thaFormula.com - Not long ago you moved out to North Carolina from the Netherlands, that's a real big move man, has the change of location and culture had an effect on your music at all?

Nicolay - I don't think so, not really. It's funny because people have said to me that the "Here" album sounded very American and that they could definitely see a change, but that album was very much recorded when I was still in the Netherlands. I don't really see it affecting me much other than the fact of me being in the country and being able to work with people face to face.

thaFormula.com - That's a really big life changing move to move from one country to another, especially given the nature of music these days where nothings guaranteed, how did you make the decision to eventually move?

Nicolay - Well, I secretly had that wish pretty much since the "Foreign Exchange" came along. I realized that gigs, and interviews or tours were going to be hard to do especially when I found out early that a lot of my success was here in the states and I wasn't really able to capitalize on that success that came pretty suddenly, so ever since then it was kind of a dream and this past year I was finally able to do it and come here and do what I do.

thaFormula.com - What opportunities have came about since you've been out here that couldn't have happened back home?

Nicolay - Definitely the shows and tours. I came to the states in May of last year and really right away started doing shows in June. We did two tours. We were all over the East Coast, West Coast and just all over. That definitely wouldn't have been able to happen if I wasn't living out here based on the fact that plane tickets are very, very expensive especially coming out of Europe, so that was a big change. Just seeing people that you work with regularly is a big, big change.

thaFormula.com - One of the shows you got to do out here was an album release party for your "Here" album in New York and you got to have a band play all the music, what was it like hearing that?

Nicolay - It was really, really cool. It was kind of a dream of ours to be able to that and do a release party where we were able to bring everyone together that was on the album at that show. Even though I found how virtually impossible it was to do that after the fact with everyone's schedules. With the support of a lot of people and BBE we brought everyone there and they were kind enough not to ask for a fee or anything, nobody was paid. Everybody was there for the love but we took care of their taxi receipts and their hotel and everything. It was an impressive list, everyone that was on the album was there and Phonte came through and did kind of a mini Foreign Exchange reunion.

thaFormula.com - What was it like hearing your music played by the band?

Nicolay - I was playing a large part of it because I was on keys, so I wasn't really relaxed at all and was trying to remember my parts and was basically scared shitless but it sounded really, really good. We have some recordings and it sounded really well, we had drums, a bass player and it was just really cool seeing the reaction of people to the songs that they already knew. It's fun playing live like that, DJ'ing is one thing but playing live like that is a real big challenge.

thaFormula.com - There's a picture of one of Jay Dee's mixers with a Foreign Exchange sticker on it, and I know you guys met briefly at the Rock the Bells festival in LA, had he heard the album at that point and was he able to give you any feedback on the album?

Nicolay - Not really, I know for a fact from the people at BBE that he liked the album and he really liked "Raw Life" but when I'm in the company of people like that it's hard for me not to be star struck and get out of fan boy mode and I never really got to do that with him. At the same time I met him and I'm glad for that but I didn't really get to talk to him, but in a way it kind of adds to the legend.

thaFormula.com - I've read that for a long time you never used studio monitors, you just used the speakers that came with your desktop computer, that's hard to believe given the layers and transitions in the music you make, is that still the case?

Nicolay - Yeah, that's still the case. I've gotten a lot of shit for that too, my buddy was here the other day and he was like "man, you're still fucking with those cheap ass Phillips speakers!" He was referring to, well I first started out just using the computer speakers that's actually how I did "Foreign Exchange" was with the speakers that I got with my computer, don't get me wrong they sounded really good though. They were Altec Lansing speakers. They always say that you should mix on something you know through and through that you play all your favorite shit on and are used to. So I kind of took that literally and used my computer speakers. Right now I use one of those little $100 shelf systems and it does its job, it's kind of a weird thing but it works.

thaFormula.com - You talked about mixing your records on there, and in a lot of our interviews in our producers series a lot of producers talk about going to sound engineering school and that they picked up how to mix and/or master that way, are you self taught or did you go through something similar?

Nicolay - No, not at all. I'm completely self taught. And the problem with that really is that there are just some things that you cannot learn for yourself. I think engineering is a very separate art in itself and I don't really know much about it. But I have really good ears and the ability to put in the mix what I hear in my head and that's what people usually commend me on is the mixing. There's a lot of trial and error in there and unconscious gut feelings. I'm still learning but I have Pro-Tools now and that comes obviously with a tremendous learning curve. I'm steadily investing in equipment and stuff though.

thaFormula.com - On records that you didn't get to mix or master, what is like turning over your work to someone else to come up with the final product?

Nicolay - I do the final mixes on most of them. The one thing I've never really done is the mastering part and that's one of those art forms that you have to master, no pun intended. There's really, really good people for that and they always tell you should never master your own material because you have a fixed idea in your head of what you want it to sound like and you aren't really objective. But I usually do most of the mixing for the tracks I do, its really rare that I send over multi-tracks and let other people do it.

thaFormula.com - I know you play a number of instruments, how often do you replay a sample you come across whether it's for creativity sake or for money's sake?

Nicolay - I've always played a lot, whether it's something on top of a sample or a track that is completely sample free because I've always wanted to express myself that way because I'm a musician. You're very right, creatively it's a lot more challenging to create something with no samples at all because ultimately I want to get to a level where artistically I am on top of my abilities. I feel like right now I haven't really tapped into those for whatever reason but I feel like I am really coming into my own as a writer, producer, arranger and player (musician). Lately my tracks have been 90% sample free with bigger arrangements, bridges, and turn arounds. There's a lot more I can do not using a sample. Ultimately I think for me the creative challenge is starting from scratch and really just depending on my skills as a musician.

thaFormula.com - Do you have a lawyer or a manger that helping you shop your music or are handling that yourself?

Nicolay - I've always kind of did that myself, but recently this year I signed a publishing deal with BMG and they are definitely looking into making a lot more happen with my music than ever before. At the same time I usually have stayed in my circle of people that I work with and every now and then I came across someone new whether they are unsigned or an established artist and I kind of always want to work with both and work with whoever I connect with creatively. I haven't really done anything that you can consider top-level just yet, but I've always been told that a steady rise is better than a sudden fall so I definitely feel like I m on my way.

thaFormula.com - How did you pursue getting your publishing deal with BMG and what exactly does a publishing deal entail?

Nicolay - When you are "published," it means that there's a firm that collects your mechanical royalties for you, and helps you license out your material to TV and movies, etc. I had originally been published by Sony, but that didn't really work out. I met GG from Premium Blend at a panel in New York during the dynamic producers conference, we started talking and he told me he had a publishing company, a joint venture with BMG and we were mutually interested to start to working with each other at that point. So it basically all came out of networking. I've been working with them for about a year now and so far its been working out great.

thaFormula.com - So basically if someone from a film or TV studio, or even a producer putting together a compilation was looking for material, than BMG may suggest your material to them and in turn for them doing that they would get part of the royalties?

Nicolay - Exactly, they take a cut.

thaFormula.com - Have you been able to license out any music through the new partnership yet?

Nicolay - Yeah, plus he hooked me up with a bunch of artists and he's actually helping me start my own label right now.

thaFormula.com - I know that you are a big fan of music and production outside of your own, and with your DJ gigs you're always spinning music, how do you maintain your own sound without mimicking what you hear even at a subliminal level?

Nicolay - I guess there's ultimately nothing you can do about that, there's always going to be a certain level of influences and it has a lot to do with what I am listening to. I have periods where I'll listen to nothing but Prince and what I do can kind of sound like that and other times when I will listen Crosby, Stills and Nash I may produce some acoustic sounding material or something. It's almost impossible to not really allow those influences in. I told myself recently that I really need to no longer censor myself. In the old days sometimes I would think that I would sometimes make a mental picture of what some people think my sound is or want my sound to be and sometimes I've listened to that and its not always the right decision to make. I've told myself recently that I need to do what I feel is right in that moment and what I feel in general and let other influences outside of Hip-Hop and Soul in and let those influence me as well.

thaFormula.com - Are you the kind of producer that can only create when in the zone or can you turn it on whenever you are in the studio?

Nicolay - I'm constantly ready to work, but there's definitely moments where it's clicking and other moments where it's just not going to happen. I've learned to just walk away in those situations and try another day and just do something else. I'm always ready in a sense that there's always parts to record on tracks that in progress but there's moments where everything works and flows automatically.

thaFormula.com - You did a remix for the Living Legend crew, when I first heard about it sounded like a strange collaboration but it ended being a really nice track. How did that come about?

Nicolay - The Grouch who is one of their front runners when it comes to organization and everything is very good friends with Charles Tremblay who owns Hard Boiled where I do my Dutch Masters albums at and Charles was wondering how that would work, its obviously very different styles and fan bases but he thought it would be fun to try. The Grouch was like "this is our recent material" and he was like "here's the acapellas and show me what you got" basically. So I did my thing on it and it came out really dope. Ever since then we're talking about doing more and at first we were trying to see about a whole album with the Grouch, Eligh and me but our schedules haven't worked out. Right now they have a bunch of my tracks and hopefully we'll be able to do something new for the next Dutch Masters at least.

thaFormula.com - You also go the chance to remix a track for the legendary Roy Ayers, how intimidating was that and how did you approach the remix?

Nicolay - That didn't really get intimidating until way after it was done and I actually met him. When BBE asked me to do I was like "well that's cool, I'm a huge Roy Ayers fan," but I would have did it alone for just the experience of getting a hold of all the multi-tracks and stuff so I said I'd do it and I got a DVD of all the individual tracks of that record. It's really interesting because it's like a look into a mastermind. That was a really new experience for me. I did my thing on it and approached like I would just do what I feel when I hear it. I made it more into a 70's Blaxploitation kind of feeling with a little more funk, a little more up-tempo with it and I was really happy with it. Finally last summer I got to meet him but he had never heard it. He was obviously aware of the project but he had never heard it, at least my remix, I don't know about the rest. He seemed like the kind of dude who wasn't really up on that even if it's his own record, he's a legend and he's busy with shows everywhere and I wasn't crushed at all, but he got to hear it on the spot because it was aired on the college radio station in Hampton, Virginia where we were at at the time and he really loved it. I got to play him some "City Lights" stuff and he really liked that too. He could definitely tell where I was coming from. I got to give him some of my CD's and was just really cool.

thaFormula.com - You mentioned the "City Lights" project, I heard from Lunchbox who hosted it and even yourself I think that you may do another in that series…

Nicolay - I don't know, I want to but I think it will be very different than the "Volume 1." I thought it was really cool at the time and I was able to showcase what I could do beat-wise, but if I was to do it again…actually I recorded a full "City Lights" album but it's nothing but Jazz material and plays a lot more into the "Night" concept. I don't know if I'll get to release it but I don't think there would be any skits or anything on it. I've also done one that is probably going to see the light of day that I call "City Lights: Shibuya Edition" which is an instrumental album based on all my impressions while visiting Japan. That ones a lot more electronic, downtempo-ish and we're actually talking about releasing it first in Japan which would only be right but I definitely would like to see it see the light of day. At some point in time there may be a true "Volume 2," with a lot of the same people but right now I am trying to do something really different.

thaFormula.com - I know you're in the studio recording the new "Foreign Exchange" album and are in a groove recording a lot, how's it coming and what made you decide that it was time to revisit that collaboration?

Nicolay - We both had been talking about for a while off and on with different amounts of interest on both of our parts. Sometimes I would be like "no" and he would feel the same. We had been out of touch for a while too so it wasn't always the first thing on our minds. It wasn't until I moved to the states that we got in touch again and started talking about music and stuff that we liked. From there on we kind of said that if we are really going to do it again, it really needs to be on some next, next shit and be really different. With the way that the first album was received and looked upon if we wanted to do it again we can only top it, we can't just sit back and do a "Nic's Groove Part 2," we have to just step our game up and catch people by surprise kind of like we did the first time. Personally we're both in mental states where we feel like the best is yet to come. Phonte feels he is in a place where he is really coming into his prime as a writer, a singer, a rapper, an artist, just everything and I kind of felt the same way like "I know I have huge potential and haven't really fully tapped into that yet and I felt the same way, and I had the fuel and fire in me from my trip to Japan and it just clicked again. We're fairly on a roll definitely and what we have so far in on word is amazing.

thaFormula.com - Obviously the recording process is different now that you are here in the states and living in the same state as Phonte, how did that chemistry or lack of chemistry from being so far apart carry over into the recording of this new album?

Nicolay - In this particular case we are doing it exactly like we did before. We're still 3 hours apart, we're not neighbors by any means. So far what we've done has been very much the same way I just started putting all of my ideas down. Some pretty wild ideas too, just because I didn't want to exclude anything I really want to do something different than we've ever done and just started sending them to him. He would say "yes" or "no," "this is cool" or "this isn't really what I'm looking for" or whatever. There were definitely ones that blew his mind like it did in 2004. He gets the music and he records to it and sends it back to me. I am sure when it all starts to become more final we'll be working face to face and making final decisions and stuff. Maybe even having some instrumental, but it will be a combination of both.

thaFormula.com - I know it's kind of early in the process, but what can you tell me about the album so far?

Nicolay - Well, for one I can tell you the title, the title is gonna be "Leave it All Behind." Really that says everything we wanted to say when it comes to what we are doing. Everything up to this point, there's a clean slate. We definitely want to take the new step forward to something we've never done. I really like the title a lot because without being all dramatic it really says what the album is about. I think a lot of people are really gonna be surprised with what we are doing but they'll find that we have something really unique and beautiful.

thaFormula.com - What else are you working on for other artists?

Nicolay - I've got a whole bunch of things. There's a new Dutch Masters that's 100% done now. I'm working with a lot of people for that and a lot of people form the old days like Supastition and new people that I haven't ever worked with like Zion I. Hopefully we'll get a Living Legends track and a few surprises that will definitely have people checking for it. That's definitely coming out this year. I'm working on a lot of tracks with Kay of the Foundation who was on the "Here" album. We're talking about doing an entire project. We have a lot of songs finished and we're looking for a really cool way to release that project, so that's me and him and all the chemistry we had on the "Here" record and its bonus disc even more. The "Foreign Exchange" album should be out sometime this year knock on wood, and that alone should be a whole bunch of stuff. Outside of that I'm doing work with Median, I did a track with EMC, the group that Masta Ace formed with Wordsworth, Punchline and Strick, I may even have the single I heard. I've done work with a group named Urban Sophisticates that's a band and I am producing their record in the sense that I'm not making beats but I am guiding the sessions and all that. It's really dope, they won some kind of Billboard award for bands and they have a lot of potential. I did some stuff with Edgar Allan Floe, Wiz Khalifa and I did some more stuff, and Bahamadia.

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