Singer-Songwriter nic on Reinvention - Takeout and Talk Ep 5
Singer-songwriter nic has blown my mind. She says that, in her opinion, the best sushi outside of Japan is in her native country of Peru, which has been heavily influenced by Japanese culture and tradition for several decades now. In honor of this, nic has ordered a Nikkei sushi plate for our initial meeting today, Nikkei being the word used to describe the fusion of these two distinct cuisines.
Though she now lives in Miami, nic is back home in Peru for the holidays and her birthday, admitting to me that she definitely identifies with her Capricorn Zodiac sign. In keeping with some of the characteristics typically assigned to Capricorns, she describes herself as a workaholic who can oftentimes be very direct with her communication style. It’s something I’m personally used to as someone who’s engaged to a textbook Capricorn.
Despite her tendency to lean heavily into work, I’m glad nic and I have a moment to breathe and chat. For my meal today, I decided to order myself the Frisco omelet from San Francisco’s Plain Jane, which comes stuffed with cheddar cheese, apple sausage and grilled vegetables. It arrives with what can only be described as a mountain of sliced avocado, which, as most of us know, is a hot commodity in the States. Together we’re both in for a huge feast.
And it’s honestly appropriate considering the amount of ground I want to cover with the Latin Grammy Award-nominated artist who is embarking on a new personal journey. After years of performing and releasing music under her birth name of Nicole Zignago, the time has come for us to all meet nic. She says she’s been thinking of this change for a while and stresses that it’s more of a personal decision than a professional one.
“More than a change of era in my music, it’s more of an identity thing for myself,” nic says. “I haven’t been resonating with my license name for a while. I think it’s attached to some memories that are not that nice for me emotionally. I had an emotional, complicated 20s and closer to my 30s, I’ve become - and I think I’m becoming - the woman that I’ve always wanted to be. And I’m very proud of that.”
Even when she wasn’t feeling fully herself, nic says she could always rely on music. She mentions being influenced by traditional Peruvian music like festejo and huayno. But she’s now crafted a place for herself in the realm of pop and alternative music. In fact, her most-recent Latin Grammy nomination was for Best Pop Song for ‘Te Quiero,’ where she competed amongst icons like Shakira.
Knowing all of this, when I ask her about the sound she’s developed over the years, she surprises me with her response.
“I hope that whatever answer I give you right now is not the same one I give you the next time we meet because I would want to always keep evolving and contradict myself because I think that’s the only way to grow and to learn new things,” she says. So for now, it’s “pop, alternative, pop-rock, nostalgic, singer-songwriter.”
As a devoted singer-songwriter, she’s certainly writing from a more secure place. Nic says she likely wouldn’t have been able to produce the new single from her forthcoming album - ‘Feliz Por Ti’ - if she was still in her 20s, noting that it would’ve come from a very sad place. Instead, she’s able to “make a funny song” about a situation involving an ex.
Nic says she’s committed to incorporating some of the themes from her first record, Escrita, into this new album scheduled for release later this year. Part of that includes her unique perspective as a queer woman of color, which she says she’s very intentional about discussing with her fans and the world.
“My music is very autobiographical, and I just tell my stories from my lived experiences,” nic says. “I’ve been in love with women before, and I’m in love with a woman right now - it’s who I am, it’s how I live life, it’s how I see life. I always want to make sure that I create a safe space for everybody.”
Nic says she’s had both LGBTQ-identified people and parents of queer fans approach her to thank her for her honesty and her music.
“I do definitely feel that I have a purpose with that and I always want to talk about it - it’s something very important to me.”
Perhaps it’s because of this blend of authenticity and vulnerability that nic has amassed a significant fanbase - she has more than half a million social media followers. And even as she’s surrounded by evidence of her widespread success, she says there’s a part of her that still feels like an emerging artist in the industry. Which is why she wants to tell her future self to stay true to her intuition and to avoid the noise around her.
“I would tell future nic to keep listening to her younger self, to the kid that dreamt of being where she is right now. Because she’s the one that’s dreaming all of those things. I’m only the one that’s creating those possibilities and making her live her dream. The nic that’s on stage - it’s not me right now, it’s literally little nic at 10-12 years old dying to be an artist. So my job is to keep making her dreams real.”
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