Niko Moon has had plenty of success as a songwriter writing for the likes of Zac Brown Band and Dierks Bentley but now he’s ready to step into the artist spotlight.
Fresh from his number one Platinum single ‘Good Time’, Moon is releasing the album of the same name on Friday (27th August). Full of positive vibes and set to be the soundtrack of the summer, the album aims to provide an escape from the pandemic that has plagued the world the past 18 months.
I caught up with Niko recently to talk about ‘Good Time’, find out about his positive outlook and to discuss writing for other artists…
Your album ‘Good Time’ comes out this week. How are you feeling now it’s nearly here?
Man, I’m so excited. I’ve been working on this for years. And it’s been such a labor of love. I cannot wait for everybody to check it out and see what everybody thinks about it.
With the title track going to number one and being certified Platinum, it feels like you’re in a good position to capitalise on that with this record…
Yeah, I hope so. You always hope that your music’s well received, but the ‘Good Time’ was received better than my wildest dreams. Fingers crossed they like the album too.
That song hit at the exact right moment and people have looked to songs like yours to escape the misery of the pandemic. You’ve said with this album that you want to put good vibes out into the world so tell me a little bit more about putting it together?
I tried to make a vacation for everybody, like an hour long audible vacation that you can go on (laughs). I made the record with one of my best friends, his name’s Josh Murray, and my wife. We wrote all the songs on the album together. Bob Marley is a big influence on me as far as the mentality of his music. You just feel good when you listen to him and I want to do that in the Country space; make glass half full, feel good. Country music. This album in particular, I wanted it to be that way front to back whether you want to feel good or if you’re just hanging out with friends, and you want to keep the good times rolling. You can put it on front to back and it’s just good time vibes.
The album is definitely a summer soundtrack and I keep seeing people commenting online about how much your music just makes them smile. It must feel good to know you’re hitting the mark?
Yeah, it’s the best feeling in the world. I love people and I love connecting with people. That’s why I really wanted to go from being a full-time songwriter to being an artist so I could do that more. I’m little bit by little bit finding my people that connect with my music. It’s great. It feels like a musical family.
I’m also absolutely loving the video for ‘No Sad Songs’. It looks like you had a whale of a time making that. Where did you come up with the concept?
Yeah, it was so much fun. Me and my wife came up with the idea. We told our director the idea and he loved it. We just started envisioning it and putting it together and I’m really happy with the way it came out. A little side funny note from that video is the big biker guy, who’s like seven foot tall, he’s really shorter than me. We put him on apple boxes so he would look taller than he was because I wanted him to look intimidating.
What was the hardest thing when putting this album together?
Since this is my first album, it was a lot of trial and error as to what I wanted my sound to be. I had it in my mind and what I knew was me and very reflective of who I am and how I grew up, but taking that from your mind into reality it can be a trial and error process. It was a lot of throwing paint on the wall and then scraping half of it off. At a certain point it clicked and I was like, ‘ah, that’s it. That’s my sound’. Once I figured that out, which was probably about halfway through the record, I went back to those previous songs and it was much easier putting a song together once I got my sound figured production wise.
You’ve written songs for lots of other artists. How do you know when a song is for someone else rather than for you?
When I start I have it in mind if it’s for me or for someone else. When I write for another artist I go ahead and have that in my mind right from the beginning because everybody sings different. They’ve all got their own little things that they do vocally, so when I write a song for someone else I do my best to keep that in mind on how they would sing it, not how I would sing it. When I write for myself, I just do me.
Some of the songs I’ve seen your name on, I just wouldn’t have guessed was you, which is credit to your versatility. When did you first know that you could write songs and what influences have you had?
I grew up in a really musical household. Both my parents were songwriters and I’ve always loved music. I didn’t write a song myself till I was 15. Pretty much as soon as I learned my first three chords on the guitar, I was never interested in shredding a solo on a guitar, but as soon as I could make a chord happen I was really fascinated with how to write a good song. The first 1,000 were really bad and I hope no one ever hears any of them (laughs). You just work at it and work at, and little bit by little bit, you get better at it.
Do you have a favourite song that you’ve written for someone else?
Yeah. I think out of all the songs that I’ve written for other artists, it’s a deep cut by the Zac Brown Band called ‘Day That I Die’. It’s a duet between Zac Brown Band and Amos Lee. That’s probably my favorite one because I let a little bit of me sneak into that one. The chorus lyric says, ‘on the day that I die, I want to say that I was a man that really loved and never compromised. And when I’ve lived out my days until the very end, I hope they find me in my home with a guitar in my hand’. That is definitely my little heart (laughs).
You recently had a number one with Dierks Bentley’s ‘Gone’. Now you’ve had a few number ones under your belt, is it still a thrill when a song you’ve written tops the charts?
Heck yeah man, it’s a blast! The fact that, that people connect to my music, whether it’s another artist singing it or I’m singing it, is an amazing feeling every single time. We’re insecure creatures, songwriters, and I’m always worried if that was that the last song I’m ever gonna write for somebody. I think that after every good song. When one is successful, I’m like, ‘phew, still got it!’ (laughs)
Does having number ones put more pressure on you or do you not really think about it when you’re writing?
I try not to think about it too much because it makes this work when you think like that, and I’ve never viewed this really as work. I mean, it is a lot of hard work to make music and a lot of time invested but it’s a labor of love and I want to keep it that way. I just try my best to focus on the music and focus on the fans and whatever’s going to happen as far as numbers and chart positions or sales, I just let that fall where falls.
Are you planning to tour this record in the UK when that’s possible again?
Yeah, man. Absolutely. I can’t wait. I’m constantly asking my booking agent when I can get over there and they’re working on it. The UK is a place that’s really close to my heart. I got married in Scotland actually so I love coming over to the UK and I’m really excited to play this music over there. Fingers crossed it’s sooner than later.
Niko Moon’s album ‘Good Time’ is released on Friday 27th August 2020. Watch the video for the title track below:
