“Vivid is a shapeshifter and a hip shaker with a mind moving in multi-colored frames per second” (Flaunt)
“Spinning around 1970s disco and funk, and set around Vivid’s panache of falsetto, No More Secrets treks through trance pulses of ‘We Can Ride’ and mellower moves of ‘Blackmail’ and ‘The Sky is Falling.’ First single ‘Hush Money (Straight to the Bribe),’ explores one’s choices–for all the right and wrong reasons.”
– American Songwriter“No More Secrets opens a door to escape the norm, incessant worries, and go someplace new from the first single ‘Hush Money (Straight to Bribe)’ addressing bullshit vs. honest, the empowering ‘We Can Ride,’ reflections of the pandemic and self-sabotage on ‘I Wanna Reign Again’ and ‘Ain’t Enough,’ and starting over with a cleaner palette on ‘Blank Slate.’ – Flaunt“Nick Vivid might just be New York City’s most exciting and experimental underground artist, mixing exploratory, acid-rock wildness with gut-punch dance and electronic sounds.” – Guitar World“One of today’s most unique, contemporary artists” – Performer Magazine
NYC Indie Electronic/Psychedelic Artist NICK VIVID Releases Lo-fi Art-Funk Album No More Secrets
Album Release Show Tomorrow (Nov 13) at the
Brooklyn barALL NIGHT SKATE
NOVEMBER12,2021(NewYork,NY)—“Both of my parents passed away since the release of my last album and I was able to look at my relationships with them more objectively,” says NYC solo artist and electrifying performer NickVivid about his new album No More Secrets out today via MegaPlatinumRecords. “The family secrets didn’t need to be hidden anymore. There weren’t any super dark ones in my case, but I allowed myself to see my relationship with my parents more honestly than I did when they were alive.” For him, there was a freedom in making this album and speaking openly about who he is and where he comes from. Plus, he started working on the album in February 2020 and soon faced the added sense of powerlessness that the pandemic brought on, which was something all humanity could relate to. It created a person with nothing to lose. “There was a lot of soul searching all around. I put those things into the music,” he says. “The [phrase] ‘No More Secrets’ said what the album was about for me.”
NoMoreSecrets arrives hot on the heels of Vivid’s newest single, the ooey gooey psychedelic track “I Wanna Reign Again” about how he, like most people after all the Covid lockdowns and restrictions, just wants to “get back out there and live again.” The album’s previous singles “Trainers” (about second chances and starting anew when something isn’t working out the way you want it to) and “Hush Money (Straight to the Bribe)” (about the choice of being a “bullshitter” vs. being an “honest person”) hone in on a main theme on the album of owning one’s choices as to who we are and what we’re about and how personal limits can be shattered the moment we decide to shatter them.
Elsewhere on the album, there’s a hypnotic electro-psych tune about “allowing life to happen” instead of complaining about it on social media (“We Can Ride”), a lo-fi synth tune about empty threats (“Blackmail”), a menacing, downbeat electro track about open honesty (“No More Secrets”), and a swirling indie-electro song with hints of ’80s video game soundscapes about subconscious self-sabotage (“Ain’t Enough”). There’s also a cathartic groovy lo-fitune written about the effects he experienced with his mother’s death (“The Sky is Falling”). Closing out the album is a funky indie track (“Blank Slate“) that brings thereassuring, optimistictheme back into focus, “’Maybe we didn’t screw up too badly here… Things just might turn out ok.'” He adds that this fourth album has as much to do with him as it does with the loss of his parents, “the complicated relationships with them and the strange mix of values they each passed down.”
Praise From The Press:
“…..the wider context for the music engages with some big-picture questions and thoughts about life. Does it ever really work to take short cuts? Aren’t we all tempted to buy into the ‘Hush Money’ that allows negative forces to prevail all too easily in the world? Nick Vivid’s questioning tone and approachable music evades easy answers. After all, that would be a short cut, too.” – WildFire Music
“It wouldn’t do Vivid any justice to describe his sound with only one or two words because it is eclectic as it is eccentric, and it is nostalgic as it is modern. This is a sound that makes you feel, and most likely moves your body as well.” – Glamglare
“New York’s indie electronic multi-instrumentalist artist Nick Vivid is all about that sweet, sweet funk, deliverance and worship, enthusiasm on tap. Vivid by name, Vivid by nature.” – So Sally Plays
“[‘Trainers’ is] a fun feel-good anthem that would fit perfectly on your weekend playlist while making you feel like you’re back at the roller rinks or arcades of your childhood.” – TREMG Magazine
“Vivid was exposed to the top shelf of 20th-century rock and soul from a tender age. Now residing in New York City, Vivid reflects these influences through the warm filter of a ‘70s cosmopolitan rockstar.” – Music Fiends
“Nick Vivid has it going on! He’s a rock star in the best sense of the word, as well as a sonic wizard, dreamer, and fearless innovator.” – Medium
“We don’t know Nick, but his output is funky, fun and flamboyant. He’ll be a welcome addition to your playlists.” – News Whistle
“Nick Vivid is a true testament to New York City’s culture, talent, and ever-changing mood.” – Earmilk
Vivid states that the sounds of this fourth album features even more “analog goodness” and “champions that dirty DIY vibe” than his last album (2019’s Blissed Out). “I built a new studio in my apartment in Queens right after the 2019 tour for my last album and I mixed the whole thing to tape through a 1980s recording console that I modded.” He adds that he spent a lot of time with his mastering engineer (Dan Millice at Dan Millice Mastering) to get it “just right.” “It’s important to me to never lose that spirit I had when I was 16 making my first records. I want it to be on point, but never too professional. I need some danger and rough edges in my music and performances. I want to be well-rehearsed, but I need the potential for things to go off the rails at any moment. My art thrives in that tension.”
Not beholden to any trends, Vivid states, “I think I’ve found a way to fuse everything I love about ‘60s psychedelic funk, ‘70s glam rock, ‘80s new wave, and ‘90s hip hop into my own voice.” Flaunt declares he’s a “Shapeshifter and a hip shaker with a mind moving in multi-colored frames per second” while Glamglare lauds the album is, “Beautifully groovy blues-inspired disco-pop indie-rock.”
Nick was raised in Buffalo, NY and was introduced to soul and blues music by a radio DJ father and a glam rock-loving mother whose musical tastes shaped his musical output. He eventually moved to NYC to work with Bill Aucoin (original manager of KISS and Billy Idol) and had released three solo albums prior to No More Secrets (April 2016’s WatchItFly, October 2017’s Nicksploitation, and May 2019’s BlissedOut). While Vivid is a front man/solo musician/song and dance man, he is also a multi-instrumentalist (guitar,bass, drums,keys) as well as engineer and producer – an all-encompassing artist.
No More Secrets by NickVivid is available on all DSP’s today (November12)viaMegaPlatinumRecords.Listen here. The No More Secrets record release party will take place tomorrow (Saturday, November 13th) at All Night Skate in Brooklyn, NY.
