interview by cassie hicks

The music of Sunbeam Sound Machine music gives me a very ethereal vibe when I listen to it and always just puts me in the best mood. The song Fever Dream has been a huge inspiration in my artistic journey and I would put it in the hall of fame for most influential songs in my life. I believe music is a huge part of a lot of people’s lives and there's a sense of self expression attached with music. I’ve never been very gifted in the musical department, but I still have the ability to enjoy songs and recognize when they scratch that itch. Your music is what I want my art and style to be in music form. Fever Dream is exactly what I would put as a soundtrack to everything we create at FDM (and the name fits right in).

Hi! My name is Nick, and I make music under the name Sunbeam Sound Machine.

Cassie: To me, your music is more than perfect and is absolutely a dream. Our perception of others could be completely different than what they think of themselves, so how do you feel about your music right now? Do you feel like anything is missing or do you feel fulfilled how you are?

Nick: That’s too kind of you. I think there’s a balance to find between being happy with what you’ve done so far and wanting more. I can say I’m happy with (most of) what I’ve put out so far, but I also have a lot of different musical itches I’d like to scratch and new things to discover. Sometimes listening to past releases I can hear how my tastes and abilities have developed since then, which can sometimes make me cringe a bit, but that’s a really important part of the process, because it lets me know that something new is developing. I don’t get hung up on musical choices I made in the past just because I wouldn’t make them now, because I know that whatever I did at that time was what I needed to do then. 

In the music industry, there’s a sort of power that comes with realizing you’re capable of creating and changing the spaces around you. In what ways do you hope to change the space you inhabit?

I don’t really think of changing physical spaces with my music. I guess ideally I think of it having more of an emotional effect, capturing some sort of mood or feeling. It’s not something that I try to really consciously think of while I'm making music though, I just try to make sure it has some sort of effect on me and hope that comes across to whoever is listening.

“Sound” is such an abstract concept, especially in the music that has been shaping this year’s emergence of hyper-pop and “noise music.” How do you interact with those boundaries between music and just noise?

I think there’s a certain blend between the two that happens as I make music. The songwriting element is where I think of things in musical terms like structure and melody and rhythm, and then the production side of things is when I’m just trying to shape noise in a pleasing way. I’m always trying to do things on a subconscious level though, I try not to think too much about what I'm doing as I do it and follow my instincts wherever they take me.

How would you say that that boundary has affected the music you create? What does your process look and feel like?

I try not to stick too rigidly to any one process. Usually each record has a process that i follow, then either as a reaction or out of boredom I find myself wanting to approach things from a different angle for the next one. I try to find a balance between comfort and discomfort, where I’m playing to my strengths but also trying new things and not just rehashing the same sounds and themes.  

If you aren’t where you want to be yet, what do you want to be doing? What do your dreams and goals look like? What do you hope for your future?

Any dreams and goals I have are mainly to do with future albums I’d like to make or sounds and approaches I’d like to try out. I just hope to keep doing interesting things and feeling creatively fulfilled and sharing what I do with people, which i feel really lucky to be able to do. I can’t think of a goal that will make me go ‘NOW I’ve really made it’, and in many ways I hope not to get to that point, because my favourite part of what I do is feeling that itch for something new and starting the search for it. I think rigidly setting goals goes against that, although maybe a gold mansion would be nice.  

What is your favorite part about working on a song? Production? Songwriting?

I don’t really separate the two with the way I work. I’m working on production as I write the song and producing the song as I write it. Finishing a song and being really happy listening to it and able to enjoy it is a great feeling, but probably the best bit is the other side of that process, when I’m first demo-ing something and thinking ‘this is the best thing i’ve ever made’, even though it’s always followed by the next day when I listen back and think ‘ok, maybe not.’