VocaParty Interview vol. 1 : niki

I had the chance to interview this talented producer, niki. Niki is well known for his unique Lily with his VOCAROCK (Vocaloid Rock) and his recent dance songs.

Here's my favourite song from him



Previously, I've also written an article introducing niki. Please do have a read too for those who want to know him more.
http://mvp-vocaparty.blogspot.com/2012/09/producer-spotlight-niki.html

Read on for the interview!

When did you started using VOCALOID?
niki - I started using VOCALOID around the time I first uploaded my work to NicoNicoDouga. And that was 3 years ago.

Who was your first VOCALOID?
niki -Lily's demo version was the first VOCALOID I used.

How did you get to know the existence of VOCALOID?
niki - I bought a DTM magazine, and it included the demo version of Lily. At that point I wasn't very well versed about VOCALOID, but I just installed it anyway! w

Besides Lily, which Vocaloid do you have?
niki - Currently I have AVANNA, IA, Kagamine Rin and Len.

When did you start learning music?
niki - Around the age of 14, I started off with guitar, and at 17, I started MTR (Multi-Track Recording).
At that point, only about 60% of it are my own compositions. I only started to fully devote to composing songs after I started using VOCALOID.

Have you participated in a band before?
niki - Yes I was in a band! Those experience helped me a lot in composing songs.

May I know what equipment are you currently using?

niki - DAW : Cubase, Renoise
Interface : RME - Babyface
Guitar : PRS - Custom 24, Fender - Telecaster
Amp : Hughes & Kettner - Redbox 5, Line 6 - POD X3, Native Instruments - Guitar Rig 5
Bass : 4FrontBass, Native Instruments - Massive, Future Audio Workshop - Circle, Image Line - Morphine and others.
Drum : Toontrack - Superior Drummer 2.0
Monitor : Yamaha MSP5
VST Plugin : Sylenth1, Harmless, Harmor, MicroTonic, Odyssey and others.
Others : Melodyne.

Which instrument do you play?
niki - I play the guitar.

Any musicians that you admire?
niki -That will be a secret.

What made you decided to enter the Lily Utawasetemita contest?
niki - I was curious as to how far my songs can go. And that thought also got me to continue writing songs until today.

Congratulations for winning the anim.o.v.e prize from Lily Utawasetemita contest. How did you feel when they announced it?
niki - Thank you! I think I was just lucky.

His winning song, Yubi Enpitsu


niki's songs are all about rock! But you have been approaching different styles as of late. What are your favourite genres?
niki - I would have to say my favourites are EDM (Electronic Dance Music) and Rock. Basically I like the genre of the songs I wrote. I also like classical music, jazz, games BGM, I practically listen to a lot of genres.

Regarding Rock genre, I love the music from years 1990~2000. I don't really listen to the current rock songs.

Oh also, I'm not really good with "shout" (screamo), I'm mostly influenced by late 1990's PUNK music.
I like to search for old songs and listen to it, instead of finding new/recent songs to listen to.

Do you have any particular genre that you'd like to try in the near future?
niki - I would like to try the current popular EDM sounds, and Electro Rock that has a little essence of old house or disco music. I want to tryout writing songs that brings a nostalgic feeling.
I'm always thinking of writing a song using new sounds but presenting it in an old way.

Do you have plans to release an album?
niki -That will be a secret too.

Which song took you the longest time to complete?
niki - That will be SILENCE. The lyrics and the translations took quite some time. For me, its the song that has the most story to it this year.



What are your favourite works?
niki -Currently I like FACE, GLIDE and -ERROR. However my favourites change depending on my mood.

Any words for your Malaysian VOCALOID fans? ^_^
niki - I'm happy that I'm recognized outside of Japan! I will continue to work hard writing songs that will be recognized internationally. Thank you for listening to my works, and thank you for reading this interview!

niki

Links to niki's works
Mylist : http://www.nicovideo.jp/mylist/22057852
Piapro : http://piapro.jp/nobrainaff
Nico Nico Douga Community : http://com.nicovideo.jp/community/co561275

Before I end this post, I'd like to thank niki for this interview, and a shout out to Aki for helping me out. And with that, VocaParty will be bringing you more and more interviews as time goes by. Do give us your feedback in the comments section, who you want us to interview next, any questions for that particular producer, just hit it!