We recently connected with Nickolas Alu and have shared our conversation below.
Nickolas, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Risk is a fundamental part of success in entertainment or otherwise, it always will come down to the moments you chose to bet on yourself. I have a lot of stories of times I took a risk and it hurt me and I had to learn a great lesson because of it. On the flip side, I only have a few stories where I took a risk and never looked back. Here’s one of the more notable risks in my life which lead me into the journey I’m living today.
I went to vocational school for audio engineering and from there I mainly recorded and worked with solo acts like myself. One day a friend of my roommate comes over and him and I get along pretty well off rip. Music wasn’t brought up at all for months, we would actually speak on old video games and make jokes for the few minutes we ran into each other. About 6 months or so later, he mentioned being in a metal band, showed me a record and I remember I had asked him to hear more.
He said “Well if you want, you could sit in on one of our rehearsals later in the week?” The next thing I know I’m sitting there listening to them play one dope song after another, blown away by all of it but one particular record caught me. When they we’re done I threw them an idea that might make for a cool video. (Bare in mind, at this time I had not done a band music video yet, only solo acts with limited equipment) The artist who I had gotten to know over the last few months tells me that they’re recording with an engineer and once those records are done, they’ll get the files and we could talk about a video.
A year later, I got a message from that same artist asking me to give the finals a listen…. needless to say this group of talented and good hearted guys got screwed out of around 2 thousand dollars for the work they couldn’t release or use. This stuff still sounded like raw recordings after a year of waiting, somehow this incredibly talented group sounded terrible. I thought about each record, made a paragraph of feedback for each and sent it over to the artist, assuming he would give it to the engineer. Then a curveball, he asked if I could see what I could do with the files myself if he could get the stems. Never having mixed a band before other than in vocational, I felt I could do it but it would be risky after they just lost money, I did NOT want to be mistake #2 for them so I said let me see the files, if it’s possible we’ll work something out that doesn’t hurt you guys worse.
I came up with a rate to re-mix/re-master all of the records and lined up a video included all before that March. They we’re happy with the price and over the next few months slowly but surely everything came together, except for the video. The original idea couldn’t work anymore because of casting so with just a month or so left before the deadline we pivoted to a new song. This decision would end up changing the next few years for them and me significantly. With this new song chosen we needed a production space, not easily obtainable in this area. I knew of one in Manalapan I had worked at so I assumed we’d end up there.
Then the drummer for the band suggested a new spot that was only a town away from me. I couldn’t believe it this is an area I had been working the scene out of for years, I never heard of this place and it’s located right around where I used to live. We check it out despite having some sketchy feelings knowing the area and it turned out it was great. really great. The owners we’re respectable and the space was filled with gear that blew Manalapan’s spot out of consideration. We shot the video there and what happened next was wild.
As we’re packing up our stuff and leaving, I thought I over heard the artist mention the place was hiring. I reached out, found out they actually weren’t but managed to get an interview anyway somehow. Within 20 mins of our first interview, I learn this is not just a production space but a management company for cover bands. They would be hiring me not only to help with in-shop productions but also put me on the road working for any band they signed. To make 2/3 years of work short, this would be the best company I ever worked for and arguably will ever work for in the live scene. After a year or so with them they rented a bigger location and that one in the town I grew up in was in the past quickly. The boss and I became close and throughout the years he taught me so much. Helped me expand my business & artistry, put on shows, facilitate gear and help elevate all of the solo/group acts I would come to work with over that time.
As for the lead vocalist of the metal band, we actually became partners in live entertainment. To this day, him and I have organized and executed multiple successful live events and are planning on much more to come. The metal band went on to spread content like wildfire and play shows all over NJ, PA & more! Even managing to be secured by the prudential center twice off the content we created together.
Moral of this story is that risk I took despite the doubt & anxiety having me worried about failure, lead to all of us growing so much further & faster than we could have guessed then. Even though the odds we’re against not only me but the band, we still managed to thrive on the other side of all of those risks, to that I say, God is good. :)
Nickolas, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I got into the “industry” when I was very young. I started writing from a therapeutic place when I was about 7 years old. I was 9 or 10 when I started vocalizing what I was writing sort of teaching myself performance alone in my room. However when I was 15 I made the decision internally to live for music and entertainment, my release would be my profession was the thought. Years of writing & performing lead to recording and after a few bad experiences I went into audio engineering myself, later providing that service to the artists around me. After one particularly bad scam and a negative run in with an A&R in 2012, I decided the only way to truly win at this game of music business is with an actual team. Over ten years I would meet and cycle through lots of people until I found the right like minded people to call a family. From there the services I would see others neglect passion in, would multiply our passion rapidly; recording studio, music videos, short films, editing, graphic design, website design, merchandise assistance, consultation, live events, rental equipment, storyboarding & production scheduling.
What tends to set us apart from others in these similar creative spaces is the attention to artist + song detail, rigorous pre-production & planning & customer satisfaction consistency. Many people can shoot a video but not many spend a large amount of time making sure the video will elevate the foundation already created by the song or artist with pre-written scripts & budget. Many people can record and mix but the main difference I hear from artists is the passion and attention paid to them with us. It’s actually quite amazing how many people are making a living providing these services and passion, attention & quality of product is not always guaranteed.
I believe I am most proud of what we’ve accomplished only being under LLC for 4 years. In that time we have taken on and executed everything from larger than life ideas to the smaller more artistic ideas with immense joy and professionalism. Lastly we are very close with the artist we work with, it’s business yes but mutual respect, common sense and love will always come before a dollar.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I think non-creatives/non-business owners will struggle to understand how much money is spent and not made back in the beginning of those pursuits. It’s you and an idea, that’s it at first, you can’t forget that. Most people will not support something unless they’re familiar with it. Business is all about spending money in advertising so people will start to become familiar with you, that can take time. After that step through the mercy and grace of God you’ll be able to build your palace brick by brick, learn everything the hard way, lose money, lose friends, lose opportunities , all while sustaining an income & positive attitude to keep the business a float even when nothing is coming in. From monthly expenses, to quarterly filings, bad deals, big business or even being a start up rapper, there’s a lot more lost than made, most people quit before they get it back so if you’re still in business today but struggling, just remember it’s the process, keep pushing, keep learning and you will grow.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
What society can do to help create a thriving creative ecosystem is simply stop finding competition locally and instead find friends. Stop trying to knock down someone with something you want and instead learn from them on how you can get it without resentment and jealousy. We are all out here doing the same thing in life, trying to better our lives. Truthfully community can move mountains, individuals can move pebbles. Find ways to grow together instead of comparing growth! A message that can be applied to artist as well as people with nothing to do with art at all, further proving how similar we all really are.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.nleofficial.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nublifeentertainment/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NickNubz
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ nickolas-alu-8b120a167
- Twitter: https://x.com/nicknubzz
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NublifeEnt
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/nicknubz
- Other: https://linktr.ee/NublifeEntertainmentLLC?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=3f0fdcf2-0e39-431b-b234-db437936e85d
