Headliner Mindset
The Headliner Mindset podcast explores what it truly takes to succeed as an artist in the EDM industry. Through interviews with some of the biggest DJs, artists and professionals in the game, we dig into not only the business strategies for success but also how to navigate the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of the artist journey. For more info, go to www.nikcherwink.com.
Headliner Mindset
NOSTALGIX - Building A Universe With Consistency And Purpose
Nostalgix is the definition of a multi-talented artist—producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and performer—and she’s here to share the REAL story behind her rise.
We dive deep into:
- How she went from bedroom DJ to touring globally (without even planning on becoming an artist)
- The mindset shifts that took her from just having fun to fully committing to her craft
- Why burning out every week was part of the process—and how she finally learned to manage it
- Her journey to finding community, mentorship and her team
- The truth about building your own universe as an artist
- How her fans helped support through her darkest times
Whether you’re just starting out or already on tour, this one is packed with gems about grinding, leveling up, and staying connected to your WHY.
Tune in for a powerful reminder: You can do anything you set your mind to—but you can’t skip the steps.
Follow Nostalgix here:
https://www.instagram.com/nostalgixmusic
Follow Nik Cherwink here:
https://www.instagram.com/nikcherwink
And visit my site to join the mailing list or book a free coaching call:
https://www.nikcherwink.com
Very important to not really get caught up with like the music industry and
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:of like, content this, content that, and like
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:like the deeper purpose of it. And the reason that you're doing this is because you wanna impact people.
Nik Cherwink:What's up everybody? Welcome to the Headliner Mindset Podcast. This week's episode is straight up one of the best conversations I've had in a while because we go way deeper than just talking about the business strategies for building a successful career in the music industry and really get into what it actually means to be an artist. Like, why do we all get into music in the first place? Because it moved us in some way. It inspired us, and I have no doubt in my mind that this episode is gonna get you back in touch with that inspiration. This is Nostalgics. Nostalgics, welcome to the show. I am so excited that you're here and I want to first shout you out because you are one of the very cool people that I didn't know, I didn't have a relationship with. We just started following each other on Instagram and I was like, yo. You down to hop on, no questions asked. Hell yeah. Let's do it. So thank you for, uh, just being an easy fuck yeah. And stoked to have you here.
Nostalgix:Thank you. I'm very excited to be on the show, so thank you for having me. I was actually driving around one day, like getting to the studio, and I put on your podcast, I think I was listening to the episode that you did with Ghastly, I just
Nik Cherwink:Oh, cool.
Nostalgix:so insightful and so well done. So I immediately like had to follow you after that.
Nik Cherwink:Oh, well thank you so much and yes, shout out Ghastly one of my favorite people in the music industry. Such an awesome dude. That is such a good episode. If you guys have not listened to the ghastly episode, like he was one when I started this podcast, he was one of the first people that I thought of because I knew his story and like he just has this. Really wild inspirational story. He's also a very just animated person. So that's a, that's a really fun entertaining episode. If you guys haven't listened to it, go back and check it out, but not before you finish listening to this episode.'cause this one is about to be a fucking banger. So. Let's go ahead and dive in. Uh, I would love to start off hearing about your journey as an artist, because you're doing it all. You're producing, you're singing, you're songwriting, you're rapping like you are a true artist. And so I just wanna know a little bit about your history with music. How did you get started making music in the first place?
Nostalgix:Since I was a kid, I always loved art. I was very artistic and I was just always drawn to expressing myself through art, whether it was drawing or making things or making films or whatnot. So I've always had a very creative mind and for me, I always get a lot of fulfillment from making things. That's just always been my thing. I always wanted to be in music since I was a kid. I wanted to. Be a drummer. I wanted to be in a band. I wanted to play guitar. Um,
Nik Cherwink:Hell yeah.
Nostalgix:just wanted to do it all. and when I was younger I did actually try to, you know, um, I got a drum set when I was a kid. I took guitar lessons, so, um, I definitely always tried to play around with it, but I never really felt like music was like my thing. It always kind of felt like it was. My passion, um,'cause I just didn't know how I could ever make it into my thing. You know? I always thought you're either like born with it or
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:are not, you know?
Nik Cherwink:Yeah, for sure. And so you were taking a stab at playing guitar, playing the drums, making music. Um, when did it really grab you? Like when did you really start diving into it and taking it seriously? I.
Nostalgix:when I was starting out in university, I was going for film production and at the time I'd fallen in love with dance music and I'd spent a year going to festivals, and it was just my biggest love and thing that brought me the most passion and fulfillment and. I kind of had this wild thought that I was like, you know, I kind of wanna play around with it for fun and learn how to DJ and just, you know, try to maybe do like a show just to see what it's like and then that's it. That's all I'm gonna do and I'm gonna just leave it there. I think it was like the first month of university where I got this little DJ mixer off of Craigslist and. I was in my dorm room just jumping around doing like the, the worst transitions I could possibly do, but just having a
Nik Cherwink:But, but loving it. Yeah. Just having a blast.
Nostalgix:oh my, the, the worst. The transition was the better I thought it was like at the time, just'cause I didn't know what I was doing. So I was just,
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:having so much fun, just like a little mixer blasting music and just having like a blast, honestly.
Nik Cherwink:That's such a key ingredient, having a blast, having fun. You know, I think a lot of people are kind of in the crowd and have that awesome festival experience and they're looking up at the DJ and they're like, I want to be up there. I wanna like, it's like the sites are already set so high. Like I want to be playing main stage in front of. 20,000 people and I love that. Like you kinda had a different approach. You're like, I just kind of want to fuck around and find out and like just maybe, maybe just play one show and just have a little bit of fun.
Nostalgix:Yeah, that was kind of the, the goal. I never like, I just didn't think you could do like what Martin Garrick's is doing.'cause I think at the time when I was getting into production, it didn't feel as accessible, I think. I just thought that, you know, you're either Martin Garrick's or you're not. You know, I didn't
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:like all these different levels of it and you can like work towards something. So I was just doing it for fun'cause I just thought it was really cool and I really loved dance music and my big thing was I just wanted to learn about it'cause it was just so fascinating to me. So. kind of just spent some time learning how to dj and I had this goal of just playing one show and I was like, I'm gonna just do one show and then I'm done. That's it.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:I was like, just one show, just to see what it's like and then I'm gonna, you know, you know, put this away. That's all I wanna do. And then did the show eventually after like three months of me DJing and, and learning and. It kind of just kept snowballing where one opportunity, it kept leading me to the next opportunity, then the next opportunity. And then somebody would've been in that room and they saw and they're like, Hey, we want you for this. And I just kept doing it and I kept going and I just kept getting better and better and better. And I think seeing my progress and how I was actually like really good at this thing and um, just seeing how much better I was getting just. Really fueled me. I was like, you know what, like I wanna see how good I can actually get at this. And I just kind of kept doing it for fun for maybe like a year or two until I got to perform main stage at this festival called parody. So at the time I won this
Nik Cherwink:Oh yeah,
Nostalgix:you know, do you remember that festival?
Nik Cherwink:I remember that. Was that like Seattle or something? Where was that at?
Nostalgix:Is that the Gorge Amphitheater?
Nik Cherwink:At the Gorge? Yeah. Okay. So you, you said you won a contest and you got to play main stage at Paradiso.
Nostalgix:Yeah. I got to do like the opening set at that festival,
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:there was like no one in the crowd yet. The doors were basically closed for my set, but. I was just dancing around big stage and security guards were dancing with me. And it just really made me look at it differently because by the time I walked off the stage there was maybe like 30 to 50 people that were like running down and excited to like dance to the set and see what I was doing. And just walking off that stage that day and being like. I really wanna do this for real and make music that people are about. I love dance music so much and I wanna have that song that really makes people feel something. Like when I go to a festival and I'm running around and I'm like, oh my God, this is the song. I can't wait for the artist to play this song. I wanna be able to do that for people and I want people to really feel something from what I'm creating. So from then on I just shifted my entire mindset and I was like, you know, I really wanna be a producer. I wanna make really good music. And then it made me actually wanna be an artist and not just a dj.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. Cool. I love that. it's such a cool story because I just love that you were just having fun and you weren't like super attached to this, you know? Huge dream or needing to, chase this like huge level of success.'cause that's what I see so much. And I think a lot of the people that I work with as, as an artist coach are just like, they're locked in on like, yo, I want to be the fucking biggest artist in the world. And sometimes that adds a lot of pressure. You know, it kind of can make it not fun when you're putting all this pressure on yourself. Um, but you did make that shift. You did make that shift from it being like, okay, I'm just kinda having fun and I'm DJing. But now you're starting to see some success and starting to see some potential of what actually can become, so how did your approach change once you started to shift into the artist mindset and taking it more seriously?
Nostalgix:I just started to realize how much. Goes into it and I realized, how difficult it is to learn Ableton and how difficult it is to actually like make a good song. So
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:really put my head down and work away at it. There was a point when I was learning Ableton and I was in, um, this artist development program called Cosmic Academy, where I was learning music
Nik Cherwink:Uh oh. Yeah.
Nostalgix:more about the industry. I was also working two or three jobs at the time, so I was like just basically doing nothing but working and making music.
Nik Cherwink:You're grinding. You're grinding. It almost seems like that is an inevitable rite of passage for artists, right? Just to get good. There's kind of no way around putting in the time, putting in the energy, putting in the hours. Especially most people have to work a job as well and pay the bills. So, how was Cosmic Academy? I know a lot of people, I've had clients that have done that before. I hear a lot of good things about it. What was your experience like there?
Nostalgix:Oh, they're absolutely amazing. Justin
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:are just the best people and we still keep in touch till this day. amount of
Nik Cherwink:Hell yeah.
Nostalgix:guys have just called me just to check in and be like, Hey, how's everything going? How is, you know, how's music? How's this, how's that? Um, I think the great thing about that program is you learn a lot, but you also are put into this community
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. Yeah.
Nostalgix:lot of other people that are trying to learn and just as hungry and just as excited as you are. But everybody in the community, so supportive and loving, so it feels like you almost have a family and you're not really doing it fully by yourself, just'cause there's so much support there.
Nik Cherwink:It's so important. I have a coaching program of my own, the Headliner Mindset community. Shout out Headliner Mindset fam. I've got like 60 people in this community and it's like, it's so important. It's so important to have support, to have homies, to have peers, you know, whether that's in an official coaching program or just your own circle, but especially producing can be so isolating. It's just like you kind of. Being a little gremlin in your room by yourself for like hours and hours, you know? And so we really need to connect with other people and collaborate and share resources, you know, and just motivate each other. Like if you are doing it all by yourself, um, it's gonna be really hard and really lonely. So definitely get plugged into some kind of community that's so important.
Nostalgix:Yeah, I can definitely attest to that'cause I've definitely experienced like the loneliness that this world can bring of you just working away and plugging away and just having to give everything that you have and every minute that you have to what you're doing. So I think community and having friends and that kind of support is honestly just so insanely important.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. So when you flipped that switch and you decided you really wanted to go towards being an artist, you wanted to learn making music, you're, you're grinding, you said you're working two jobs. How did you prevent yourself from burning out during that time?
Nostalgix:That's a funny question because I think I, I burnt myself out like probably every week or two weeks. I think I was just really like. I had a really high standard for like what I wanted to achieve and I had really big goals, so I kind of just kept. Going and going and going. And I think at the time I made so many sacrifices where, you know, when my friends were going out every single weekend and, inviting me to come out to things instead of going with them, I was always like, Hey, like I, I have a lot of things I need to get done, and I would stay home and just be, you know, Saturday night I am on Ableton or I'm working this job or that job and, I'm just pouring everything that I have into this one thing. So, I feel like I definitely spent a lot of time burning myself out and it, it took maybe till, a couple years ago to, to learn how to not burn myself out.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. Well, you know I think it really does. Validate just the inevitable reality that you gotta grind and you gotta hustle and you gotta really be committed to, to make this goal and this dream happen. So besides working hard and what I'm hearing is also like making the sacrifices, you know. Saying no to some of the things. What are some of the other, requirements for artists that are coming up? You know, you have to be hardworking, you have to make sacrifices. What else do you have to be and do to really make it in this industry?
Nostalgix:I think the biggest thing is to create the foundation properly. Don't try to skip any steps, do it by learning and properly laying the foundation of what you're building, because you want that to be, to be strong and you wanna build and go from there. And there is no shortcuts or like easy ways to like jump any steps. You know, you know that saying of like, um, it takes 10 years to make an overnight success.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:Yeah. Like you can't any of the steps. You have to just keep. Keep climbing and keep taking each step. Sometimes you'll get knocked off the ladder and you have to like go back up, but you have to just keep trying and keep going. think that consistency is a big thing of just continuing to take steps forward in your art and your career and even on your hard days, like if you do just like one little thing that pushes you forward, like you've done enough, think
Nik Cherwink:Hmm.
Nostalgix:Continuing to work towards your goals and having compassion for yourself of like, if you are having hard days or if things aren't going your way to, you know, maybe just take the day and then come back and try again.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. That's a really, really great answer. You can't skip steps. And when you talk about building that foundation, what are the ingredients of that foundation? What are the pieces that people really need to. Focus on and give themselves the time to really build, like what does that foundation actually consist of?
Nostalgix:I think the foundation. Consist of really knowing the ins and outs of what you're doing and really learning your tools and the things that you need to work with to be the best that you can be. So for producers, I would say, if you use Ableton, really know how Ableton works and make it work for you. Um, if you're posting on social media, learn the best way that you can do that, that's manageable and that you can maintain. Learning just how things work within the music industry, how you can make things easier for yourself, how you can take pressure off your plate. I think just learning and knowing as much as you can about your craft. I had a period of time, um, I believe this was like two summers ago now, where I had left my management team that I was with and I was. The busiest I'd ever been with touring in my life at that point. I was trying to figure out who my new team is gonna be, but it was just, it was so much on my plate and I just, I didn't have enough time to figure it out. So I, I spent like six months while I was touring during the summer and doing festivals, just being like, okay, I am gonna just, just manage myself
Nik Cherwink:Hmm.
Nostalgix:all this stuff out. And. As much as that was hard, it taught me like what a manager does. It taught me
Nik Cherwink:Hmm.
Nostalgix:of what I didn't know yet about being an artist. And, um, it just taught me so much valuable information that I didn't have before that now I, I truly understand what, like, for example, what my manager does now and what goes into their day. And I feel like, having that understanding of everything that I'm not involved with. Makes my job a bit easier.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. Yeah. You know, Henry Fung shared the same thing when I did a episode with him. Another really early episode as well, a good one for you guys to check out, but same kind of thing. He switched managers and he was like, oh, I have to actually like, get all of my contracts and all these things that like I haven't really looked at before and actually understand them myself. And, uh, it, it, it brings up a really good point because a lot of. Artists, of course, are wanting to get the manager because the manager. Has contacts and can open doors and can help you with strategy and also just do a lot of the heavy lifting for sure. That's great. Um, but at the end of the day, it is your business. Like you own the business, you own the LLC, this is your thing. Your manager is, I'm not gonna say an employee, but they're a partner. They're a partner in the business, but at the end of the day that manager can come and go. It's very normal to have maybe a couple different managers throughout your career, but at the end of the day, it's your business. So it really makes sense that you should understand the business from top to bottom. How do all these things work? All.
Nostalgix:Absolutely, and I feel like. you know how all those things work, it also allows you to appreciate the right person being in that role and helping you with those things even more because you know the nitty gritty of what they're doing that you didn't even know
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. Yeah. And that could be such a thankless job. You know, just the, the behind the scenes, all the stuff that's happening there. It's like, it can very, very much be a thankless job. So shout out to all the managers out there. Thank you guys for doing all the, all the paperwork, doing all the tough conversations, and the negotiations that, that we don't always wanna do ourselves. So we love you. Thank you.
Nostalgix:Absolutely. I, yeah, all the paperwork, the contracts, the,
Nik Cherwink:Yeah,
Nostalgix:I don't think I could, I would personally be interested in being a manager.'cause I know like what goes into it's, it's so much work, so much work.
Nik Cherwink:yeah, yeah. I did it for a while. I was a manager for about five years, and then I realized one of the roles of being a manager was also kind of to be a therapist, to really help. Artists with like, you know, the, when they want to jump off a building and you gotta kind of talk'em off the ledge and give the motivational pep talks. And uh, and then I realized, I'm like, that's the part I actually really like the most and I'm actually the best at. I was like, I'm not the best at the marketing campaigns, but like this whole therapist thing, like I'm really good at that. And so that's how I literally just created my entire career was from just becoming like a, a life coach for artists.'cause it's like. Yeah, we need that. We need that mindset piece really. Um, you know, it's a piece of the puzzle as well, so, yeah.
Nostalgix:you realize that about yourself.'cause I feel like that's one thing that I feel like artists need more of. Is just that external support. And I think being able to listen to a podcast to get different perspectives or different ways to, to think about things and look at things, I think is really important because sometimes you just spend
Nik Cherwink:Hmm.
Nostalgix:time, no matter what level you're at in your career, like if you're touring and traveling alone by yourself all the time too, it's like, it's good to hear different perspectives and different approaches and things like that. So I think it's very important.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. What are some of the mindset challenges that you find yourself being faced with on this journey as an artist?
Nostalgix:I think, uh, perfectionism is a big one for me because I will just take so much time with things sometimes. Um. And that's, that's something I definitely struggle with is that I just really want everything to be like, exactly like my vision and I'm trying to be better. And I, I feel like I have actually gotten better at just like putting things out and letting things be, even if they're not feeling like they're at a hundred percent because I've recognized that, you know, my 90% is actually good enough and people are gonna like, love the 90%, so it doesn't have
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And in art, especially when the, with the actual music, it's such an interesting thing.'cause when is it ever really done there can always be another thing tweaked, there can always be something added or taken out. It's like you could work on something for years and have it never really be, uh, be finished, you know? So that's a very common one to get caught up with for sure.
Nostalgix:That part is honestly pretty annoying because it is at the end of the day, just you have. Having to abandon it and be like, this is good enough and this is done and I'm gonna put it out and I'm gonna just be proud of this. though, you know, you could always just, you can always do more and you can always keep going away at it.
Nik Cherwink:yeah, yeah. So I wanna just take a moment to celebrate you, because there was a point in your story where you were like, you know, just. Being a DJ saying, oh, I just wanna play one show, right? And I just wanna have a little bit of fun. And then at some point you're like, no, actually I really wanna, I wanna go for this. I want to really be an artist. I wanna go full-time. And now here you are, you've established yourself, right? You've got tour dates, you're a full-time artist, you've got a brand and a reputation, and fans and followers. So first off, congratulations. Let's take a moment to celebrate that. That's incredible.
Nostalgix:Thank you. I really appreciate that.
Nik Cherwink:Uh, I'm curious about like, now that you are a full-time professional artist, how is it different than you maybe expected it to be in the beginning?
Nostalgix:Ooh, that is such a good question. I think the part of it that's different from what I expected is honestly just how much work goes into it. I feel like the, the
Nik Cherwink:Hmm.
Nostalgix:that you do this, and the better that you get at this, the more you realize that you can be doing, and you find out there's different levels to things. So it's,
Nik Cherwink:Hmm.
Nostalgix:like there's so much that you could do with your show to make your show better. You, there's so much you could do with your music or your marketing or, um. visuals or things like that to always be developing and growing. So like I always just kinda, I never realized like how much work it actually is to really build like an incredible show and, you know, to really get all these little pieces right. And I never realized how much time goes into all these things. And I feel like the, the longer that I'm in this and, and the more that I learn, it obviously makes everything just easier and, um. get better at everything, but it definitely takes so much time to really build out a vision and like a project that you have.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. That's super interesting to think about. I'd love to go a little bit deeper into that because you are at that point where yeah, you're really getting in front of an audience and you're really getting to, not just like, kind of get booked at the club and play the opening slot, right, where you don't necessarily have a lot of control. You now have a bit more control, a bit more opportunity,. Tell me a little bit more about what that looks like for you at this level, at this stage in your career. When you talk about creating the vision, creating the show. Like can you explain a little bit more the detail of what that actually looks like?
Nostalgix:Yeah, I, I think for me, a really big goal that I have. As an artist and probably my main goal is to put on the best show
Nik Cherwink:I.
Nostalgix:can put on, and that entails the, the universe that that show brings. So what you feel when you're at the show, what the visuals look like, what the music sounds like. And you know, I've been touring for quite a while and I've played crazy festivals and crazy shows and I feel like with everything that I've done, it's just. Inspired me to, to really work towards like a bigger vision that I have and a bigger show and, um, bigger thing that I wanna create that really feels impactful to people and really allows people to feel something.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. So what is the vision of the Nostalgics universe that you want to create, that you're working on creating right now? How do you level it up? What's the next, what's the next level of it?
Nostalgix:That is basically what all my days right now are going into. Um, well I did my worldwide tour last year. That ended in about, like the fall. I did so much touring last year where I was doing like two or three shows a week, you know, playing around the world, playing like the biggest festivals and the biggest shows and, um. It was really amazing and really exciting and I came back from that tour and I was like, you know what, like now I just really wanna, take a step back a little bit from touring and doing so many shows because I really wanna build on a new show I wanna build on, you know, making the show that I already have like so much better and more meaningful and you know, build out the visuals, build out the concept that I have in my head and build out. The music and, you know, tour with a lot more songs and all those things take so much time. So I got like a studio space in LA and I've been much just working away at that, like every single day since the start of the year.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. So what does it look like to actually be working on that? Because I understand working on the music, right? I'm gonna go in, I'm gonna make, and that's, I think most listeners are really just focused on that. I'm making the music. I'm unable to never day getting the tracks done, but there's this whole other level of, yeah, again, creating the show, creating the universe. you know, You said even just starting with like the concept. I guess, right. Like, I'm curious about your thought process when it comes to that. Is it like there's just a theme for the show? Is there a journey that you're imagining taking people on? Like take me into the creative process of that. I find it so interesting. I.
Nostalgix:Absolutely. Well, a little bit of background about me. I do come from a background of film production, so I've always been very creative visually, so that's. One thing that I've always loved and an aspect that I really want to bring to my shows and a really big focus that I have for the next years to, really bring that to life, which is something it takes a lot of time to build out, but for me, I think the next. that I wanna move into is more storytelling and really creating an experience. And I think that for me, all comes from like a concept and a story. And for me, I have the story that I'm, I'm building on, and I think right now it's all the little moving parts of, you know, what are the visuals that tie into that? How does the story make sense within the realm of this world? It's a lot of like, um. It's a lot of moving puzzle pieces. I guess. It's just my brain is just like a jumble of like thoughts and artistic things, and I have a whole book of like what I'm writing out and, and working on. But it's, it's kind of the, the world that goes along with the music and the experience that you'll get at the shows.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. Universe building, right? That really is that next level. Now, were you thinking about this when you were. At an earlier stage, were you already visualizing the big picture of like, someday this is what I'm working towards? Or is it only now that you're kind of at this higher level, you're further along that now you're starting to think about that and really my real question is, should people be thinking about this? From the beginning, right? And maybe it's still three years down the road or five years down the road, but you know, does it make sense to kind of be building that universe even from the beginning or is it something that you kind of don't need to worry about until later on?
Nostalgix:I think it's good to have your eyes on a vision and a goal. I think when you're starting out as a producer, as an artist, I think it's good to know like. What do I want my music to make people feel? What do I want people to think when they think of me? What, what would I want someone, like say, if I'm like headlining ultra, what do I want people to be in the crowd for?
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:there? Like, what are they there to feel? So I think it's good to think about those things because even like early days. You're essentially creating all these things, right? You're creating all this music, you're creating videos, you're creating visuals, and, all that I think ties together. And I think when you have it, have a bigger purpose and, tell a story. I think it's a great goal and thing to know like. early on, but also as an artist, you learn so much while you do this, that you know, in the beginning there's just so much that you don't know and so much you learn just through the act of playing shows through making music. So in the beginning phases, I think it's hard to know exactly what you want because you don't even know what's possible yet.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I imagine as well that, as you start to grow, and I. For, I think a lot of people we might have the vision of like, oh my God, I would love to have all these lasers and I'd love to like fly in on a rope swing. And like, you know, like, like what? Like your imagination can really be bigger than your budget sometimes too. So I, I imagine like, that's a piece of it too, is like figuring out how do we actually execute the vision and make it come to life. And, you know, there's gotta be like a financial investment in that as well in terms of. Actually creating that world and that universe.
Nostalgix:Yeah, absolutely. Doing this stuff is definitely not cheap. You are
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. and that's something I've always been. Doing since the beginning of my career is just investing into what I do and the art and the craft and, it definitely is a lot. But I think the most important thing is to just work with what you have, because whatever you have is enough to make it happen. You don't need to be over expanding yourself or spending all this money to make something happen, because I feel like a lot of the best things are just the things that you can just make organically. Rather than needing to spend a bunch of money, like obviously when the money comes and you can do cooler, bigger things, that's amazing. But know, till you have that, there's so much more that you can do. Yeah. It reminds me of, um, sippy is actually one of my coaching clients, and I remember she was doing a couple shows in like New York and LA and she was like, I'm gonna build my own set. She was out in the alley behind her house, like spray painting, like fake grass and literally flying out to New York with like, bags of stuff. She was like building her own set and, and it turned out really, really dope. So yeah, you gotta just get your hands dirty sometimes and do it yourself.
Nostalgix:I, I think I. Actually, I love sippy. She's amazing. Shout out sippy.
Nik Cherwink:She is so dope. Shout out. Yeah, I've got literally my very first episode ever. Shout out. Sippy. Episode number one was with her and then we, um, kind of recently did another one too, which was great. Um, who are some artists that you look up to that are building really cool universes with their live show? Who are you inspired by?
Nostalgix:That is a great question. I think this honestly like changes very frequently, but right now I, I love, um, no two and ISO XO are doing. It just, it makes me so
Nik Cherwink:Hmm.
Nostalgix:and so excited to see what they're doing because I feel like they're really pushing the boundaries and creating these crazy universes that are so like artistic where you could see what they're doing and everything feels so intentional and that's what I personally like really love about an artist. Um. Res as well. She's someone that
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:her shows are so cool, like she's doing, I think it's called The Spiral,
Nik Cherwink:The, the portal. Yeah.
Nostalgix:portal, yeah.
Nik Cherwink:Super cool. Yeah.
Nostalgix:crazy. Like it doesn't even look real, but she just imagined that and she made that happen.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. And that's one of those things that too, where it's like, man, like you gotta have the budget though. You know? It's like that's not a cheap, that's not a cheap portal. Uh,
Nostalgix:but she's been doing this for so long and has
Nik Cherwink:yeah.
Nostalgix:vision and is just so
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:she can make that happen, which is so
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:So just,
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:cool to see people doing such big things like that.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I think about, um, I remember seeing seven Lions at a DC, like, I don't know, it was years ago. But I remember that being a set where I was like, oh, shit. Like, this guy just took us on a journey. You know, like the, just the whole, all the visuals and the story. And it was like, he, it really was a universe that was an artist that I remember, you know?'cause it's like you can just have like. Cool visuals playing, you know, and like, oh, that like, looks cool. But to actually really be taking people on that journey and actually telling a story and having a real theme and a concept behind it, you know, it stands out when people really take that extra, you know, intention. And yeah, do it more intentionally. It's cool.
Nostalgix:And I think it also goes back to what you really want as an artist, because you could also not do that and you could just have visuals playing and go DJ and do like cool big sets or whatever. And you know, not have that. But I think if you wanna be the kind of artist that's more in storytelling, like I think being intentional and really thinking about all these little things, does really matter.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:these little things, I think just take time to figure out.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah, for sure. How would you describe the nostalgic brand? What is your brand all about?'Cause you already have a universe that you've created, right? How would you describe it? What's it all about?
Nostalgix:My brand is about empowerment and making people like. Their best selves and feeling like they can overcome anything and overcome whatever's going on in their lives to be the strongest and best versions of themselves. That's just something that I feel like I've just really overcome a lot in my life, and something that's really important to me is being able to give that back to people. Allowing other people to really feel powerful and feel like their best selves and helping, um, with just what I've been through or with my music or through the art that I put out.
Nik Cherwink:That's beautiful. I love that you have such clarity around that
Nostalgix:thank you.
Nik Cherwink:I wrote a quote down, I saw this on one of your posts. You said, your new life really does cost your old life.
Nostalgix:Oh yeah, I know that post.
Nik Cherwink:What's that referring to?
Nostalgix:Over the past couple years, I've gone through a lot of just big life changes outside of, music. And, um, you know, at the same time that I was going through my worldwide tour, I was also going through the most difficult, um, you know, hardest breakup that I've ever experienced and, had
Nik Cherwink:Hmm.
Nostalgix:of heal while also touring alone and. Um, making so much happen and putting out an EP showing up for so many people. And I'm like, you know, going through it and I'm going through the
Nik Cherwink:Hmm.
Nostalgix:like, dedicated to be like, I'm gonna my best with these shows. I'm gonna put everything that I have into this. And I'm like, you know. There was one day I cried in three different states, so I'm like falling apart while also just trying to, you know, go do these shows and like really give to people and, put out art and stay consistent. And, um, and I was, I was really set on making everything happen and healing at the same time, which is, which is a lot to, to, I think go through.
Nik Cherwink:It's hard. Yeah.
Nostalgix:Yeah.
Nik Cherwink:What kept you going?
Nostalgix:I think the desire to want more and to want better.
Nik Cherwink:Tell me more about that. To want more what?
Nostalgix:I think just wanting more for myself and wanting to put myself in the best situations that I can put myself in with my life. And, you know, I have a dream and I'm, I'm touring and I'm traveling around the world. And even though at the time it was really hard because, you know. I'm going through a breakup and I'm feeling so lonely'cause of that. And then on top of it, like I'm in airports during like around Christmas time when everybody's with their families and I'm like
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:alone and it's really difficult. But I just knew that I was like, I just need to, to heal and I just need to keep working on being the best version of myself because I deserve that and I deserve to give myself the life that I've always wanted. And even though it's hard, I'm gonna just keep trying and keep taking steps forward.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah, that's super powerful. What would you say to somebody who's going through something similar right now?
Nostalgix:It does get better somebody that was completely falling apart and just hurting so badly, it really does get better. You just have to give yourself time and be patient and. Just keep trying. Even if you keep falling back down and you can't get it right, you have to just keep trying to take one little step forward if that's the best that you can do. That's, that's amazing.
Nik Cherwink:Did you get support while you were going through all of that?
Nostalgix:Yeah. I definitely leaned on my friends and family a lot. I
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:like. There's so many nights on tour, it'd be like 5:00 AM like after a show, and I'd be like on, on FaceTime with my dad and we'd just be talking for like two hours and I'm like, this man
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:sleep. But, um, I just, I just really heavily leaned on people and like let people in on like how difficult it was. And,
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:yeah, looking back it definitely wasn't easy, but I think over time too, it did. It progressively just, it got easier till it got, you know, better.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah, yeah. Um, well shout out, dad, first of all,
Nostalgix:out
Nik Cherwink:go Dad, for being there. But that. That vulnerability piece is so important, you know, and we're going through tough stuff and we kind of have to put a face on and be like, I still gotta show up. I still gotta keep going. I also have this, you know, this public facing image and I'm here to entertain and show up and do these shows and, and we need support and, and I think especially for us men that can be a bit more difficult to like actually, really admit. That we're struggling and falling apart and hurting. But it's so important, you know, like we're not meant to just white knuckle it and figure things out on our own. You know, we are like pack animals and tribal beings and we are wired to work together and to support each other and to love each other and to lean on each other. So, yeah, really important that we do that during those times, those. Inevitable times.'cause it's all, it's gonna happen. You know, like there's always, there's gonna be, you know, life is gonna life. Uh, we don't get to escape that, you know, no matter what. Even when you achieve all your goals and your dreams, it's like you're still human that has to deal with human shit like breakups and deaths and challenges, right? So.
Nostalgix:Yeah, and it happens to literally everybody, so it's not. I think it's also nice to know that it's not just you, but it happens to everybody. And reaching out and getting support is obviously the most important thing because sometimes we just need it and we can't
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:through it ourselves. And I think I was also really fortunate at that time though, because I was touring, I also started to kind of lean on the support of my fans a little bit. Obviously
Nik Cherwink:Hmm.
Nostalgix:like directly telling them that I was going through a hard time, you know, after my sets, something I usually do is like, I'll stick around to like say hi to everybody, take photos and hug people. And on some
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:worst nights that I was having on tour, just, you know, really going through it, I got to have some of the best conversations with fans that. Just told me how much my music impacted them and how it helped them get through a hard time, and we just got to have these really deep conversations and loving conversations and I. Was able to just really see how it was impacting someone else in a time of just being so hurt myself that it kind of
Nik Cherwink:Hmm.
Nostalgix:my mindset of being okay, I know I'm like really hurting right now. But also there's people in the crowd tonight that are like absolutely going through it. Like this person could have also been going through a breakup. This person could have had this happen. Like, I don't know, like what's going on in these people's lives. But they're here for a reason and they're here because they need a release and they need to have fun and. Maybe they really need this, and the fact that I get to be the person that gives them that experience and that release was so empowering to me.
Nik Cherwink:Wow. That is so cool to hear. The artist's perspective on that, because I think we often hear the fan's perspective of like, oh my God, music saved my life. Music has healed me. That listening to this artist or going to this show has helped me so much. But to actually see the effect that can have on you as well as the one that's getting to create that and facilitate that and also even receive some of that healing back right when you need it the most as well. That's incredible.
Nostalgix:Yeah, I think I'm honestly really grateful for that because one thing that that experience showed me is just how much love there really is in my life, and you know, whether it's from my friends or my. Family. I mean, if it's not coming from them, like my fans are just such loving, amazing, supportive people that they really, really care. And the fact that they show me so much love just means like, so much to me. And I think that time like really allowed me to connect on such a different level because I was also just like, I think I had a different level of understanding of like what it means to really go through something difficult and like really actually like, need, love.
Nik Cherwink:Mm, and I think that it really is a reflection of you and your personality, and your spirit, and even your mission. To empower people, you know, like you're putting real love into your artistry and you're putting real love into your fan base. And they are all really just serving as mirrors of you back to yourself and what you've actually given them, which not everybody is, you know, so people are, you know, they're just putting out tracks, they're putting out bangers. We're just out, you know, we're just fucking partying and drinking and having fun and, you know, that's fine. Nothing wrong with that. But, uh, when you're really. On a different mission as an artist, right? Like you said, your, your brand is about empowering people and like when you're putting that kind of energy into the music, into the project, into the intentionality of the show and the theme and the concept and the journey, like, yeah. That gets reflected back to you.
Nostalgix:That was so beautifully said.
Nik Cherwink:It's cool, man. It's cool. Like music is so fucking powerful. It's so, it, it's a spiritual experience really. You know? I think most of us that are involved in this industry are just, you know, real true like music fans and it's like we've had like a spiritual connection with music. It's touched a part of our soul, right? It's, it's gone beyond just the brain and really like yeah. Into like the heart and the soul in a deep way. I think that's what makes us want to yeah, be a part of this world. So shout out to everyone out there really putting their heart and soul into this. You know, we need more of that.
Nostalgix:Yeah, absolutely. I feel like, um, one thing about music is throughout my entire life, even when, you know, my family moved from Iran to, to Canada and I didn't even speak English yet. I feel like the thing that was always there for me, regardless of what was going on in my life or where I was at, was always just music. And that's something that I could always go back to that made me feel like I fit in and made me feel like I belong. And really cool getting to, obviously now having a, a career in music.'cause I'm like, now I get to be that person that gives back and that gets to, you know, create that feeling for other people. And I can do it in such a big, impactful way.
Nik Cherwink:Yeah, and I love that you mentioned being from Iran and Yeah, not speaking English. And it's like music is the universal language, right? It's the one language you can go into any part of the world, but it's like hearing melodies and sounds and beats and it's like you can be in a room full of people speaking all different sorts of languages, but it's like we can all really be. Affected and impacted by the sonic vibrations, of music and, um, Bond over that and be united over that. And I feel like that's when we really tap into like, like this is like some spiritual magic here. You know, this is more than just making beats on Ableton and making content. Like there's a power to fucking unite people, you know? And I think we've all experienced that to some extent. So, I don't know, just something cool to keep in mind as an artist, as you're building your universe and as you're making your music of just like understanding you're almost like a, like an alchemist, you know? Like if you really tap into the power that you actually have to transmute energy right from the universe, you know, into. Ableton and, and actually, move out into the world. Like it's a, it's a really, can be a really deep and powerful, process.
Nostalgix:Yeah, and I, I think just. The fact that you're able to take everything that you've ever been through or take your experiences and put it into art to try to make somebody else feel something or not even try to, but regardless of you just making that, someone's gonna listen to that and feel some kind of way you're gonna help them through an experience or they're just gonna like feel something to your song. And I think that's just honestly the coolest thing and. Very important to remember as well, and to not really get caught up with like the, the music industry and like
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:of like, content this, content that, and like
Nik Cherwink:Yeah.
Nostalgix:like the, the deeper purpose of it. And you know, the reason that you're doing this is because you wanna impact people.
Nik Cherwink:Whew. Mic drop right there. Well said. Let's wrap up with this. If a million people were listening to this podcast, which I hope they do, I hope this just absolutely blows up. What's your message to the world?
Nostalgix:My message is believe in yourself. capable of doing everything that you set your mind to. Just keep trying and you can do it.
Nik Cherwink:Amazing. Thank you so much for this incredible conversation. I think there's so much in here that, yeah. That I needed to hear, that I needed to be reminded of. And, I just really appreciate you taking the time and, being open, being vulnerable, and going deep with me today. That was really great. Thank you.
Nostalgix:Thank you so much. I really appreciated this conversation as well, and I feel like there's so much that just hearing us talk about. me about, so I'm definitely gonna be working on some music tonight.
Nik Cherwink:Let's go. Let's go.
