Nicole Mercedes Interview by Amanda Molloy Photography: Amanda Blohm
Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Nicole Mercedes makes the kind of dream pop that sounds best during night drives or while wandering around the city. Mercedes’ music is undeniably pop, but with her songwriting prowess, none of her songs sound like anything you’ve heard before. The multi-instrumentalist talked with us about how living in New York City inspires her sound as well as how she is staying creative during quarantine.
When did you realize that you wanted to pursue music? I’ve always played instruments and wrote songs, but I kept it mostly as a hobby until I had to choose what to study in college. I remember telling a friend it’s between music and anthropology. Music won. Who are some of your dream pop influences? I love quirky/emotional pop music like Tori Amos and Björk, but then sound/ atmosphere-wise I lean more towards Beach House. How has living in New York City inspired the content and style of your songs? I think when I wasn’t living in a big city like New York I was writing more out of fantasies, books I was reading, landscapes I wanted to be in. But living here made me focus on my experience of smaller feelings – fleeting ones – and gave them more space and importance. What does your typical songwriting process look like? What’s your favorite part about writing your own music? I almost always start with lyrics and will just write down a thought or sentence. Then, I’ll keep adding to that and eventually I’ll sit at the piano or guitar and think of melodies. At that point, I’m already thinking about how I want to produce it which is my favorite part really. The pandemic has added an extra layer of difficulty for creatives like yourself who use the world around them as inspiration for their art. How have you stayed creative throughout quarantine? That’s such a great question. I’ve been thinking about that a lot and struggling with 27
