Nick Flora

Five years ago today, I released my third full length album _The Reintroduction Of Nick Flora. _When I think about this record, I feel a little uneasy. I am so proud of how it turned out and some of my favorite songs I’ve ever written are on it, but it was a pretty stressful and somewhat painful process.

As I often do, I named the record before even one song was written. That often helps me mentally build a framework of the “house” in which the songs will eventually live.  Perhaps that was part of my problem. Naming something “The Reintroduction” feels like a big expectation. Honestly the name was kind of a joke since EVERY album is essentially a “reintroduction” of that artist; where they’ve been since we last heard from them, what they’ve been thinking about, etc.  I’ve always enjoyed “calling it what it is” after all.

This was also my first experience in writing most of the songs in studio.  I came in each day with most of the song then producer/collaborator Andrew Osenga and I would hammer them out and at the end of the day record what we had.  This process STRESSES me out, but is good because you CAN’T overthink it. You have to go with your gut. I remember times where we’d be talking about what a song should be or say, I’d flippantly throw out a line or thought, and Andy would just say “There. Write that down. That’s the song.” Honestly it was a good exercise in being present and trusting my creative impulse, which is scary for a “kid” who wasn’t taught to trust himself.

Mentally and spiritually, I was wrestling with a lot.  I was simultaneously trying to  figure out who I was, where I was going, while at the same time diving deep into family stories from generations previous. The result of which was ...this collection of songs.

Listening back thru the record this morning here are my thoughts on a few of the tracks:

1. The Reintroduction

I wanted to start off with a fist pumping anthem. Andy Osenga and I decided it’d be a fun experiment to try and write a rock anthem without electric guitars, but not make it in-your-face apparent.   

“It’s easier to just do as your told. Don’t question it and let it go. I'm tired of putting out words from someone else’s mouth, we gotta find it on our own.” 

These lyrics were big for me at the time. I was SMACK DAB in the middle of being embarrassed and fed up with my “copy and paste” philosophy of hearing a smart person say something and adopting it as my own viewpoint.  I was a shallow, hollow person, and I hated it. I needed to dig in to who I actually was, what I really thought, and let myself be wrong and flawed and real...for once.

2.  Lost At Sea

I remember telling producer Andy Osenga the story of my Great Uncle being the sole survivor of a submarine that went missing in WWII and he just sat there, mouth agape, and said “WHY ISN’T THIS A SONG??” I honestly hadn’t thought of making it into a song, but we decided to tackle it and see what it became. 2 hours later we emerged (pun intended) with this song, almost completely in tact. It was such a magical moment where we felt like the song was unfolding before us and we couldn’t chase it fast enough.  I love that the story has become just as popular as the song has.  I get asked to tell it a lot, and I’m happy to share. There are so many stories from that time that just go untold or completely forgotten. I’m happy that this one won’t go untold anymore ...or unsung. 

3. Part One: Hometown Kids; Part Two: Happy You’re Happy, Part Three: Luckiest Man Of All

I had the idea of writing an entire album based on my family stories. I had recently heard so many that would make amazing songs. But instead decided to divide up three of them into segments; little vignettes. Parts 1, 2, and 3 are all highlighting how my Great Uncle’s marriages ended. All, while sad, were also pretty remarkable. (Yes, the same Great Uncle that “Lost At Sea” is about.) He lived quite a life.

4. Hard Man To Love

I remember getting to the studio about an hour before anyone else and coming up with this guitar riff. Earlier I’d written down the line “I’m a hard man to love” thinking this idea would formulate into a deep and soulful ballad.  When this riff came into play I thought it’d be fun to write a rock song about those little idiosyncrasies that make us who we are, for better or for worse. This is one of my biggest rock songs, and once again, no electric guitar allowed.  So much fun making this song.

5. Nobody Gets Out Clean

I started writing this song out of anger. I was angry at my past, at my parents, at God. I was feeling as though despite my “pleasant” childhood, I had emerged an adult who didn’t know how to do lots of things, I had zero confidence in my opinions on things that mattered in this world. I hadn’t experienced much, due to the “sheltering” that had come from a conservative Christian upbringing.  This was a painful song to get thru for me.  Somewhere in then middle of it, I hit the point where anger wasn’t working and empathy settled in. It’s easier to place blame on things in our past (or people who raised us) for how we are in the present, but it’s important to remember that everyone is winging it, and trying to figure things out too.  Empathy, forgiveness, and grace are always the wisest moves.

6. Good Enough

This song was written as reminder to myself to go all in. Left to my own devices, I want to hide, be comfortable and safe in my bubble. Although I learn the most about myself and the world around me when I step out and actually show up to things. This seems like an obvious idea, but is one of those “Man, it took me a long time to realize this” kind of things. When you love, don’t hold back.

A couple years ago I wrote a blog post about some movies I love revisiting each January. Some for perspective, some because they just feel like winter and I enjoy synchronicity. While I still stand by the films I chose on that list, here’s an updated version.  So if you’re stuck inside this January and feel like you need a cathartic nudge or existential companion, some of these might be for you.

Wild (2014) “There is a sunrise and a sunset every day and you can choose to be there for it. You can put yourself in the way of beauty.”

‘Wild’ was a movie I Iiked ok when I first saw it and then upon further viewings found myself utterly WRECKED by it’s beauty and raw honesty.  It’s a difficult yet necessary journey into the things we must face about ourselves, our past, our family, before we can move on and be better as individuals and therefore better serve those around us.  It focuses hard on the things we can and cannot change, and how to decipher between the two. Reese Witherspoon is maybe the best she’s ever been (although I’m partial to Election’s Tracy Flick) and the cinematography, music, and storytelling are outstanding as well.

True Grit (2010) “You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God.”

One of the rare remakes of a classic film that actually surpasses the original (or at least adds depth to it.)  I love the Coens’ True Grit for it’s performances, Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld specifically, and for how gorgeous each shot is, but also for it’s themes of forgiveness, redemption, and grace.  Those are much needed themes in the new year for me.

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013) “To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.”

The story of Walter Mitty was first written as a short story in the New Yorker in 1939, but the themes are eternally human and resonate today as strongly as they did then.  This 2013 adaptation is a bit “by the numbers” story-wise, but the themes and reminders are some that we all need, specifically this time of year.  This film is for those of us that dream in our heads too often, too scared to actualize these dreams into reality.  And not to mention it has a great soundtrack, and a great cast, Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Sean Penn, to name a few.

The Tree Of Life (2011) “Unless you love, your life will flash by.”

This a big one for me. An annual viewing. The Tree Of Life is a divisive film (which I don’t really care to talk much about here, because there’s enough on the internet about that.)  I love this film. I watch it and I have tears in my eyes the whole time. This film takes risks in storytelling to show us the little things in life on a grand scale, to show us familiar things in an unfamiliar way. Our lives are packed with beautiful, artful, masterworks and we miss them for whatever reason. Writer/director Terrence Malick takes the beginning stages of a family in a small rural Texas town in the 50′s and puts it against the creation of the universe as a whole.  The themes of love, hardship, grace, grief, and so many others we face in life are gorgeously shot and edited along with the backdrop of a classical score.  I’m moved by the effortless performances by the actors Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain (who actually play less as actors and more as moving musical notes to the symphony of the film.)  

It’s been a tough year, very few will dispute that.  I was *this* close to not doing a Merry Mixmas this year, but decided that maybe it’s the little things that can make me/us feel better.  So... here we go!

If you’d like a holiday mix CD (yes, CD!) made by yours truly, shipped to YOUR mailbox, here’s how it works:

1. Email [email protected] with your NAME, MAILING ADDRESS, and a REASON to why you think you should get one. Your submission can be as creative as you want: make a video, submit in song form, poem, etc.

2. I’ll pick my favorite of the submissions and on Black Friday (Nov 25th) your personalized Merry Mixmas will ship!

3. The deadline for submitting is Wed. Nov 23rd!

Merry Mixmas everyone!

Hey guys, I started a new podcast called ALL TIME FAVORITE.  It’s co-hosted with my pal and fellow musician Allie Farris and it’s really fun! Each week we chat about one topic each that’s influenced us in our lives and our music, and the personal stories that go along with those topics.  

The first two episodes are already up on iTunes and at ATFpod.com, so go listen!

Five years ago this month my sophomore solo album HELLO STRANGER was released.  I recently revisited the record (with some slight trepidation) to write this blog post, and to my surprise I didn’t vomit everywhere out of embarrassment! (That’s always a plus.)

HELLO STRANGER has great significance to me as an artist and as a human.  I wrote that album out of a pretty dark, uncertain, but also joyous period of my life. I was so intent on writing the 10 or 11 best songs I’d ever written, but also be true to the moment in time in my life.  

I remember so vividly being tired of trying to make my music “fit in” to what I was guessing people would wanna hear, and just wrote what I wanted to. That’s a fool’s errand to begin with, and doesn’t inspire anyone, including yourself.

I did a lot of work on myself, truly asking hard questions and writing from a raw place of unbridled honesty.  I had no interest in pandering anymore, initially I made this album for me.  I wrote these songs because they had to get out of me, and if anyone else happened to like it, then that was a bonus.  

For the first time ever up to that point, I wrote honestly about my relationship struggles (Downhearted), about my spiritual journey (Long Way Home), and I even let my ego have a voice (Presence Of Greatness.)  So many of the songs are my first foray into writing from a character voice too.  I adopted a persona, found out who that person was, then wrote honestly from that perspective. 

Songs like Guilty As Charged, Temp Job, and Tired Of Me, I’m still so proud of.  I love writing songs from perspectives that haven’t been given much of a voice, or any voice at all. Temp Job still makes me happy, as ridiculous or silly as that premise is, it was so challenging to get it right. I didn’t want to make fun of the seemingly sad character I was portraying, because he wasn’t particularly sad himself, and kind of owned his place in life as the “cautionary tale.” 

I can’t talk about HELLO STRANGER without shouting out producer/collaborator Andrew Osenga.  With every album I’ve made with him, he’s the MVP.  It was so fun to toss these song ideas back and forth with him and he was tremendous help in taking them further than I had even thought.  Andy pushed me when I was ready to settle, even staying in the studio late into the night to get the right vocal take or guitar sound.  Every single note played on the record was thought out and deliberate.  I’m incredibly blessed to know him, and thankful for his collaboration. 

I’m also so thankful for HELLO STRANGER because of the people it brought into my life.  It was the first release I’d put out that people seemed to truly take notice of what I was trying to do.  I met so many amazing people, online, on the road, or otherwise, because of this record.  

Probably the biggest lesson learned thru making HELLO STRANGER was to write from the most specific and honest place you can find within yourself, don’t be afraid that people won’t relate, because as much as we think we are living a singular existence, we are all so similar and need to hear that someone else is going thru the same thing. It unites us.  That’s the power of music. That’s the power of honesty.

Get the record:

10. The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail (Comedy Central)

I grew up with Comedy Central playing stand-up comedy all hours of the day and night (in between SNL reruns) but watching those old specials don’t really give you the right impression of what happens when you see it live. The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail not only nails what actual stand-up comedy shows are like these days, but the sense of camaraderie between the comics and the audience itself is as entertaining as the material onstage.

9. Playing House (USA)

Playing House is basically what would happen if you took characters like Liz Lemon from 30 Rock and put her in Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls. Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham are not only hilarious as best friends raising a baby together, but I’m not sure true friendship was shown in a more authentic way in 2015 than this show.

8. Master Of None

Aziz Ansari has his pulse on what a lot of the population of 20-30 somethings are going thru in 2015. Navigating this part of life where we are supposed to have so much figured out, but we feel ill-equipped at best.  Aziz is smart enough to not try and carry this show on his own, but give some pretty brilliant (and brilliantly hilarious) lines of dialogue to a great cast of supporting characters. 

7. Veep (HBO)

Oh, Veep. How I love thee.  Very few shows make me laugh as frequently as Veep does. I could go on and on about the writing, or the incredible and hilarious supporting cast (Tony Hale, Matt Walsh, Anna Chlumsky) or how Julia Louis Dreyfus knocks every scene out of the park, but instead just go watch this show.  Seriously, go do it.

6. Better Call Saul (AMC)

Like many, after Breaking Bad ended, I was left reeling and in need of something else to watch to come down from the roller coaster of that near-perfect show.  Better Call Saul is that antidote.  And not because BCS is Breaking Bad-adjacent.  It’s not.  It’s not Breaking Bad, and thank god they didn’t try to make it that way.  Creator Vince Gilligan has taken us back to Albuquerque, but this time years before we meet Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.  It’s smart, clever, dramatic, heart-wrenching, and almost all of it rides on the shoulders of Bob Odenkirk, Saul Goodman himself, and the man delivers.  If haven’t seen this show yet, do yourself a favor.

5. Silicon Valley (HBO)

Silicon Valley is a show that shouldn’t work as well as it does. It’s premise of following employees in Silicon Valley’s tech world is so far from relatable it’s funny.  But the cast is so good and likable, and the writing so well executed it makes you forget that you don’t understand most of the tech-jargon being discussed.  And that’s the genius of creator Mike Judge, his ability to take any situation and find the human aspect in it, then make it funny. Can’t wait for season 3.

4. Parenthood (NBC)

What can I say about Parenthood? I love this family. I want to be a Braverman.  This final season just proved once again that family drama/comedy can come from the heart and not stoop to tired “soap opera” premises to keep viewers engaged.

3. Fargo (FX)

I didn’t think Fargo season 1 could be topped. And it’s still up in the air if season 2 did just that. At the very least it matched it, in a new and wholly unexpected way.  I can’t remember the last time a drama made me laugh as much as it made me filled with tension.  From the impeccable cast (Jesse Plemons, Patrick Wilson, Ted Danson, Kirsten Dunst, Jean FREAKIN Smart) to the stellar writing and direction, Fargo is the anthology drama to beat, in my opinion. (Sorry, True Detective.)

2. Parks and Recreation (NBC)

Those of you who know me are not surprised by my love of Parks and Recreation. From the get-go, this show had my heart. Once again, for this ensemble show to work, every cast member had to be perfect, and each character nailed their role and their metamorphosis into the future as the final season concluded. I’ve always said that Parks was like a live-action Simpsons, with weaving recurring characters from the town that you love almost as much as the main cast. This year, Parks had (in my opinion) a perfect final season, and I can’t wait to re-watch it over and over in the years to come.

1. Mad Men (AMC)

Mad Men is the Parks and Rec of dramas. Meaning, I love it equally to that show.  I’ve never seen anything like Mad Men. So many episodes it seemed like nothing even happened, but I couldn’t look away. That’s just part of the genius of creator/writer Matthew Weiner. So much is happening under the water, in the subtext of these rich characters. Following them for 7 seasons was not only a joy, and a vibrant, eye-opening experience, but it taught me so much about the human condition, and how the choices we make affect others and ourselves in so many subtle but important ways.

That’s right! My pal Stacy Lantz and I have released a new Christmas EP today! It’s all original songs that’ll get you in the holiday spirit! The songs were produced by Andrew Osenga, cover design by Perry Brown!

Go grab it on iTunes today! https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/holiday-mixtape-ep/id1063093894

It’s Merry Mixmas time!

It’s that time of year again! In 2 weeks (on Black Friday) I’ll be mailing out custom made “holiday mix CDs” just for a lucky few! It’s the annual #MerryMixmas! To get one listen up:

Email me at [email protected] and tell me why you’d like one of these super fun mix CDs for your very own!  You do get points for creativity so if you wanna send your submission in the form of a video, song, or essay, that’s a bonus!

Don’t forget to put your MAILING ADDRESS as well!

My record FUTUREBOY is out today! Go grab it on iTunes, Amazon, Bandcamp, or wherever your digital media loyalty lies!  I’m so proud of these songs and can’t wait for you to hear them.

John Hughes passed away 6 years ago today crossing a busy street in New York City.  It’s odd to have such a connection to someone who made films or music or wrote books years before you would even find them.  They’re like little time capsules, just waiting for you to be the right age to understand them or in the perfect spot in your life to where they’d resonate the most.  That’s what John Hughes’ films were for me.  

When I felt like an outsider in Jr. High (even in my own house) there was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, a film that not only highlighted the outsider but celebrated him.  When I felt frustrated lost and like everyone had it all together but me, there was The Breakfast Club.  When my entire family forgot my birthday, the cutest boy in high school wouldn’t notice me, and my grandparents took in that wacky foreign exchange student, there was Home Alone.  Wait, maybe I’m mixing that one up...

So, as I posted last, each week this summer I’m trying to watch at least ONE “classic” film that I’ve never seen before.  The first one I landed on was the 1975 classic shark suspense thriller, JAWS.  Like a lot of the movies on this list, JAWS is one that I know a lot about.  I know the characters names, the classic quotes (”We’re gonna need a bigger boat”), even a lot of the trivia and behind-the-scenes stuff, but for whatever reason, I never got around to actually watching the whole movie.  

The bad part about watching a film or listening to music that was considered “groundbreaking” or a “classic” now as opposed to when it was released is the lack of context. There are movies I LOVED as a kid, but now watching with more mature, experienced eyes are laughably unwatchable (*ahem* The Goonies) but I was pleased to see that JAWS is not one of these movies.

JAWS is interesting and suspenseful from the get-go.  The story beats are masterfully laid out, I found myself adjusting in my seat a few times as certain suspenseful moments approached.  Since I’d never seen it before, I didn’t know which parts were “real danger” and which parts were more of a “fake out” which made it really fun.  I kept having to remind myself that this was a FORTY YEAR OLD movie.  It’s rare that something that old in the art world can hold up, since we as an audience can get so accustomed to little camera tricks and story twists. 

STAND OUTS: For me, the most enjoyable parts involved the comradery between the main characters Brody (Roy Scheider), Hooper (a 28 year old Richard Dreyfuss) and Quint (Robert Shaw).  I could’ve watched another hour of them on the boat, sharing stories, shooting harpoons into our elusive antagonist, or just yelling at each other trying to prove which one was the “alpha male.”   

CRITICISMS: The only real criticisms I have are due to the “style” of filmmaking that was popular in the 1970′s.  There are at least two moments where a main character is mid-sentence and the editing just fades out and sloppily goes to the next scene.  It’s very jarring, and in my opinion takes you out of the story for a moment.  Also, there’s a main shark attack scene on the “Orca” where there is NO SCORE at all, and it felt less frightening than it could’ve been, especially since JOHN FREAKING WILLIAMS scored the film.  The master, himself!  I know that’s a deliberate choice by Spielberg, but it was an odd one, in my opinion.

In summation, there’s a good reason why JAWS was the first official summer blockbuster of all time.  It’s well told, well acted, fun, suspenseful, terrifying in the best way, and makes you want to watch it again (almost immediately.)