He sleeps on the floor. He makes one pot of coffee at the beginning of the week and drinks it throughout. In his airport apartment he hears the planes; it reminds him of his journey to get West. Nicholas Alan moved to California with a suitcase and a guitar, a little bit of money and one week to find a place to live. "In a world like ours go get what you came for." A wanter and a songwriter, a quiet filter for his past. He shaves his head so as not to be bothered by his hair. Nicholas's music is intimate, introspective, & acoustic pop.
Comparisons have been made to Rufus Wainwright, Ben Folds, Belle & Sebastian, Sufjan Stevens, and Tom Waits. Just prior to leaving Atlanta, GA Nicholas completed his latest release titled Busker, and currently Nicholas lives in Los Angeles making friends and fans.
The identity of Nicholas Alan as an artist began in 2004 with the dissolving of his band "Countelss Others." "I realized that the material I was writing was very personal," Nicholas says "and it seemed more honest to present them personally, rather than through a rock band." Nicholas set out to write & record his debut album, titled A World Like Ours. With the help of his father's jazz band lending their performances on the album & mixing it, Nicholas released AWLO in May of 2005. At first glance the album is a set of foot-tapping, head bobbing pop songs, yet Nicholas's talent as a lyricist is evident in these early recordings with lines such as "I know I'm a poet with a poker face" from "Games We Play" and "the lamp through the red wine has bloodied the figures that look up to Heaven for answers" from the album's title track. AWLO soon caught the attention of an NBC producer who commissioned Nicholas to write the theme music for a new day show called "Atlanta & Company," & twice invited Nicholas to perform on the show. In early 2006, Nicholas signed the album with newly formed independent label "Side B Music." So far, AWLO has been played on dozens of indie radio stations, webcasts, & podcasts; and recently, track "Why Did I Wait," was used in "Side Order of Life" on Lifetime TV.
Following the release of A World Like Ours, Nicholas would go close to a year without writing another song. Then, slowly, the spirit of creativity crept back into the bones of Nicholas Alan, though this time around was different. The writing became more mature, having less of the spirit of youth that comprised AWLO and more introspection, musically and lyrically. Nicholas sought out the help of Clay Cook to record this new batch of songs. Nicholas knew of Clay from Clay's co-writes with John Mayer on "Room for Squares." Nicholas heard some of the production Clay had done for some Atlanta artists and trusted him as a producer for his new material. The two recorded the Busker EP in early 2007 in Clay's Atlanta studio "The Small Room." Busker resulted as an organic blend of folk, pop, and indie rock with thought-provoking lyrics such as "Love to live though tear apart this life to find the prize that lives inside it" from "Cigarettes In Snowmen" and "You threw a towel on the floor spotted black from all the masks you've worn before" from the bitter first track "Being 25." Busker was released by Side B Music in September 2007.
With the sounds and hopes of Busker ringing in his head, Nicholas took one last long look at Atlanta and boarded the plane to Los Angeles. At home in a city of lost angels, Nicholas lives everyday getting his music to more and more people.