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Your life is a little bit like a country song, in that you left South Carolina at 19 to move to Los Angeles. What prompted that? I had dropped out of high-school right before graduation, so nobody was going to let me go to college anyway. So I said "I think I'm going to move to California" and everybody thought that was pretty crazy, but I rented a U-Haul and went. I wasn't singing, I wasn't doing anything. I thought I was going to be an A&R rep or a fashion designer. So I just went there to pursue my 'dreams,' even though I didn't know what they were. So what happened when you got to Los Angeles? I had to find something to just pay the bills, and I ended up having to be a nanny for this family with three children. So I basically played a young mother for two years, and quit that job on a whim, and ended up finding a job at the denim bar at Fred Segal. And that was the beginning of the fashion side, and I stuck to that for quite a while. When did you start playing music? At first, I wasn't even playing music in front of people, and once I started doing that and people liked it, I kind of had to psych myself up for every single step, and tell myself that it was ok to put it out there. I wouldn't call myself a musician until I signed my record deal and was getting paid. I said I was a store manager, because that's what I was getting paid to do. So would you describe your music as country? It's definitely country in it's roots. Cover- ing country songs is what motivated me to write my own songs, but it's definitely not all that I listen to, and I didn't want to get boxed in. A lot of my friends will say 'I don't like country music,' but I wanted to write the kind of songs that people who don't like country music would still listen to it. Lots of people say they don't like country. What would you suggest they listen to in order to change their minds? They always end up liking the older stuff, like Loretta Lynn, Waylon Jennings, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash. Most people say they don't like country, and what they mean is they don't like the country music that's on the radio right now in their town. You said you were into fashion. Are you a vintage lover? Oh my god. We just flew off the highway and almost had a wreck to get to a Goodwill, so I'd say I'm a pretty big vintage fan. It's hard to say if music or fashion would be my first love. I guess music, though, because if I was stranded on a beach, I wouldn't want a bunch of dresses, I'd want a radio or a guitar. Now that you're actually a musician, do you still have fashion dreams? They go hand in hand, and I love inspiring people to love what I love. And what we're doing now, we carry a vintage store with us on the road, called High Class Hillbilly. We just played in Denton last night, and we probably made 10 to 15 times as much selling vintage out the side of our car as we did from playing the show. It's a little bit country and little bit rock 'n' roll, and we love to buy stuff when we're traveling and encourage people to take something home with them, and not just a T-shirt with my name on it. So where are you right now? You wouldn't believe me, I'm in a thrift store right now, misbehaving... We're in Greenville Texas, in between Dallas and home, which is Nashville. So just hitting 'Thrift' on the Google button every 15 minutes, and seeing if there's anything we might be leaving behind. Listen to Nikki's EP, Gone Gone Gone, on Music Mondays
(PUR) Project Urban Renewal is a handpicked collection of vintage apparel and accessories from our favorite collectors! Each garment is chosen for its unique style, quality and wear ability. Select vintage collections are available at Urban Outfitters Space 15Twenty. |
