beautifully said.
Nik Cherwink (44:28):
It's cool, man.
It's cool.
Like music is so fuckingpowerful.
It's so, it, it's a spiritualexperience really.
You know?
I think most of us that areinvolved in this industry are
just, you know, real true likemusic fans and it's like we've
had like a spiritual connectionwith music.
It's touched a part of our soul,right?
It's, it's gone beyond just thebrain and really like yeah.
(44:51):
Into like the heart and the soulin a deep way.
I think that's what makes uswant to yeah, be a part of this
world.
So shout out to everyone outthere really putting their heart
and soul into this.
You know, we need more of that.
Nostalgix (45:06):
Yeah, absolutely.
I feel like, um, one thing aboutmusic is throughout my entire
life, even when, you know, myfamily moved from Iran to, to
Canada and I didn't even speakEnglish yet.
I feel like the thing that wasalways there for me, regardless
of what was going on in my lifeor where I was at, was always
just music.
And that's something that Icould always go back to that
(45:28):
made me feel like I fit in andmade me feel like I belong.
And really cool getting to,obviously now having a, a career
in music.
'cause I'm like, now I get to bethat person that gives back and
that gets to, you know, createthat feeling for other people.
And I can do it in such a big,impactful way.
Nik Cherwink (45:47):
Yeah, and I love that you mentioned being from
Iran and Yeah, not speakingEnglish.
And it's like music is theuniversal language, right?
It's the one language you can gointo any part of the world, but
it's like hearing melodies andsounds and beats and it's like
you can be in a room full ofpeople speaking all different
(46:09):
sorts of languages, but it'slike we can all really be.
Affected and impacted by thesonic vibrations, of music and,
um, Bond over that and be unitedover that.
And I feel like that's when wereally tap into like, like this
is like some spiritual magichere.
You know, this is more than justmaking beats on Ableton and
making content.
(46:29):
Like there's a power to fuckingunite people, you know?
And I think we've allexperienced that to some extent.
So, I don't know, just somethingcool to keep in mind as an
artist, as you're building youruniverse and as you're making
your music of just likeunderstanding you're almost like
a, like an alchemist, you know?
Like if you really tap into thepower that you actually have to
transmute energy right from theuniverse, you know, into.
(46:54):
Ableton and, and actually, moveout into the world.
Like it's a, it's a really, canbe a really deep and powerful,
process.
Nostalgix (47:03):
Yeah, and I, I think just.
The fact that you're able totake everything that you've ever
been through or take yourexperiences and put it into art
to try to make somebody elsefeel something or not even try
to, but regardless of you justmaking that, someone's gonna
listen to that and feel somekind of way you're gonna help
them through an experience orthey're just gonna like feel
(47:24):
something to your song.
And I think that's just honestlythe coolest thing and.
Very important to remember aswell, and to not really get
caught up with like the, themusic industry and like
Nik Cherwink (47:38):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (47:39):
of like, content this, content that, and like
Nik Cherwink (47:41):
Yeah.
Nostalgix (47:42):
like the, the deeper purpose of it.
And you know, the reason thatyou're doing this is because you
wanna impact people.
Nik Cherwink (47:50):
Whew.
Mic drop right there.
Well said.
Let's wrap up with this.
If a million people werelistening to this podcast, which
I hope they do, I hope this justabsolutely blows up.
What's your message to theworld?
Nostalgix (48:08):
My message is believe in yourself.
capable of doing everything thatyou set your mind to.
Just keep trying and you can doit.
Nik Cherwink (48:20):
Amazing.
Thank you so much for thisincredible conversation.
I think there's so much in herethat, yeah.
That I needed to hear, that Ineeded to be reminded of.
And, I just really appreciateyou taking the time and, being
open, being vulnerable, andgoing deep with me today.
That was really great.
Thank you.
Nostalgix (48:41):
Thank you so much.
I really appreciated thisconversation as well, and I feel
like there's so much that justhearing us talk about.
me about, so I'm definitelygonna be working on some music
tonight.
Nik Cherwink (48:54):
Let's go.
Let's go.
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