Thomas Ian Nicholas has been writing, performing and recording his own music for the past 16 years. As the lead singer in TNB (Thomas Nicholas Band), Thomas has been honing his craft and has so far released two studio albums.
In the UK heās probably best-known for playing Kevin in theĀ American PieĀ series and is set to return to the big screen soon in the seriesā fourth theatrical outingĀ American Pie: Reunion.
Recently he released theĀ TNB EPĀ and whilst in the UK promoting American: Pie Reunion, Thomas has been playing a couple of live shows.
We caught up with him backstage at The Garage just minutes after his first ever live London show. In our interview Thomas talks about his music,Ā American Pie: ReunionĀ and his hopes for the future.
How are you?
Iām good. I was pretty nervous before my London debut, especially with so many people here, but now I feel pretty good. I think it went pretty well.
You hid the nerves very wellā¦
Well yeah, thatās what a double shot of Bourbon will do for you.
This was your first show in London. Why has it taken you so long to come over here?
Iāve toured pretty close. Iāve played in Denmark and Iāve toyed with the idea of catching a flight over but it never really evened itself out ā the cost of the flight versus what I would get at a show. Not many people know about my music yet so thatās why.
After the reception you got tonight do you think youāll come back again?
I would love to come back. In fact Iāve spoken to several people ā the promoter and the other acts ā and weāve talked about the next time so itās a good feeling.
Next time maybe youāll be headlining?
I think Iāve got a way to go before I headline my first show in London but it could happen at any time. Maybe after the songās been on theĀ American Pie: ReunionĀ soundtrack that will elevate the knowledge of my music and Iāll be able to do that. I never try to put the carriage before the horse, or so to speak.
Weāre sure you could do it. Thereās plenty of venues in London of various sizesā¦
Sure. I think the goal for me right now is to have the privilege of opening up for established artists like Jay Brannan tonight allowing me to come on the bill. The line out of the venue wasā¦.(laughs) There were some people that had tweeted me to say they were coming early to see me but that was very gracious of him to put me on the show.
We were reading that youāve actually been involved in music for the last 16 years. Is it something you did along with your acting to test the waters and see how it went?
It takes a long time to get the word out. For the last 16 years I was certainly not putting as much attention on it as I was in the last 5 years. I sort of donāt count the first three albums that I recorded ā no one will ever get those. Basically I scrapped those ā no one will ever hear them except for the people that did at the time ā but when I wrote Without Warning it was the first time that I was really satisfied with where Iād come as a songwriter and I worked with some amazing people on that record. That was when I really got behind it.
I thought I was going to shop it around and get a record deal. I had stars in my eyes I think. The album was co-produced and engineered by Brian Virtue, who worked with Bob Ezrin, Bruce Kulick played lead and Chris Chaney from Janeās Addiction played bass and I thought āthis is it, Iām going to show it to a record company and theyāre gonna sign me in a heartbeat.ā That didnāt happen so I started getting out on the road and working it myself and now Iām kind of like a five year, 3 album DIY kid.
Your EP āTNBā is out now. Tell us about that.
The new EP was produced by Damien Starkey who played bass for Puddle Of Mudd for a little bit. He and I really achieved the closest to the sound I wanted to get. Iām a big Foo Fighters fan so I wanted that heavy edge but still that hooky melody. This is the closest Iāve gotten to that.
Your voice is a lot rockier than we expected live. You were singing away from the mic and we could still hear you crystal clear. How do you get that power?
Well thank you. I donāt know. I think it just comes from every ounce of me and thatās whatās on the stage. You know how they say a cat moves with all of its body? Thatās how I sing with all of my body, my soul, my brain and my heart.
Itās hard to fill a stage with just an acoustic guitar but you did thatā¦
Itās the energy. Iām a big fan of Gibson Guitars and Iāve been working with them for those 5 years as well, just cos they have the fullest sound and all-round tone. Thatās works well for a lone guitar. Playing tonight I got to borrow a Hummingbird which is the only guitar I donāt own in my collection and now of course I need to figure out how Iām going to get one of those.
I usually play with a J-45 which is a little bit of a smaller body but it still has a nice beefy tone. Itās also the pick-ups. You just sort of plug it in and the sound guys are like āoh you knowā and youāre like āno thatās it, youāre getting the full soundā. Thereās no EQ or control volume ā you just plug it in and you get what you get and it sounds great.
Canāt you sneak it home with you?
This one? Oh no (laughs) I wouldnāt do that to Gibson.
Go on you could say it got lost at the venueā¦
No! They just put me on a 3 and a half week tour in the States on the Gibson Guitar tour bus. They do a lot of things for me and I wouldnāt even dare think about stealing from them.
Not yetā¦.
(laughs) Not yet!!
You never know whatās going to happen do you?
(laughs)
Tell us about the āAmerican Pie: Reunionā soundtrack. Your track āMy Generationā is on there. How did that come about?
That came about from the live show. Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, the writer/directors of the movie, knew about my music and they liked it. We talked about it in our first meeting when we talked about the characters but that was pretty much it. They were like āwe saw your music videos and they were really cool.ā
At the end of filming we did the wrap party, which Iāve never played a wrap party in 25 years of acting and 16 of those playing music, but I thought Iād have a good time and play a set for the crew. I thought it would be fun, something late when everyoneās had a few. After my hour set I went to the bar to get a drink and they came up to me and said āwe have to put a song of yours on the soundtrackā. I won them over with the live show.
That must have been a good feeling because by the sound of it you werenāt that confidentā¦
I knew people would have a good time but I certainly had no intentions like āhereās my reason for playing the wrap partyā. I didnāt play it so I could get the song in the film. Look, I had tried to get a song on the soundtrack of everyAmerican PieĀ movie and it didnāt work out. Itās certainly not something that came about just because I was in the film. I just did it for fun and when they said that I was like āoh wow, cool! I should play more showsā.
What was it like revisiting āAmerican Pieā because itās been quite a while since the last film?
Yeah itās been 8 years since the thirdĀ American Pie. It was crazy. Weāve seen each other one-on-one but this is the first time that we all came together at the same time. Itās like reuniting with old friends and I think it was more of a reunion for us than it was for the characters. Weāre portraying this reunion but really it was our own reunion.
Did it feel like a big party all being back together again?
We have a lot of fun making these movies. I think somehow that fun and that energy translates onto the screen. Itās work ā we have to get up early and be on all day and itād been fun hanging out ā but then weād party on the weekends. This is the first one we shot on location. Usually we shoot in L.A. and you go home and spend the weekend with family and friends. It was a good time.
Did you take time out before filming to reconnect with each other and catch up?
No, the first time we saw everyone was at the table reading and Iāve come to find out that everyone didnāt know what to expect in terms of how everyone had changed or matured or was maybe different, or what their attitude was like. Literally it was like walking into a timewarp. We were right back where we started and I think we all realised that the chemistry is intangible when weāre all in the same place.
Whatās the future looking like for you? Are you going to try and balance acting and music?
Iām going to try and balance everything together. Iāve done it now for the past 4, almost 5 years, Iāve somehow managed to play 350 shows, record three albums, shoot a dozen independent films and somehow my wife is still married to me and we made a baby so I plan on doing it all (laughs).
Well your next goal needs to be a headline gig here in London.
(laughs) alright. Iāll make sure it happens and make it’s my goal too.
Thomas Nicholas Bandās new EP ‘TNB’ is out now.
āAmerican Pie: Reunionā is released on Wednesday 2nd May and the soundtrack featuring āMy Generationā is released on Monday April 30th.