We were lucky to catch up with Nicole Yuengling recently and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

When I was a kid I always had a love for music. When I was 8 years old, I came across this blonde hair girl who sang country music. I really liked her music so I became a fan. When she released her second album, I found out she also writes her songs. At that time, it wasn’t common for artists to also write their own music and I was intrigued. That artist was Taylor Swift. She wasn’t a big name when I was growing up and she just became my safe space. She once said “people haven’t always been there for me, but music always has”. Well, people haven’t always been there for me, but Taylor always has. I realized that I wanted to do for others what Taylor did for me and the best way I knew how was through music.

Nicole, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a singer/songwriter/performer. I released my first album “Undercover” in November of 2018. I have spent a lot of years experimenting with different sounds and people in the industry. After my third album “Stars Align” that I released in August of 2022, I started working with a new producer, Steve Venti who I bonded with very well. He has been really great at bringing the songs I’ve written to life in a way I haven’t before. I’ve been growing more vocally throughout the process. I was always releasing an album every two years prior to working with Steve and now I have been taking the time to focus on songs individually verses a full album. Throughout these years, I have been doing headlining shows at venues throughout New York such as Mercury Lounge, Pianos, The Bowery Electric, Arlene’s Grocery, and many others, along with performing at galas, NYFWs, and showcases. The more shows I have done, the more I have continued to grow and the long term goal besides releasing my next album, would also be to re-record vocals from my past projects.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of being an artist is bringing others together and bringing people joy. This past year I have worked extra hard on all of my shows and made each one better than the last. My most recent show was at Pianos this January for my 27th birthday and it was my best performance yet. Between the song choices, choreography, guest appearances, props, and costume changes, each moment kept everyone on their toes. The energy from the crowd was nothing like I had ever experienced before. I loved watching everyone have the best time. Life doesn’t just stop happening even on a big day like a show, but I like that I can at least make people happy through my music even if it’s just for a short moment.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I first started doing shows again post pandemic, my first show back I was really excited to do it. I had a lot of people tell me they would be attending and when it was time for the show to begin, I walked onto the stage to see a crowd of six people. I was heartbroken. I pushed through it, but you could hear in my voice that I didn’t want to be there. Around that time, I became a big fan of a band named AJR. They spent many years performing to empty venues or had people leave after their openers. When asked about this, Jack had responded “you really should play the show no matter what. The way it helped me was just imagining that there was a full crowd there. That’s all you have to do. Imagine that it’s full and play as if there was a full crowd. I feel like a lot of bands think it’s such a bummer to play for those six people, but those six people are going to tell everyone for the rest of their life ‘I got to see them when there was six people'”. Ryan chimed in by saying “for the first show we ever played there were literally six people there in a room that should fit 2,000 and we were like really bummed and like what are we gonna do right now and Steve said play to those six people like it’s 2,000 and those are going to be your biggest six fans forever and they were”. Jack followed up with “and then we went back to that place a year later and we sold out the venue”. That really stuck with me. Since then, some shows I get the most wonderful turnout and other times I get disappointed again, however I’ve learned to not let that impact my performances anymore. I give my all in each performance. As an artist you can’t rely on the crowd to bring the energy to feed back off of. You have to be able to bring that energy where the people in crowd bounces off of you and that’s what I learned to do.

I guess you can say I used to do it with a broken heart and now I do it with a healed heart.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/nicoleyuengling
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikkilove_13
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nikkilove_13
• Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nikkilove_13