Nick Kizirnis is a folk and soul-inspired singer-songwriter from Dayton, Ohio. In a recent conversation with the artist, he explained that his 2020 solo LP effort The Distance grew out of the desire to push his songwriting skills in new directions. To do so, he had to open himself up to the idea of having other musicians play his songs.
The artist reports that he reached a roadblock writing the album when he realized that his singing voice wasn’t quite what he was looking for. At that point, he turned to vocalist and cello player Kate Wakefield of Lung. Amazed by her abilities to breathe new life into his efforts, Kizirnis decided to enlist other musician friends to help him record the album, including the Austin-based drummer Mark Patterson (Son Volt), engineer/musician Patrick Himes of Reel Love Recording Studios in Dayton, and the guitarists Tod Weidner and “Crazy Joe” Tritschler.
This week Nick also has a new animated video for the album’s title track. Created by Katie Marks, Kizirnis reports he was thrilled by the result. He explains: “That’s what’s so exciting about working with another artist. You become open to possibilities and get to see another point of view to your creation.” Live Eye Tv recently corresponded with the musician to discuss his album and new video. Below you will find a transcript of the conversation and the Bandcamp embed for The Distance and YouTube video for the title track.
LETV: Your record ‘The Distance’ suffered from what can probably be called “covid overshadowing”, is there anything you regret about the cosmic mistiming or releasing something so meaningful and heartfelt at the beginning of a world stopping pandemic?
NK: I do wonder how the album would have done at another time, but we received some great reviews, had a great release show, and I keep hearing from people that say that they enjoy the album. So I am really happy about that. For a long while last year there was no time to think about the album or music at all. I’m so fortunate to have been able to make this record, and I’m so lucky that my family is healthy. Getting through the pandemic has made me very grateful for everything.
LETV: Kate Wakefield of phenomenal underground superstars Lung is featured prominently on this record, with her beautiful vocals laid over each track. I’m very curious to know what made you decide to choose her as “lead singer” on this album if you will. Do you just play guitar and not sing yourself?
NK: Actually I do play guitar and sing, but early on while writing the songs on “The Distance” I hit a roadblock, and I realized that writing for my voice wasn’t getting me where I wanted to go. So I intentionally stopped writing for my singing voice, and then the songs really flowed. At a certain point I thought, “What would the songs sound like if my friend Kate Wakefield sang them?” Kate is an incredible singer who knows pop, rock, opera and more, so how about this sad “American Noir” music I wanted to record? How would it sound? Kate was up for it, and after the first session we knew that not only was it going to work, but we had created a really exciting sound for the record.
LETV: Speaking of your guitar playing, you have an obviously studied and experienced alt-country meets indie-twang style of playing, who were you listening to at the time of recording ‘The Distance’?
NK: A big mix. I have been listening to rockabilly, country and surf music for years, so that’s at the heart of my playing. Guitarists like Duane Eddy and Cliff Gallup as well as Bill Kirchen and Eddie Angel (Los Straitjackets). But also very modern players like Joe Santiago (Pixies), Marc Ribot (Tom Waits) and Nels Cline (Wilco). And there’s always traditional and modern players that seem to keep showing up when I least expect them.
LETV: Do you have a favorite track on the record? What inspired you to choose the title track as the video single?
NK: We chose “The Distance” because it was a good high-energy song, even at a slower tempo. And the song seemed to really lend itself to so many visual ideas. The lyrics have some very strong feelings and a narrative, but it’s not rigid. Katie Marks picked up on all of it and then brought her own perspective. Her animation really brought out other aspects of the song. Most of the songs on the album are about the end of relationships, sadness and hopelessness … Katie chose a color palette and imagery that brought out those feelings in ways I hadn’t expected. That’s what’s so exciting about working with another artist, you become open to possibilities and get to see another point of view to your creation.
I am really happy with all of the tracks on the album, but I think my favorite is “The Beginning,” which is actually the first song we recorded, and the one that captures the overall tone/mood of The Distance. That song went through a lot of changes by the time we recorded it. When I heard the playback I knew we had everything we needed to make the record, and I still have that same feeling of happiness and excitement when I hear it now … although it’s a pretty sad song.
LETV: “After You’re Gone” might be my favorite track, it has a bit of a Spanish, almost Nick Cave, mysterious feel to it. Do you feel like each song fits into certain genres, or do you think the record makes a sonic statement as a whole?
NK: Thank you so much! We have a fun video for that one too, based on the film “Carnival of Souls.” I actually think both are true – I enjoyed trying different styles and variations of traditional early rock’n’roll – there’s even a straight-up country song, a rockabilly song too. But overall I was going for what we think of as “Americana Noir,” where you can recognize the musical styles, but it’s all dark, moody and mysterious. I think that is the cohesive sonic statement.
LETV: I did want to give a shout out to the rhythm section on this record for some great grooves, and the layers of keyboards shine too (especially on tracks like ‘Someone’). Who would you like to shout out as far as album personnel, and maybe tell a story from the studio about each person?
NK: I worked with some truly amazing friends who both pushed me and then each took things to the next level when we worked on these songs. It was an honor to work with everyone, and I’m so grateful for the experience.
Mark Patterson – Mark was in town helping out his Dad and we decided to work on my new songs. We had known each other for 20 years and used to play on the same bills, but never in the same band. Mark not only played drums, but he helped arrange the songs. Mark has so much experience playing in Austin with artists like Robert Earle Keene and Billy Joe Shaver, and many others. While we are working on the album Mark joined Son Volt, so we would get together between his tours. Mark was a great coach and he really helped me improve my songwriting. Not to mention that he is a fantastic drummer that knows how to make the drums work for the development of the song.
Kate Wakefield – Kate is my favorite singer and I’m a huge fan of her songwriting and cello playing. Kate would get back in town from touring with her amazing band Lung, drive an hour to the studio, tear through several songs, adding layers of harmonies, then beautiful cello parts, and then take off to go play a gig a few hours away, leaving us with our heads spinning. Every one of the 13 songs were completely transformed by how she approached them. They all went beyond the next level and became much more than I thought they were going to be.
Patrick Himes – Patrick recorded and mixed the album at his Reel Love Recording Studios in Dayton, Ohio. Working with Patrick was really amazing because he knows instinctively how to make musicians feel at ease and play as well as they can. Patrick is an incredible guitarist and singer. He played bass on the album, as well as all of the really interesting keyboards. I had no ideas for keyboards when I came into the studio, but Patrick always seemed to know what to try, and you can hear how it turned out.
Tod Weidner – Tod played a lot of the sad and atmospheric guitar on the album. I would demo my ideas and direction and then Tod would play something much better. Tod has a fantastic band – Shrug – and is both a great songwriter and guitarist. Tod and I had played together in the past but this was the first time we really go to work on something together.
Joe Tritschler – “Crazy Joe” is a phenomenal guitar player who has backed many of the remaining rockabilly greats and has played for sometime with retro guitarist Deke Dickerson. Joe played baritone on “Am I too Blue” but also the lead guitar on “The Distance”. For both songs we put obstacles in front of him (“only use this amp” only play this way”) just to see what happened. Joe and I have played together on and off over the past few years, so it was great to get him in the studio with us.
LETV: “Take It With Me” is the “acoustic” song at the end of the record but has a more robust and earthy, worldly feel to it. What was the inspiration behind this one, especially the lyrics?
NK: “Take it with Me” is a Tom Waits song. The idea of recording one of his ballads kept coming up during the sessions. I thought that his nostalgic thoughts on what happens when we go provided a perspective that rounded out all of my sad songs. All of them are in so much pain, you know? And there at the end we’re sad to go, but there were some things that were special, that mattered to us no matter what else happened.
LETV: Is there anything else you’d like to say about the record that wasn’t stated here?
NK: “The Distance” started as a challenge to myself, to push myself as a song-writer, to record with other people, to take my hand off the wheel and let others play the songs and see what happened. Despite the timing and everything else that has happened, I am so happy I was able to make this album, and so grateful for my friends that helped me record and release it. It’s exciting that several months later we’re able to get another single and video out, and that we keep hearing from people who are coming across the record. That’s a great feeling, and I’m really thankful for that.
