Jemma Nicole
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Jemma Nicole

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“I’ve actually been performing non-stop for the past couple of years,” she says. “I’m slowing down a little in the lead up to my album preview show at the Wesley Anne on Saturday September 12. It’ll be the first time the album will be recreated in its entirety. Soon thereafter I’ll be heading north for a few coastal dates and festivals.”

Strangely, despite the hard work she’s put into her music career, Nicole’s origins are in a very different realm. “I actually used to be a hair transplant technician,” she says. “I grew up in the cosmetic medical world with my dad being a cosmetic surgeon. I was caught way too many times printing out lyrics and writing songs during work time, so my dad sat me down one day and asked me what I really wanted. It was then that I decided to give music a go. I started writing songs and performing at age 23 and released my first EP at age 25, so I guess I was a late starter. That EP now feels like forever ago, and although it helped me to get where I am now, that chapter is over. It’s onward and upward.”

One of the more surprising contributors to Nicole’s forthcoming album is drummer Jorma Vik of LA punk band The Bronx. Nicole’s music typically features gentle, stripped back guitar work, but Vik’s presence hints at the wider sonic ambition behind My Darkest Hour.

“My new album is a lot heavier and darker and less mainstream country,” she says. “I remember seeing Jorma play in Mariachi El Bronx on their last Australian tour and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing to have him on one of my songs?’. I have a gothic/mariachi style song on my album that my boyfriend later sent to Jorma without telling me. It was a lovely surprise when he agreed to do it and said he liked the song. He did a perfect job and has been so lovely to deal with.

“I also co-wrote one of the songs on my album with my friend Lachlan Bryan [Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes]. I had a half written song and needed some help with it and Lachlan kept popping into my mind as the right person for the song, so I asked him. We drank a truckload of red wine and got it finished within a couple of nights and it’s actually one of the best songs on the album.”

Finding these collaborators has helped Nicole to create the kind of album she wanted to. Rather than waiting for everything to land in her lap, she has a proactive method for getting the collaborators on board.

“I just simply ask people. You never get, unless you ask. I didn’t actually meet Jorma – he recorded his part in LA in his bandmate Joby [Ford]’s studio. I really love the idea of blending genres and using musicians from different backgrounds. This is how you create new sounds and sub genres and this has helped me bring my ideas to life. I am so happy that I stuck to my guns and didn’t listen to people who doubted my sound. I got exactly what I wanted with my end result. I cannot wait to release this album, I’m so proud of this.” 

BY THOMAS BRAND