Sturgis Nikides
Sturgis Nikides is a recording artist with a unique lyrical vision and a hauntingly beautiful sound that breaks the genre barrier. Some call it blues, some call it alt.country, and others call it indie rock and roll. No matter how they describe it, they all agree on one thing : it works.
Tell me about your history? How did you get where you are now?
Sturgis Nikides has had an impressive career as a singer/songwriter, as a guitarist, and as a budding producer. He began playing the guitar in 1965, after seeing The Beatles at Shea Stadium. He made his first professional appearance in 1969 and by the mid 70's he was lauded as one of the best guitarists in NYC's burgeoning underground punk rock explosion; playing sold out shows at Max's Kansas City as lead guitarist in the legendary Neon Leon Band, and unbelievable as it now seems, backing Nico at the Squat Theater, right down the street from the historic Chelsea Hotel . In 1979, thru the auspices of bandmate Joe Bidewell, he aced an audition with John Cale (co-founder of the Velvet Underground, with Lou Reed). Shortly afterward, he made his vinyl debut on the 7" single "Ready for War" (Spy/IRS Records). He made his major label debut in 1980 with John Cale's "Honi Soit", on A&M records. Continuous recording and touring followed in the ensuing years. Sturgis has appeared onstage with Sterling Morrison and Nico of the Velvet Underground, Kevin Ayers of the Soft Machine, and Chris Spedding of Roxy Music, among many others.
Needing a change of scenery, he moved to Miami in 1989. When his critically acclaimed band Voidville, featuring the brilliant voice of Diane Ward, split up in 1991 he decided to move in a new direction : Producing other artists, composing instrumental music for film and TV, and for the first time ever, singing. A prolific songwriter, Sturgis had never sung any of his own songs, preferring to leave the honors to various bandmates over the years. Like many others, Sturgis developed a keen interest in the World Wide Web, computers, and hi tech audio hardware and software. In the pursuit of putting these applications to work in the modern recording studio, in 2002 he became a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. He proceeded to put his newfound skills to the test, producing and recording various artists in studios from New York City to Miami Beach. Ultimately, he decided it was time to put all of this experience to work...for himself, and the result is his stunning solo debut on rezonate records, Man Of Steel. Hear it for yourself.
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
Yes. Worldwide. I've been playing live since 1974. I've done 3 world tours and more NorthAmerican dates than I can even remember....
Your musical influences
Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Son House, Skip James, Lightnin' Hopkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Burnette Brothers, Link Wray, Johnny Cash, Gram Parsons, Keith Richards.....
