Mar. 7, 2010

Nils -- Always Ready to Play

Fully living up to the title of a popular instructional book he once wrote called “How To Make Your Guitar Talk,” Nils was the smooth jazz story of 2005, breaking through to audiences across the country with the energetic title track from his debut release, Pacific Coast Highway. Hitting #1 on the Radio & Records airplay chart, “Pacific Coast Highway” became the soundtrack of the summer, staying at #1 for seven weeks on its way to being named the most played song in the format in the U.S. and Canada for the year. The guitarist’s follow-up single “Summer Nights” remained in the Top 5 for six months on the same chart and became his 2nd #1 hit.

Inspired by this success, Nils entered 2007 once again with an exciting new collection of tunes that he aptly dubbed Ready to Play.  That CD kept his crisp and edgy electric guitar front and center while expanding his pop, jazz and R&B driven musical palette even further.  He states, ”The most important thing was to make sure Ready To Play featured my best writing and playing from start to finish. I love the fact that it incorporates all of my favorite styles.”  He has since followed that with the comely Up Close and Personal, a ripe combination of funk and blues that’s most effective.

Born and raised in Munich Germany, Nils picked up his first guitar as teenager. While his first inclinations were to follow the lead of his idols Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin, it wasn’t until later when he was introduced to funk music that he became  hooked on that vibe.  He spent “endless nights” learning and copying rhythm players like Nile Rogers, Al McKay, and Paul Jackson, Jr. “But growing up in Germany,” he says, “the chances to become a full time musician were rather slim, unless you wanted to play Top 40 or polkas. The schooling options were either a strictly classical Conservatory or a small private music school.”

Moving to L.A. in the mid-80s, he began studying composition, arrangement, and film composition. While making inroads into the competitive field of film and television, he got his first job as a teacher at the legendary Valley Arts Music Store; no matter how busy he’s become over the years as the various facets of his career—sideman, film composer and now solo artist—have taken off, Nils still loves to give back by teaching young guitarists. While acquiring his current production skills as a studio engineer in the 90s, he started doing sessions as a rhythm guitarist for everyone from Rick Braun to The Temptations and George Benson. Nils contributed as a musician and co-writer of “Keep Rollin’” on Benson’s 1998 album Standing Together, and the guitar and vocal legend returned the favor by playing a duet with Nils on Nils’ 1998 debut CD Blue Planet. Blue Planet also featured performances by Gerald Albright, Nathan East, and the late vocalist Carl Anderson.

His production resume includes producing music for the independent film “Beyond The Ring” working as Music Editor on the Fox sitcom "Undeclared," and working as  Music Editor for the Showtime series “Weeds,” as well as composing for the Independent Spirit Awards and scoring a documentary and composing and adding soundscapes for a multimedia DVD project entitled Transmuteo.

“As much as I’ve loved creating music in the studio all these years, I realized when I started to play concerts and festivals last year that I’d been missing the ying to my yang, so to speak,” he says. “It’s been a wonderfully validating experience. I’ve enjoyed the travel and the opportunity to play for so many people who enjoy what I do. That’s the reason I started making music in the first place, to communicate, and it’s been so enjoyable to bring my music to a wider audience…”

All of this has brought Nils to a bright, smooth, and pleasant place in his life where he can look back (and forward) at what has been a collage of success and beautiful music, much of which he owes to himself and his drive.