Niko Moon, a Texan-born Country pop, beach-vibe, chilled out singer, is the epitome of feel-good who's rarely seen without a huge smile on his face! Formerly part of Zac Brown’s side band Sir Rosevelt, Moon has been delivering nothing but sunshine-drenched vibes as a solo artist since the release of his 2020 single ‘Good Time’, which topped the US Country charts. Debut solo album ‘Good Time’ showcased Moon’s ability to write a catchy-hook and he continued to deliver the optimism and hope he’s been known for on 2024 album ‘Better Days’ and on his latest releases, ‘These Are the Days' and ‘These Are the Nights.'
He wowed the crowd at the O2 arena in London last weekend when he made his debut, in bare feet, at the C2C festival on the Saturday night. You can read our review of his set right here if you missed it the first time around. We talked to him backstage before the show.
Welcome to England, Niko, it's been a long time coming. How are you feeling about being here now?
Man, I feel great! I'm so excited and very grateful to be here.
How's was Glasgow last night?
You know, I actually got married in Scotland, in Pitlochry! It was ten years ago now, this coming May. My wife was a music artist who was signed to Decca Records outta London and so I used to come over a fair bit with her so I've been over to the UK a good bit over the years but I've never performed over here before.
How are you feeling about bringing your beach / lake vibes to a cold, English Spring day!
I'm gonna do everything I can to warm things up with the 30 minutes I've got, man! (laughing) We're all about to go on vacation together! It's been a pretty rough winter back home too so I'm looking forward to bringing some sunshine.
We got two projects from you last year in terms of ‘These Are the Days' and ‘These Are the Nights' – spilt into two separate EPs. Why did you approach that project in the way that you did?
I wanted to have two different vibes, you know. One where you are getting to the lake and the day is still young and then one for that late afternoon, sunset time.
Do you have a favourite song from across those two projects that you are especially proud of?
I think my favourite one would have to be ‘Keep A Light On.' I grew up in a very working class family, my dad was a truck driver for the whole of my life and my mom was a waitress. We didn't have a lot of materialistic things when I was growing up but we had a house full of love. There was one night I remember, during the winter, when our power got cut off and my dad had to go out into the back yard and chop some hickory wood to put on the fire.
He went into the closet and brought out a camping mattress and blew it up in the living room and he looked at me and my mom and just said, ‘You both ready to to go camping?' Now, being a dad, I see how that situation would have been extremely stressful as a parent but he hid that from me and didn't want me to feel that pressure so the fact that even though the lights went out that night, he made sure the lights were always on and I wanted to celebrate that moment in the song.
I'm also a huge fan of ‘Head Above the Water.' You've taken your chilled out vibes and extended it a little into the area of mental health now. Is that where the evolution of your writing is going?
Yeah, yeah. When I first came out with the ‘Good Time' album I just wanted to facilitate a good-time vibe. But now I want to dig in deeper about why I care so much about creating these moments and for me the why is that it's because life is short and it's up to people like me to make it as sweet as possible. Let's make positive music and positive conversation! Keeping your mental health strong is so important to life and to living well.
I've been really grateful for the therapy I've had over the years that has helped me untangle the knots in my mind and I want to pay that forward through both my music and my non-profit foundation that helps people who can't afford it to get therapy.
Is that the event you are hosting in Charleston?
It is! It's coming up in May. I can't wait – everybody from around the country, all my ‘good-timers', my fans, you know, are going to come and meet up in Charleston and we're gonna celebrate life together, it's going to be so cool. (we wrote an article about it here)
You've had a fascinating musical journey since your debut release ‘Cheap Wine,' which you released under the name Nic Cowan in 2010. How have you evolved and changed as a writer and musician since then?
Back then, I've always loved music, I was born into a musical home. Both my parents had regular day time jobs but they were both also musicians and songwriters. I've always wanted to be a musician and artist since I was a little kid. I hadn't locked in to what I wanted my music to be about or the messages that I wanted to put out there back then.
My early music was all just about wanting to write party songs and just songs in general, you know? It took me a while to find myself and find out what it was that I wanted to say and plant that tiki torch down in the sand! (laughing) For me, it was the power of positivity and the power of optimism and how it can make a difference in people's lives.
Here's a statement for you to think about given your history as a co-writer on many of the Zac Brown Band's classic songs. ‘Beautiful Drug' is their most under rated song. Discuss.
Let's go! Zac and I are similar in the way that you love all kinds of music and we don't just listen to Country music. We're Country artists but we listen to everything – he loves dance music, I love dance music. With that song we were trying to create a hybrid between those two worlds and at the time, back then, Avicii was really at his peak and I was listening to him a lot and I was using him as a muse to try and play in the Country and dance sandboxes together.
I was on the road with Zac and I remember coming up with the idea for ‘Beautiful Drug' during the day and he came on the bus right after his show had finished and we worked on it together, it was so much to write, I'm so glad you love that song.
What's your favourite Zac Brown Band song that you helped co-write?
The one that I love the most is a deep cut, ‘Day That I Die.' I'm a big fan of Amos Lee so getting him on that song was a big bucket list thing for me. The chorus says ‘on the day that I die, I wanna say that I was a man who really loved and never compromised, when I've lived out my days until the very end, I hope they find me in my home, guitar in my hand.' That is my hope – I can't think of a better way to go out than that. I share a passion for songs and writing that Zac shares, it's not just about being known or making money.
You've collaborated with a lot of artists over the years – from your wife, Anna, to Shaggy, to Zac to Michael Franti and HARDY. If you were going back to Nashville next week to get into a room with somebody you've haven't written with yet who would you choose and why?
Kenny Chesney. Absolutely. It was Jimmy Buffett for me, at first, and then Kenny came along as that artist that really carried the tiki torch for me in terms of that kind of music, that kind of message that he wants to take everybody out on vacation with his music. He's been such an inspiration for me and I see myself as following in his footsteps so to be able to write a song with him would be a dream come true. That's a bucket list thing that I am, for sure, going to make happen one day! (laughing)
You've written a lot of songs with Anna too. Why does that partnership with your lovely wife work so well, what does it bring out in you?
We're obviously so close that we are able to be comfortable, honest and natural with each other when we are writing. That's such an important thing to have because if you are not able to be as transparent as possible in the writing process it's not going to work. You won't get to the best song that you can – with each other we can very openly say ‘I'm not digging that idea or line,' whereas if you are writing with someone for the first time you might not be as able to be honest or open with them.
With parents like the two of you, is your daughter Lily growing up to be a musical genius as well?
(laughing) We'll see! You know what, I'll tell you this, she loves music with all of her heart. She is obsessed with music. Her favourite artist is Chris Stapleton so that's cool, right? She also loves Teddy Swims! She's got great taste! She can sing Stapleton's ‘Millionaire' front to back, you know?
I've got this ukulele up on the shelf in our living room and she loves for me to take it down and let her hold it. She strums on it. She's two, man! I can see she has a mind for lyrics as well so we will do everything we can to nurture that.
Find out more about Niko Moon and his music right here and let's hope he comes back for his own solo headline shows very soon!
