Interview With Music Band Ni/Co

HI NI/CO! THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHAT WITH US! TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE BAND AND HOW LONG YOU HAVE BEEN TOGETHER FOR SOME OF OUR READERS THAT MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT THE BAND?
We’re Ni/Co! We’ve been officially a band for about 3 years now. We are a pop band now based in Los Angeles as of a year ago!

HOW DID YOU GUYS MEET AND HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT, YES, WE CAN ROCK TOGETHER?
We met a few years back when Colton messaged Dani on Facebook asking her to sing “Endless Love” with him in a performance class together. She denied him (ha!), but they ended up reconnecting a bit later at a party bonding over writing pop music in a mostly country music town. We planned to get together to write, but ended up spending 5 or 6 hours just talking about everything and anything under the sun. We knew then that we connected emotionally and creatively really well! 

@ni.co_official

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN THE MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY?
We both grew up immersed in the performing world in different ways! Colton was on NBC’s ‘The Sing-Off’ in highschool which opened his eyes to the LA and television side of entertainment super young. Dani grew up outside of Atlanta acting, dancing, and always singing – both live performance-wise and learning the inside of a recording studio. We both had the overarching theme growing up that music was going to somehow always be what we were working towards.

IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIAL THAT YOU DO TO GET INTO A CREATIVE MINDSET?
Reading first thing in the morning has been SO helpful for us lately. It’s a good chance to not look at our phones or devices and start the day, instead, by simply absorbing words. We also think walking or jogging or any kind of physical activity can literally jolt you into a creative state if you’re feeling stuck. Lastly, letting the emotions come as they do is so healthy. A lot of times we stifle things to prevent from feeling the “feel storm” that can be our emotions lately. But it’s so, so important to let them hit you and wash over you so you can write through them.

WITH ALL THIS MADNESS GOING ON WITH THE VIRUS…WHAT DO YOU THINK THE MUSIC SCENE WILL BE LIKE IN THE FUTURE…AND HOW ARE YOU PREPARED TO MAKE YOUR MUSIC HEARD IF THERE WILL NOT BE ANY CONCERTS OR FESTIVALS FOR THE YEAR OF 2020?
Wowza, this is a hard one. We talk about this a ton. We are hopeful that when the world starts settling back into a state of ‘normalcy’, entertainment will be so heavily sought after, that it’ll be an incredible surge for artists and performers everywhere! We think the industry is changing like CRAZY right now, which is really cool to see and be a part of. We think the streaming world, the social media world, and the live performance world are all going through huge shifts, but hopefully all in a way that will serve the artist AND the consumer in the end. We’ve been trying so hard to just keep our heads focused by creating positive and quality content through whatever the world throws at us!

IF YOU DIDN’T BECOME A MUSICIAN, WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING RIGHT NOW?
I don’t think either of us could imagine a life without music. If we HAD to pick, Colton would most likely still be in the industry, but on the business side instead of the creative, and Dani would be….a psychologist! (She likes brains and peoples’ feelings)

WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE BEST SONG YOU HAVE RELEASED TO DATE AND WHY?
We actually both feel like our best music is waiting patiently on our hard drive. We don’t think our best songs are released yet, but that’s something we’re very excited for.

HOW IMPORTANT IS PERSONAL BRANDING FOR YOU, AND WHAT YOU DO TO GROW YOUR PERSONAL BRAND?
Personal branding for us is just that….it’s personal. When we first started with Ni/Co, we got extremely caught up in this idea that we needed to “develop” a brand; so caught up that it was paralyzing and creatively stunting for a lot of our time. We eventually figured out the key to branding was to literally just be you – as cliche as it sounds. Since there’s two of us, we try to treat how the world sees us like we’re meeting up with old friends. At the end of the day, we’re just people and that’s what is most relatable. We grow our brand by speaking our truth, being vulnerable even when it’s uncomfortable, and allowing people to see our hearts 100% of the time.

DO ARTISTS BENEFIT FROM NETWORKING?
We both are under the mindset that networking is necessary for ANY career, but networking to us is not “networking”. We see it as building meaningful relationships. You don’t need to get to know someone just because they can do something for you. People can sniff that right out. We try to view every encounter under the pretense of “networking” as “how can we walk away from this experience as a better human and artist?”. The rest seems to always work itself out!

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR SOMEONE WANTING TO FOLLOW IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS?
The biggest advice we can give right now is to not hesitate and follow your gut. Someone told us this when we first became a band, and we honestly didn’t listen. By not following our gut, we ended up making some big mistakes and not taking risks that we regret to this day.
At the end of a day as an artist, it’s YOUR art. No one will know better how to get where you want than you. That’s not to say you shouldn’t take people’s advice – absorb wisdom wherever you can. It’s just to say you shouldn’t wait for anyone’s permission to do you.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH OUR READERS?
Please follow along with us on our socials! 
Insta: @ni.co_official Youtube: Ni/Co Website: www.nicomusicofficial.com 
We can’t wait to start releasing music we are proud of to the world! We promise it’s coming and we hope the world loves it as much as we do. Thanks so much!!!